Peyton Rex has attended Arlington Christian School for five years. He has received awards for literature, science, geography, history, art, theology, the Tree of Righteousness, and the Administrator’s award. He has participated in basketball his freshman year and trapshooting throughout high school. Peyton plans to attend Central Washington University to pursue a degree in Paramedicine. As a mark of his excellence and dedication, he has received a $4000 academic scholarship, a $1000 Comcast Leaders and Achievers Scholarship, and a $500 scholarship from his church. In addition to graduating with High Honors, Peyton has completed his National Firefighting and EMT certification and will be working in Seattle as an EMT this summer before heading to Ellensburg in the fall.
Favorite verses: Ephesians 6:10 – 18
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes…
Valedictorian speech
Welcome friends, family, teachers and fellow graduate!
It is an honor to be standing before you on such a momentous occasion. After what seems like an eternity of assemblies, homework, exams, field trips and mechanically unpredictable church van rides, I want to start out by saying thank you. Standing here today, the achievements of this class would not have been possible without the encouragement, support, and guidance of our parents, teachers and the entire school family. Our success is your success, for you have given us the courage to explore, the knowledge to excel, and the belief that we can succeed. You were there for us with faith when we doubted ourselves, you have instilled in us the self-confidence needed to reach for our dreams. For all of these things, the Class of 2017 thanks you. And most of all, we want to thank God, for being beside us every step of the way. It has been an amazing journey.
I thought long and hard about what to say to you, Kent, the class of 2017! We have different career choices but are bound by the same common cause and that is to GRADUATE! I wondered, does this dubious honor of having the highest G.P.A. in our senior graduating class of 2, give me the right to offer my advice to my fellow graduate??
I guess so!!
1. We are a work in progress — don’t expect to get everything right the first time.
2. Parents are occasionally smarter than they appear
3. No one is holding us back; we are the only ones who can limit ourselves.
4. Whatever you pursue after high school, find something you like, that you’re good at.
5. Serve God, and stick to your beliefs.
6. When you change, don’t change the good things about yourself,
7. Not everyone is going to like us, so go find somebody who does, who appreciates what we have to offer.
No matter where we go or what we do, there are going to be challenges ahead of us. The best way we graduates can make the most of the opportunities we’ve been given is to embrace what we’ve learned and put it to good use. Our future is not just something that happens to us, it’s up to us to go forward into the world and create it.
We have been given the gifts of a great education, meaningful experiences, and extremely good looks! But with these gifts comes the responsibility of deciding how our talents are used in the world. It’s not enough to simply try to get by in life, that doesn’t move the world forward. We have to try to excel in everything we do, in every task, large or small. All great achievements arise from passion and heart, so we need to desire to do better, to dig deeper.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said that “What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.”
I am going to miss many things about Arlington Christian School, especially my teachers. Mrs. Tavenner literally taught me how to write a paper –my writing style closely mimicked kindergartners when I had my first class with her. I don’t know where I would be without her. She has always been a positive force in everything I’ve achieved here, sticking with me and making things better in all things academic and otherwise. Without her flexibility and encouragement, I wouldn’t have been able to do Fire Academy and EMT last year. Plus she has sent me out into the world with a singular knowledge of dress up’s, sentence openers and most importantly, conjunctions, that will stay with me forever!!
And because I’m probably suffering from temporary amnesia, I will miss Pastor Steve’s memorable yet grueling summer youth trips, the 20 hour a day driving extravaganza’s in vans that blew up, literally blew up. I will also always look back fondly on our in-depth political discussions and debates, and how he has always modeled patience, grace and kindness.
I will always be grateful for Mrs. Schultz for instilling a love of all things science in me, and for being kind enough not to make seniors do a science fair project this year. Her enthusiasm for science was contagious, and inspired my interest in human anatomy and physiology that has led me to study parmedicine in college. She always had time to just listen to us, no matter the subject.
A big shout out to Mrs. Brown, who couldn’t make it today, for all her encouragement and coaching in basketball and for putting her all into JSB last year, not to mention keeping our massive senior class organized and on track.
And last but not least, Mrs. Aswege gets a lot of credit for letting me redo assignments and being brave enough to have us create hot air balloons that almost set the school grounds on fire.
Congratulations to the Class of 2017! By graduating high school, we have now accomplished the absolute minimum academic standard required in our society!
Thank you and AMEN!
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