Lovejoy High School Parents and Friends,

"Whenever you find tears in your eyes, especially unexpected tears, it is well to pay the closest attention.

They are not only telling you something about the secret of who you are, but more often than not God is speaking to you through tem of the mystery of where you have come from and is summoning you to where, if your souls is open, you should go next." - Frederick Buechner- Whistling in the Dark

Perhaps there is no greater insight to our soul than our tears.

This morning as I parked my car in the LovejoyHigh School parking lot for the very last school day as the Principal, tears could not help but well in my eyes. What a journey, an adventure for sure. From my very first day back in 2005 working on the Lovejoy Elementary playground build to the culmination of a community dream at 10 am tomorrow, it has been good for my soul.

I just finished an interview with a local paper this morning who asked me a very poignant question, "So, how does it feel?" Internally I raced through hundreds of emotions, but verbalized just one- Proud. I am so proud of not only my kids of the Class of 2010 (now young men and women taller than me and driving nicer cars), but all of them. They have embraced being a Lovejoy Leopard. It was a task that was very daunting at the beginning.

I am thankful for each of you who supported this journey along the way, whether whole-heartedly or with caution; nonetheless it did not go unnoticed. I am thankful for encouraging words many sent along the way, the sometimes difficult feedback that was given, and even more so for those who even in our disagreements, still showed respect for the greater cause- thank you.

As I slowly moisten my keyboard with my tears, they are not tears of sadness, although I will miss my kids, they are tears of joy and excitement of what legacy has begun. As Gavan takes the reigns of Lovejoy High, I know first hand that the vision and success of the school rests not solely on the shoulders of who sits in this seat, but as evidenced of the past four years, primarily on the hearts and minds of the kids who walk these halls.

They are the lifeblood of Lovejoy.

Ok, enough sappy, all the way from the very first day of opening where we had to run goats off of the parking lot so the buses could get by to the last name of the Class of 2010 being announced tomorrow, we have much to be proud of.

It has been an honor and my greatest joy.

Once a Leopard, Always a Leopard...