Dear School Family,
Tonight, we will graduate sixty-five
seniors from our graduating class. Twenty one of these students have spent
their entire educational life here at Hickory Grove Christian School.We will open our doors
that are designed to protect them from outside influences and yet allows them
to grow into adults that will impact the world. These students will enter the likes of West Point, UNC
Charlotte, UNC Chapel Hill,and UNC Wilmington, Columbia
International University, East Carolina, and Western Carolina. They will go to
faraway places like Mississippi College, Baylor University,the University of Miami, Georgia Tech,
and Towson State. They will begin careers as police officers, teachers, and
many yet undecided fields and play sports like soccer, softball and basketball.
They have come to Hickory Grove Christian School from Bosnia, China, Vietnam
and numerous other far and distant lands and they will return to many of those
places different than when they arrived.
It has been a good year--not a perfect
year, but a good year. It has displayed moments full of joy and happiness and
moments of tears. Some of our students have
come to know the Lord, others have decided on careers, and others developed a
deep affection for our Lord. But, through it all, God has walked with us. He
has led us, disciplined us and grown us--all for His Glory. God's guidance is
not ending with the end of school, but it just continues.
The end of school is a bittersweet moment
in the lives of students, teachers, and all who are connected with the school. For some, they are
leaving Hickory Grove and heading out to a world full of wonder and awe. It is a world that seeks to lure our students and reject
our students at the same time. It has always been our desire to prepare our
children, our students for a landscape that is remarkably different than the
landscape that we left ourselves just a few years ago. And as a faculty, we are
different, too.
It is my prayer that we will continually huddle under the
umbrella of God as we teach, learn, graduate, and move on to our next
destination. Lord, let our footsteps be
strong and confident; let our speech be seasoned with compassion; let our focus
be upon the goal of an eternal Kingdom that compels us to live with great
passion for our Lord. I hope to see you again soon. Have a great summer!
In His Service,
Jimmie Quesinberry
Head of School