Principal Thanks Class of 2013 for 'Staying at BDHS'

Posted

At their graduation Tuesday afternoon, Principal Katherine Meints thanked the Brentsville Class of 2013 for “Staying with Brentsville,” while Valedictorian Sophie Penn challenged her classmates to embark on new territory.

As Salutatorian Elizabeth Jerakis said, at the end of their sophomore year, many members of the class of 2013 had a choice to make: they could continue to attend Brentsville District High School or go on to a “shiny new school.”

On graduation day, June 11 at the Jiffy Lube Live amphitheater in Bristow, Meints thanked the graduates for deciding to remain with Brentsville for the completion of their high school careers, a choice that she said demonstrates their unity and character. It is a choice she also believes helped them to grow into “champions.”

According to Meints, the graduating class should be proud of its accomplishments. One-eighth of the class graduated with a 4.0 grade point average or above, helping make Brentsville one of the nation's top achieving schools. With extra effort, they kept Brentsville traditions alive despite having a smaller student body. Perhaps most of all, they were kind to others, even when they thought no one was looking.

Meints advised the students to consider in life not what position they may fill, but how they can contribute. If that ever feels daunting, she told them to remember how “they already have” made a contribution to their high school.

Class President Chloe Anderson advised students to find not just a profession, but also a way to contribute. She suggested that this is not a difficult task, and “the easiest way to do just that is to love yourself for who you are.”

And, while much was made about The Class That Stayed,” Valedictorian Sophie Penn gave a speech, emboldening the class to move forward into the unknown.

Penn said that as she sat down to write her speech, she began by searching for inspiration from others, via quotes or words of wisdom, but ultimately decided to “just start typing and see where it.” She found herself thinking back to her first days at Brentsville when the school seemed so big and unfamiliar---a thought now amusing to a graduating senior.

With that in mind, Penn urged her peers to embrace future challenges, saying, “We exit the familiar into the unknown until that too becomes familiar.”

She said it is a sad person who says his best years were spent in high school and challenged everyone to make every year better than the last.

brentsville-district-high-school, class-of-2013, featured, full-image, graduation, jiffy-lube-live