Principal Left Something on All 459 Seniors' Chairs

Talk about a big effort
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 21, 2021 11:35 AM CDT
Updated Jun 26, 2021 7:00 AM CDT
Principal Left Special Note on All 459 Seniors' Chairs
Stock image of graduation seating (sadly without really cool notes on each chair).   (Getty Images)

A Florida high school principal spent the last several months of the school year crafting personalized notes for each of the 459 graduates and left them on their seats to read before receiving their diplomas, per the AP. Matanzas High School principal Jeff Reaves scoured through transcripts, emails and used his own personal memories to prepare the notes in time for the June 2 graduation, the Daytona Beach News Journal reported. He wanted to do something special since their last two years in school were marred by the coronavirus pandemic. "I want to be positive for our students, especially in a time where there’s a lot of negativity and turmoil in the world," Reaves said.

Reaves said the process was especially beneficial to him as he got a chance to learn more about each student. "It’s easy to get caught up in the numbers, but it’s the names that really matter. I was doing my part to help them feel connected as a community and have their high school experience to be positive." Culinary arts teacher Lisa Kittrell told the newspaper that in 25 years working in education, she’s never seen a principal do anything this personal for the graduating seniors. "When the little girl, who was sitting in my row at graduation, opened up her note and read it, she went 'Wow, I can’t believe he did this and remembered this about me,'" Kittrell said. "It was just so touching."

(More uplifting news stories.)

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