By By JESSICA SIEFF / Niles Daily Star
BUCHANAN – There were a lot of good-byes to be said at the commencement ceremony of Buchanan High School's class of 2008.
Good-byes are standard for graduation ceremonies. Graduates are saying goodbye to the hallways that once felt like home, to classrooms that hold more within their walls than just books and lesson plans, to teachers who teach more than just English, math or science – but respect and leadership and character.
Good-byes to the friends that have been fixtures in the everyday life of those graduates take longer. Sometimes it takes the whole summer to say goodbye to the life that was cultivated over four years. Still, the good-byes are there, looming in the air like a snapshot of those graduation caps tossed into the air.
And on Sunday, the class of 2008, along with the entire Buchanan High School family said goodbye to Wayne Writer, Assistant principal and member of the Buchanan High School faculty for 34 years.
Superintendent Diana Davis introduced graduating seniors Rachel Letcher and Erica Jones who reflected on Writer's influence on their time at Buchanan High School.
"I know for me, Mr. Writer was always the 'go to' person," said Letcher. "As soon as a student had a question or needed to talk he would drop everything."
"It has been a pleasure and an honor to be a student under him," added Jones.
Letcher and Jones then presented an unexpected and emotional Writer with a special plaque by the Class of 2008, thanking him for his years of service, which was followed by a standing ovation for the educator. "You will truly be missed," said Davis.
And then it was time to say goodbye to each other.
As she addressed her class, graduate Stephanie Stanton remembered that just four years earlier, she and her fellow classmates were "individuals seeking to do well, to find our identity, to find our best friend.
"Four years ago," she said. "We couldn't wait to get older." Stanton touched on how each year brought more changes to her class, adding, "One year ago, we took our time together for granted … now we wish we could be younger."
Melinda Morgan and Julia Henry, who addressed the graduating class together, acknowledged that there were more change ahead of them as they went from high school students to graduates, "now we're moving on, now we're moving out," they said in unison.
"You may think this is the end," said Felicia Cox, the final senior to make an address. "But it is not." Like the speakers that came before her, Cox thanked her family, friends and principals. And as she concluded her speech, Cox spoke with a sense of determination, "now I know that all I have to do is believe and I can achieve anything," she said.
As students prepared to stand and receive their diplomas from school board president John Colip, Principal Sharon Steinke gave a few last words of her own to the class of 2008.
"After today," she said. "We will greet you not as a student of our school, but as a citizen of our world."
With all the diplomas handed out, Buchanan's class of 2008 threw their caps into the air, closed the chapter on their high school career – and began the business of saying goodbye to what's over – and hello to what is just beginning.