At our Sedro-Woolley High School’s 104th graduation on June 6, we honored our 204 graduates.

There is an African proverb that states “It takes a whole village/community to raise a child.”

Certainly this was the case again in 2008, where $852,348 in scholarship money was awarded to our graduates — most coming from our Sedro-Woolley community.

After the graduation a number of people asked me about my graduation message and sharing it with others. I thought my monthly Courier-Times article would be a good way to get the message shared with our graduating class out to our community. Here is the content of the message:

I would like to talk about a word I think means a lot to you graduates tonight — the word is “hope.”

One of our main jobs in our schools is to instill you with “hope” as you leave our system.

As you know, one of our current presidential candidates uses the phrase “Audacity of Hope” many times when he speaks and has actually written a book with that title.

I believe we need to think beyond the “audacity” of hope and think the “necessity” of hope in our lives.

As you walk away from SWHS tonight and face your lifetime ahead you are experiencing many emotions — questions and unknowns — highs and lows — doubts one moment and optimism the next.

Please realize as you take your new journey that we are all neighbors and that hope is what makes for a strong community as it carries from one person to another. We live in a world in which we need to both share in the responsibility of each other and also have hope for a better future.

In our lives and our society today, it has become easy to say things are bad and going to get worse. Statements like: “look at the price of food and gas;” “it is not my problem;” “that is someone else’s job,” “it is not my community,” and “it is not in my part of the world” are prevalent.

Just like “hope” can be a motivator, so can “hopelessness.”

Hopelessness we face is created in our own minds. It often creates barriers so high we cannot see what is over the top on the other side.

In life, there are those who have hope for the future and see the need to respond, and those who do not. You all have the potential to be either of those people — It is your choice and decision!

Hope is a belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one’s life. Practical hope is a necessity of life — it is believing that a better outcome is possible even when there is some evidence to the contrary.

Hope can save us from fear and despair. Hope can take us beyond perceived possibilities and create a better world and life for all of us.

Hope in the future is what drives us to change. The necessity of hope must be grounded in a practical way. Merely hoping things will happen will lead us down a road to nowhere. Making things happen by stepping up and doing whatever it takes, will make our hopes a reality.

In life we have choices every day, week, month and year. The choice we make to have hope is what gets us through our days and nights. It is a rainbow, an inspiration, a spark, a moving beyond the moment — it is always present, but more noticeable in difficult times.

It is triumph over despair. Class of 2008, hope is something that I “hope” you take with you tonight.



Venn is the Sedro-Woolley School District superintendent. He can be reached at 360-855-3500