May 2022
I saw a story on the national news this week about a school in Arizona and how proud they were that they had achieved a 100% graduation rate. Laurynne, feel free to dust off your shoulder.
The first time I heard Laurynne’s name I was actually still working my previous job and was doing a virtual meeting with my future colleagues here at Burt Township. At the end of last school year, we planned the ever-so-complicated scheduling meeting so that Mr. Tester who was up in Alaska, and myself down in Austin, Texas, could attend. Much of the conversation revolved around this one student, Laurynne, and how we needed to take into account not only her Michigan Merit credits but also her dual enrollment. Realizing she was the only senior, I recommended that maybe we consider putting her in a class or two with some other students so she could have some more people around her. The retorts came swift and concise: Laurynne is happy being independent.
We all know first impressions are notoriously important. I had to trust my colleagues in what they were telling me but I also wanted to make up my own mind about what kind of person this sole graduating senior was. I spent most of this year building relationships with students, faculty, staff, parents, and community members. I learned that if you ask the Germfask students why they choose to go to Burt, you’ll get a couple of different answers. I feel like I was able to make up my own mind about Laurynne and I can tell you now, the reason she chose Grand Marais School is because of the small class sizes and the one-on-one attention she received. She indeed may be happy being independent but she is also keenly aware that she was never alone here.
Laurynne is a gentle soul, a kind-hearted young woman. Our interactions at the beginning of the year were brief but were always pleasant. As we got to know each other better our conversations became longer and continued to always remain pleasant – Laurynne once taught me that hamsters can only see about a couple of inches in front of them (shout out to our school hamster Oreo). I never once heard Laurynne complain or needed to talk to her about her behavior and was continually impressed with her commitment to her senior class trip. She worked hard academically and absolutely deserves to be the valedictorian not because she’s the only senior but because she genuinely earned it.
Just to give you a sense of Laurynne’s modestly confident work ethic, one day during this past winter the whole high school took a field trip to the school forest. The goal for the day was to build a fire and boil some pine needle tea using a homemade tripod. Everyone snowshoed out into the forest and all of the groups picked their sites. One group didn’t dig their snow out deep enough and another used more wet wood than dry. But Laurynne’s group, with Paige, Emma, and Hannah, had their fire rippin’ within minutes. Leaving the more smoke than fire from the other groups, I walked over to where the girls were sitting warm by the fire and asked them how they managed to start theirs so quickly. Laurynne looked me straight in the eyes and said, “We have a wood stove.” I thought to myself, “The Yooper roots are strong in this one.”
I cannot express how unique and memorable it is to have Laurynne as the first student to graduate under my tenure here at Burt. I am so proud of all that she has accomplished and look forward to hearing about her college studies at Bay and potential university studies at Albion. Congratulations to the graduating class of 2022. All one of you!
Laurynne Chrisian, Burt Township School District graduate, Class of 2022
