We’re just around the corner from one of my favorite things to attend and publish in The Boerne Star, and being as blessed as I am I get to do it twice on back-toback nights.
Get ready for the pomp and circumstance as it’s high school graduation time.
We have four Class of 2022 commencement exercises in Kendall County, plus a handful of seniors who graduate through other means. All told, in the neighborhood of 900 young men and women will receive diplomas by the end of the month to end one big chapter of their lives before starting the next.
Things like this are what help make life memorable and prevent it from going by in a blur.
Within the next week or so, Boerne, Champion and Comfort high schools and the Geneva School of Boerne will send their seniors out into the world. We also have a handful of Christian homeschoolers who will graduate as well as 10 or so Kendall County and Fair Oaks Ranch teenagers from TMI Episcopal.
Each will walk across that stage, receive their diploma and turn the tassels on their mortar boards.
My high school graduation was … gasp … 43 years ago now as I adorned my green gown and mortar board as a member of the Valparaiso High School Class of 1979. Besides my diploma, I have proof I graduated as my picture receiving that cherished piece of paper was published in our yearbook.
I was the sports editor of that yearbook.
Just like in Boerne, our exercises took place on our football field under the stadium lights. My class had about 450 graduates.
I remember thinking I had my whole life in front of me, ready to tackle college along the way. Little did I know back then I’d end up traveling around the country as a newspaperman, working in seven states and ending up in Boerne, Texas.
I also had an extremely thick head of hair back then. The picture proves it.
I really enjoyed high school. Those years, for the most part, were good years. In fact, I liked high school more than I did college.
Go figure. I remember that summer after
I remember that summer after high school was a great summer. I worked during the day and played and umpired softball in the evenings. I had family and friends all around me, and I was relatively care-free all those years ago.
When college came that August, I got off to a horrible start as on the second day of football practice, I tore things in my right ankle that shouldn’t tear. It was a fluke thing, and being a kicker, you kind of need that ankle to do what you need to do.
I also remember both my daughters’ high school graduations. Of course, I also worked both ceremonies for the paper for which I was working at the time.
I even attended my wife’s high school graduation, even though I didn’t yet know her. She graduated three years ahead of me in the same class as one of my older sisters.
Anyway …
Chargers and Greyhounds and Bobcats and Deer and Eagles and the others will don their caps and gowns in the coming days and experience and share that proud moment. It’s an enjoyable time for me, too, to attend both Boerne ISD ceremonies with my camera around my neck grabbing pictures that help share and remember the occasion.
It’s always incredibly fun at the end of the ceremonies when the graduates turn their tassels and celebrate in style by throwing their caps high into the air while sharing hugs, handshakes and smiles.
Of course, I always take way too many pictures at events like these, always hoping the next photo will be better than the last. It’s a fun assignment. And, as I always have, I try not to get into the way too much.
The Chargers graduate next Thursday, May 26, while the Greyhounds take center stage the following night, Friday, May 27. Both ceremonies begin at 8 p.m. at BISD Stadium.
Comfort will recognize its graduates at 8 p.m. on Friday, May 27, while the Geneva School of Boerne’s ceremony is the following day.
Congratulations to all members of the Class of 2022.
I’d also like to extend a special congratulations to my high school intern, Tenley Jackson, who will walk across the stage at BISD Stadium a week from tonight. Tenley is a Boerne High School senior and did a remarkable job working for us at The Star. I hope you’ve seen some of her work throughout this academic year, both stories and pictures.
Tenley will be attending the University of Texas at Austin in the fall, and she has an incredibly bright future ahead of her. It has been a pleasure to help her – at least a little – on her path to success. The editor of the BHS yearbook again this year, she has the potential to be one of those great success stories and one of those we can claim “we knew you when …”
Congrats, Tenley, and the very best of luck!
And, again, congratulations and the best of luck to all of our graduates. May God bless you on your journey, may you all find great success and may you always remember being a part of the Class of 2022.
Congratulations to all the parents as well.
And, as always, thanks for reading.
The Star’s special graduation section will publish as part of the Tuesday, May 24, newspaper.
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