Senior High Graduate Recognition Ceremony
“This is Our Time”
A Review by Mitzi Wisely, Senior High Graduate Recognition Director

On a warm Arizona evening in downtown Phoenix, homeschooled students and their families came from all over the state to attend and participate in AFHE's Seventeenth Annual Senior High Graduate Recognition Ceremony. This year we were proud to have 130 graduating seniors and over 2000 guests in attendance. The theme for the evening was "This is our Time," and the ceremony was held at the beautiful, newly redecorated South Ballroom of the Phoenix Convention Center.

Family members and friends of the graduates filed into the ballroom almost a full hour before the event began to find their seats and wait in anxious anticipation for their loved ones to make that familiar walk across the stage. Nathan Johnson and graduate, James Steele, welcomed and entertained our visitors with their gifted piano presentations. After thirty minutes of prelude music, Nathan signaled the graduates to take their long-awaited march down the center aisle as he played that old graduation favorite, Pomp and Circumstance.

AFHE Vice President, David Monk, served as the Master of Ceremonies for the evening, after he prayed and asked for God's blessings on the ceremony and for each of the graduates. He so very graciously expressed the attitude and desire of the Graduation Committee - to always honor and glorify God through our efforts.

We were honored to have Joshua Sherrard, Executive Operations Pastor at Grace Community Church in Tempe, AZ, deliver the commencement address to the seniors. Joshua asked the seniors to stand and applaud the efforts of their parents as he reminded them of the privileged, personalized education they received. He stressed the importance of a continued relationship with their parents since they would continue to impart wisdom to them and "hold them above the waves" during those stormy times in their futures. Joshua reminded us that Proverbs tells us if we "train up a child in the way he should go, when he is old he will not depart from it." He then challenged the graduates not to depart from their training.

Joshua took us back to one year before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, when Patrick Henry delivered his famous words, "give me liberty or give me death!" Sherrard then went on to explain how Henry addressed the President of the Convention about their presumed weakness against such a great adversary. He asked a series of questions as to when they would be stronger than they were right at that moment, for this was their God appointed time. Mr. Sherrard then turned to the graduates and reminded them that this was their time to decide what to do with their life.

Joshua charged the graduates to do whatever they did with all their hearts, to not waste a single day, to make choices that would guide them in the direction of their calling, to get on their knees and ask Got why He made them - why He put air in their lungs and to make clear to them their calling. Sherrard spoke about humility and how it changes the outcome of events. He explained to the graduates that people will listen to, respect, and follow them if they are humble. He encouraged them to love those around them, honor their parents, and to surround themselves with people that will push them in the right direction. He also encouraged the graduates to hang on to what their parents taught them. In closing, Joshua charged, challenged, and dared the graduates to take everything they have learned and all the humility they could muster to become the person they were supposed to be, and in the process, give all the credit to God.

After the traditional photograph presentation that gives families a trip down memory lane, graduate Hannah Greenwood delivered her Senior Address. Hannah stressed to her fellow graduates how blessed they were to have such a personal form of education. She spoke about the changes that they would all be facing in the near future, and how they would all be tested outside of their comfort zone. She discussed how "comfort can be a dangerous thing," and in tough situations that "even the trouble is worth the trouble." She explained how change can be uncomfortable, "but we don't grow if we don't change. And if we don't grow, we don't lead. And if we're not leading, then what are we doing?" In closing, Hannah encouraged the graduates to seize the opportunities that God puts in front of them to have a positive impact on people's lives.

Eden Kroeger then sang a beautiful message to the graduates about how God is speaking to each of them. She asked that they be listening and watching for their own personal signs from God as she so elegantly and beautifully delivered "God Speaking" by Mandisa. The graduates then filed onto the stage, as their names and their parent's names were read, to receive their certificates. Homeschool dad and AFHE Board member, John Meiding, closed the ceremony as he delivered the benediction. The graduates then filed out with a little more excitement and a lot less anticipation than when they entered the ballroom. The evening ended with the usual hugs, kisses, hand shaking, high fiving, picture taking, and visiting as it does each year. For those of us that were able to attend, this event marked a great close to yet another year of homeschooling in the state of Arizona.