Senior Send-Off 2019
Renae Marcus
5th Grade Teacher
Your fifth grade year was my first year as a teacher at SBA! I cherish all of the memories from you teaching me how to do my first ever chapel program to your Navajo student pen pals to finding a dog skull deep in the woods on our creekside exploration. It has been a joy to watch you grow in so many ways over these last eight years. I pray that you will look to the Lord daily for strength and wisdom as you begin this new journey.
Brenda Rayburn
Director of Fine Arts
Already? Where did the time go? Congratulations on your accomplishments and may God bless you with your future plans and goals. Each of you has left a forever mark at SBA. My prayer for you is that you go out into the world and stand for Christ. Strive to bring others to Him and make a difference for eternity. For some of you who are so gifted artistically, whether in music, drama, dance or visual art, I challenge you to use those gifts for the advancement of God's Kingdom. My prayers go with you and I want you to know we will miss you. Remember...Once a Seahawk, always a Seahawk!
Nikki Bautista
Señora Bautista
To the class of 2019:
When I look back at the class of 2019, The first thing I think of is “sloths.” And not as a reflection of your character! But because of how the sloth-board spread through the school for that semester. Your influence was already being felt! I think about all the hopes and dreams you had when you first came into 9th grade. Because I taught some of you in 8th grade, I know how restless and ready you were to leave middle school. (Hence the “no-non words.”) I know that you really couldn’t wait to get into high school and scout a new path with a new sense of freedom. It’s kind of how you feel now--chomping at the bit, ready to go. You came into a place that was both familiar and scary, open to new possibilities but protected, of exploring on your own but being guided on the way.
Having been with you the last 4 years, I also know that high school hasn’t been everything you wanted it to be. Your well-thought-out plans haven’t worked out. The class you thought you would ace, actually turned out not being so ace-able. The friend you knew would be there for life is gone, in one way or another. The tryouts, parts in the plays, victories and games that you looked forward to didn’t pan out. Disappointments, bad choices with the accompanying consequences, and challenges that seemed to get the better of you were a part of this high school experience. But as they say, appearances can be deceiving.
When I look at this class--your class--I see that you have learned more than academic lessons. You have learned that disappointment is really a choice--a choice to trust. To trust yourself in the difficult moments, to trust your friends in the discouragement, to trust God in the uncertainty. I see a class that has an honest assessment of themselves and an acceptance of each other--because you understand that acceptance brings you all closer and builds a unity that lasts.
I also see a class that savors the moment, that faces the present with an adamant refusal to let the past hold them down and refuses to remain fixed on the challenges you have had to go through. Instead, you choose to focus on the future. I believe that somehow in your heart of hearts you know the truth of I Peter 5:10, “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.” And although sometimes suffering is self-inflicted there is a confidence knowing that none of it goes to waste. God is not thwarted by us, our mistakes and our weakness. He will work out His plan and that should bring us faith and joy.
So, as you go off into the next step, feeling much like you did in 8th grade, don’t forget the most important lessons you’ve learned here: Trust, Acceptance and Hope. Thank you for impressing those lessons on my heart and life.
I hope you know that I will miss you--and even in the all the moments we have shared: of joy, accomplishment, stress, heartache, and even exasperation--I hope you also know that you have been loved.
Señora Bautista
Callie Crews
Middle and High School Latin and Drama Teacher
Congratulations! I am so happy for you all! You are such a sweet and hard-working group! I pray that you will continue your close relationships and strive to use your gifts and talents to proclaim the name of Jesus to a world that is lost. Be kind, stay funny and allow yourself to be used by God.
Joy Fisk
High School English Teacher and Senior Homeroom Teacher
I was privileged to go with you all to D.C. last year and to Greece this past year. So many great memories! I taught many of you in English last year and looked over many of your senior speeches. I have loved seeing you all mature from last year to this year. I love the sense of humor in your class, the way you care for one another, and the passion and creativity I see in so many of you. I love this verse that Claire chose to paint on her senior tile: “A sweet friendship refreshes the soul” (Proverbs 27:9). This verse makes me think of your class- how you have refreshed one another even on the hard days and how you have often refreshed me and made me laugh. I will miss you rushing in to sit in my papasan chair, lying on the floor to take a nap in study hall, watching something together and laughing, or studying together side by side in homeroom. I will miss hearing “Hello Madam” from many of you. I will just miss… you.
A few last words of encouragement…
Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (Matthew 6:33)
I’ve seen many of you filled with anxiety over a test or a paper, and others of you wasting precious days of your life in vain pursuits or trying to get around rules made for your benefit. I am truly praying for each one of you to seek hard after the Lord. College holds a lot of wonderful things you are going to LOVE, but it also holds some temptations that can pull you away from what really matters. I am praying you don’t waste these years of your life seeking after things that will not satisfy you, no matter how pleasant they seem at the time. Not only is everything else empty, but ultimately it will actually harm you. Only God can fill that empty place in your heart. Relationships won’t fill it. Success won’t fill it. Being amazing at sports or fine arts won’t fill it. He created you for fellowship with him and he loves you more deeply than you can imagine. Run to him. Always.
Oh, and McCaulley…the glass is half full. Maybe even more than half full. ☺ Oh- and thank you all for letting me take your pictures!
With great affection and love, “Madam” Fisk
Slater Belew
Finance Teacher, Senior Homeroom Sponsor
It is hard to believe that 4 years has flown by this fast. I remember seeing y’all for the first time in Homeroom and that was when y’all were quiet/shy. Oh how times change over 4 years. It has been fun to watch y’all grow up into fine young men and women and I am excited about what God has in store for each one of you. I have enjoyed getting to know each senior through service projects, class conversations, Greece trip, during homeroom, and much more. I pray that each of you seek after God and continue to ask Him for guidance rather than the world.
To my homeroom Belewbian crew: know that you are always welcome back and know that y’all are the founding members of the Belewbian crew. Town of Salem won’t be the same without you as well as golf, kemps, card tricks, card throwing, and many more. Also to the adopted Belewbian members, you are apart of the homeroom as much as anyone due to the amount of time you spent in my room. Homeroom will not be the same.
Matthew 6:33 “Seek first the kingdom of God and all His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Much love, Coach Belew
Michelle Werner
Preschool Receptionist
WOW! Congratulations Class of 2019! I have known so many of you since preschool and it has been awesome to watch so many of you grow up here at Silverdale. I had the privilege and honor to coach many of you in Cross Country and Track and Field during your Middle School years. Those were some really great times! You all have now blossomed into young men and women and it is exciting to see where your future is taking you. Remember to always stay true to yourself and always believe in yourself! I wish you success and blessings as you leave SBA to go out into the world of adulthood. A verse that is dear to my heart and I always shared with you is... Hebrews 12:1. "Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."
Evan Pierce
Middle School Bible Teacher
Anne Widener
School Nurse
I am thrilled for each of you to begin this new season in your lives! It has been an absolute joy and honor to serve as your school nurse this past year. I encourage you to dream big and pray often. You can be and achieve anything you set your mind to! So proud of each any every one of you! Always remember: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2
Roslyn McCoy
Middle School Principal
As I look at the picture from our Creation Museum trip, I see many of you in the picture and my mind races to stories of you and your time at SBA, but specifically in middle school. By the time you made it to this trip you had middle school pretty well figured out and were soaring until the end. There were many fun times in class, on our sports teams, in our musical performances, at the Operation Christmas Child warehouse and on this trip. There were times of challenge and struggle, as well as times of winning and success. All of those experiences make up who you are and who your class has become. I am so proud of you! Congratulations to you all. It will good to watch you leave this place and make your mark on your culture. Remember what the Lord requires of you and run to HIM at every turn. Impact those around you. Micah 6:8 “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness,[a] and to walk humbly with your God? As Moses said to Aaron and his sons, I want to bless you with HIS words: Numbers 6:22 - 27 “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” Much love, Mrs. McCoy
Jana Herron
Chemistry Teacher
My first Chemistry class!! What a trip....we had a great time. I wish all of you a great experience in college. I would like to leave you a few memories from class...enjoy! Love you!
Trisha Morgan
Upper School Receptionist
Congratulations Class of 2019. May you always learn from your past, be intentional with your present and look forward to your future. You did it!
Margarita Ioannidis
High School Dean of Academics
Dear 2019 senior class, I love you with all my heart and I am so thankful for all the special moments we have shared through the years leading to the senior trip to Greece! As you graduate please know that I am so proud of you and we pray that you continue to glow with the love of God and the power of the Holy Spirit in your lives! "You are our pride and joy" 1 Thessalonians 2:20
