Wearing caps and gowns, seniors took the hand of an excited kindergartner and headed out for today’s parade. The kindergartners were seniors’ Alpha & Omega buddies, whom seniors have mentored all year. This parade down memory lane helps seniors reflect on their years at Jackson Academy and ends with their final chapel ceremony.
Seniors and buddies passed through the Lower School playground and cafeteria, being applauded by young students. They parted at the PAC flagpole, and seniors were seated in the auditorium in anticipation of the next moment when kindergartners sang “Friends Forever” from the PAC stage to them.
Next, chapel speaker Zach DePriest ’15 echoed the idea of a walk in his comments. DePriest told the audience that God had gifted each person with exactly what they needed for their walk. He encouraged seniors never to compare themselves to others. “We were never designed to run someone else’s race,” he said.
To illustrate his point, DePriest showed a 1972 Olympic race video in which Gold Medalist Dave Wottle unexpectedly won the top medal despite appearing to be the slowest runner in virtually the entire 800 meter race. DePriest said that Wottle knew how he was gifted to run. He knew his ability and capacity and ran his race–not someone else’s.
DePriest also encouraged students to consider what they are running toward in the coming years. “Jesus is the only one worthy of our loves…our allegiances,” he said. “Without that, we are on a run to nowhere.” Even when we cannot see that future or understand circumstances, “the One who has placed a calling and purpose on your life knows the answer,” he said.
After chapel, seniors gathered on the PAC stage for a closing prayer led by Head of School Palmer Kennedy. Before the prayer, juniors moved to where seniors had been sitting as a symbolic gesture of becoming seniors.
