By BERNADETTE LAURITZEN
Los Alamos
As we have passed Mother’s Day and Teacher Appreciation week, we look ahead to graduation.
Several years ago, I worked for the schools and led a great program called, WEB Crew. This year’s graduating class were the first students to be welcomed into the middle school as seventh graders, leaders of the program in eighth grade, and welcomed into high school, as freshmen, by Link Crew.
Some went on to become those leaders graduating this month. There were about 40 students that I had that leadership connection with, and I salute them all.
There are many members of the graduating class of 2020 here on the hill. While some graduation ceremonies are up in the air, take this time to let a graduate know you are proud of them. Drop any student a note about how great they are or tell them what a good job they have done this year. You do not have to know them well to acknowledge how hard they have worked as the year comes to an end.
Perhaps you know a student on your street or one in another state. Does your church or any members of your club have a young person celebrating this month? This is an emotional time for many, with so much unknown for the near future and even further down the line. A card or letter you send may be kept forever, as a treasure of this first ever moment in our combined history.
As an adult, I would love to have a card or letter written in my parent’s hand or that of a grandparent. If this has been a time of family strife, use this time to, “be the bigger person”, or simply to do the right thing. No, a card may not end hard feelings, but we are thinking of the graduates and trying to make it special for them.
Do not worry about the postal system, if people are concerned, they can always quarantine the mail before opening it. You could send a small gift like gift cards to local restaurants for celebration at a later date … then the community wins twice.
Do not let the lack of being able to buy a gift stop you. You do not even need a fancy card, any type of correspondence will do fine.
We know several members of the Class of 2020 graduating and some neighbors are finding ways to mark the occasion. I will share it when graduation is over, I cannot be the one to, “let the cat out of the bag” ahead of time. I just wanted to say that we can all find some small way to “Take A Second, Make A Difference” and make the day of a young person more meaningful. Go Toppers!
