"Senior Honoring Ceremonies" are designed to celebrate each graduating senior--not just the few who have shown outstanding achievement in academics or athletics.
A vase filled with a variety of long-stemmed flowers sits in the center of a softly lit room. The first circle of chairs holds a number of students and the teachers who will address them. In the chairs behind them are parents and other faculty.
After a welcome by the school principal, teachers go one at a time to the center of the circle, select a unique flower from the vase, and stand before a surprised and curious student. One teacher begins: "I have watched you grow this last year and become strong like the sturdy stalk of this giant iris. When you came into my class, I could tell that you were used to being one of the clowns. Yet, when it came time to share our stories, you took the first risk. You inspired all of us with the courage of your vulnerability. I want to honor you for the warmth you brought to each of us and the initiative and courage you've shown. I respect you as a leader and value you as a friend."
The young man beams. His father, behind him, looks stunned. This is his younger son--the cutup, the disappointment after the academic achiever who went before him, the one who has brought his father too many times to the disciplinary dean's office. After listening to one of the most respected teachers in the school describe the outstanding gifts of character this boy has demonstrated in his final year of high school, the father's face is soft, tears glistening. He places is hands on his son's broad shoulders. One squeeze tells the boy that his father has heard, that he sees him in a new light.
In the father's eyes looms a key question: What went right?
The answer: At the heart of every adolescent experience is an exquisite opening to spirit--an awakening of energy when larger questions of meaning and purpose, of ultimate beginnings and endings, begin to press with both an urgency and a loneliness much too powerful to be dismissed as "hormones." What went right is that this young man found experiences that nourished his spiritual development.
Source: SHIFT: At the frontiers of consciousness, June-August 2008