Far Above Peconic Waters

High School Graduation

Pierson Hill has a way of shaping our lives-the hill we climb- the friends we meet, the goals we tend to-and when we reach the top- then what? There awaits the next hill to climb, the new friends to meet, the broader goals to tend to. The hills, the valleys, the sink holes, the mountains, all part of the same terrain – the landscape of our lives.

The graduates, many wearing high- top sneakers and sunglasses, reflect a new age, a new hope, an extensive view of the world. From my vantage point, as kindergarten teacher to some, they have grown certainly, almost two or three feet since their departure from our classroom door, but they have also grown in ways that have nurtured their hearts and their souls and their minds - growing into the people they are meant to be. Yet, the very person at their kindergarten core-the essence of who they are and who they are meant to be, that is there from the start …and it remains. It is perhaps this human glow that I see in their eyes-the same eyes that laughed and sang and played in kindergarten, stood on that hill today preparing for the next hill, the new challenge, the climb.

I stood on that same hill nearly 50 years ago. My Pierson Days remain with me always. The brick facade had been painted white and was endlessly peeling. There was a girl’s door and a boy’s door on either side of the school for entry and all classes from kindergarten through 12th grade were housed in that one main building. If there existed a nursery or preschool in town, I never heard of either – we stayed home until the first day of kindergarten which was on split session-morning and afternoon. Moms were scheduled to bring in cookies for snack time. Girls were forbidden to wear pants, even on snowy days, when their dresses were tucked into their snow pants. There was no lunch program but a half pint of milk was available for a nickel. The campus was open and no matter the age; you were free to wander at lunchtime. I spent most of my lunch hours with my closest friend and Mary our crossing guard, sitting on the split rail fence nearby.

While in Pierson, our world faced the Vietnam War, the draft, the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Bobby Kennedy, Watergate, the Civil Rights Movement, Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon …… I remember borrowing a small black and white TV from my family’s motel to bring into my classroom so we could all watch important events unfold– we gathered and faced all of this together in what felt like a small isolated and insulated town on the very edge of the world.

And now our country, our earth, and our students, face similar challenges. What will these young peacemakers bring to our world as we retired teachers find our AARP notices in the mailbox. What dreams will they encounter? Will the light in their young eyes continue to shine through these trials? What can we do to help it glow?

There is something I always wonder about- if those graduating seniors know how they have carved a place in our hearts; in the hearts of all of their teachers along the way. Good days, bad days-of course, challenges - without a doubt. And although they will be moving ahead with their lives, a special part of them remains in our hearts. It is an admiration and love that transcends time and place and circumstance. As they toss their caps toward the sun, surrounded by their family and friends, we, their teachers, stand on the periphery filled with memories and the utmost pride of having been part of their lives and their journey. A time to reminisce, a joy, an epitaph, at having been a piece, a part, a fragment of something so amazing.

Congratulations to all the 2024 graduates- remember to enjoy this one wild and precious life.