Our daughter, Alexandra Riffle, proudly graduated from MWHS this past Sunday, and we wanted to take a little moment of your time to reflect on her journey to the graduation stage, and what that has meant to us as the parents of a MWHS student.
When we first moved to Mound from Savage, MN, in 2002, Alex was entering the 1st grade at Hilltop Elementary. She was required to do some academic testing prior to her entrance, and it was discovered that she was below grade level in reading and comprehension. After tutoring and after school study sessions, she quickly caught up to her grade.
Then again, somewhere around the 3rd to 4th grade, Alex encountered further difficulty in reading and comprehension, as well as some struggles with math. Again, tutoring and after school study sessions were offered via Hilltop, and again Alex quickly caught up.
All throughout middle school at Grandview, Alex did very well in all of her classes, and especially took advantage of the wonderful art classes, in which she earned multiple State Fair blue ribbons.
Perhaps some of you already know of Alex at MWHS, through her participation in Student Senate and DECA. My point in describing her journey in limited detail is to show that there were multitudes of helping hands along the path of her journey.
Although Alex supplied her share of determination and perseverance, her accomplishments would not have been possible without the exceptional support and guidance offered by her teachers and counselors over the course of her career in District 277. This is a great source of pride for both me and my wife.
In watching the graduation ceremony, I was struck by the number of outstanding achievements, both athletic and scholastic, of the graduating seniors. I was also impressed that all-state honors in choir, art and DECA are celebrated at the same level as all-state honors in football and wrestling. It is this culture of achievement, of the testing and reaching of the outer limits of a student’s skills, encouraged and supported by the entire staff, which continues to give us great pride in this school district.
We are certain that Alex will look back fondly on her school experience, with many wonderful memories of the time spent with her friends, both student and staff. But, the one item which will never be forgotten, which was instilled in her during her journey to graduation, is the drive to explore and excel, promoted and supported by the entire school staff, which will benefit her immensely in her continuing education and in her adult life after school. For this, as parents, we will be forever grateful, and it will be an enduring source of MWHS pride to us for years yet to come.
Tracy, Zach, Alex and Greg Riffle
If you have a story that you would like to share, please email mwhspride@277apps.org for more information! We would love to hear from you!
No comments:
Post a Comment