My thoughts turn back toward three extraordinarily
significant years in my life as today I mark 15 years since my graduation from
Percy Julian Middle School.
Wednesday, June 8, 2005, was the day that capped off my
middle school years, a time that was truly more than about being at school, but
an experience that shaped me so greatly. As I walked across the stage at
approximately 8:25 PM CDT that evening, based on the timestamp on the photo
from that day, I had so much to recall.
Furthermore, that evening was a bit bittersweet, for as I
looked back, I realized how special middle school was for me, and I was sad to
leave it, knowing that I would never have anything quite like it in my life
again, especially before adulthood.
In the midst of all my mixed feelings and emotions that
evening, I could have never realized that while I was leaving my time as a
middle schooler, I would have the incredible opportunity to go back to middle
school, even reliving it vicariously through teaching Religious Education to
middle schoolers at Ascension Parish, starting over 8 years later.
As I constantly acknowledge, teaching Religious Education is
such a profound experience for me because it is the convergence of so many
significant parts of my life, especially middle school and college years, when
my character was shaped so significantly, especially my faith. Certainly
that's why being in the RE classroom touches something deep down inside of
me. And in no other experience in my life have I given of myself so much
as I have done with my RE students, who, based on counting just now, number 178
students over the course of 7 years.
It's incredible to think that 15 years ago, those 178 youths
were either small children, or, as has now become the case with those I just
had in class this past RE year, hadn't even been born yet. The ways that
I grew as a person, especially in faith, laid the foundation for how I would
make an impact on them years later. It's just like how my Julian Middle
School experience as part of the first group to graduate after 3 years in the
brand new middle school building, laid the foundation for what has come for all
those who have followed my classmates and me as middle schoolers in Oak Park in
the years since, including many of my students.
Just as with how I laid that foundation for the Oak Park
middle school experience, I am able to take my part in something much larger
than myself by handing on this gift of faith I have received to my
students. Certainly, being part of something much larger than me is a
major legacy of my middle school year.
Teaching RE has given me the chance to impact those 178
lives by making an investment that will surely last for eternity as its goal is
for them to reach God's presence in Heaven. And that's what has driven me
in my ministry to the students. Furthermore, it gave me so much reason to
celebrate back on May 19 as we gathered virtually to honor and affirm the 8th
graders for their participation in the RE program as we sent them forth into
the next stages of their lives. In spite of the loss of time spent
together in class for the last few weeks of the RE year, I was so glad to have
the chance to connect virtually, especially for a prayer gathering as we would
have typically upon the conclusion of the year. It was special to do it
on May 19 as the anniversary of my college graduation, as I could reflect on
how my college years converged with my middle school years to bring me alive in
the faith that I worked to hand on to those youths over the past year.
The prayer gathering certainly helped me feel a sense of closure, and I sure
hope it did for those gathered.
Watching the virtual graduation ceremonies for the Oak Park
middle schools this past weekend really touched something deep down inside of
me as I recalled my own graduation, and what it meant for me to celebrate my
middle school years that day, even as I celebrate the new group of Julian
alumni, as well as at Brooks Middle School. (I tell my students that I
almost ended up as a student at Brooks.)
June 8 has indeed been a special day in my life for these past 15 years. And as I recall the events of my last day at Julian, and then graduation that evening, I think about all that contributed to giving this day its meaning, which has lived well beyond that day for 15 years and beyond.
