Ms. RG, Mr. Kyle, Mr. Behnke, Mr. Scanlon, Mrs. Christiansen, Mr. Brewer, Mr. Peterson, Mrs. Moy, Mr. Hayes, Mr. Otto, Mrs. Moynihan, Mrs. Herschl, Mrs. Wycoff, Ms. Radichel, Mrs. Voss, Dr. Zimmerman, Ms. Miller, Mr. Melton, Mr. Martin, Mrs. Lee, Mr. Desens, Mr. Scalise, Dr. Helgeson, Mr. Sullivan, Ms. Jagim, Mr. Seppala, Mr. Laurent, Mrs. Heineman, thank you for teaching here at AVHS and directly affecting my education. Without these teachers, I wouldn’t be the same person.

I want to take time to thank some of my current and former teachers individually, because of the significant impact they have had on my life.

Thanks, Mr. Brewer, for giving me an understanding of our government–something I can actually use in real life.

Thank you, Mr. Peterson, Mrs. Moynihan, and Mr. Seppala, for so much, namely fostering my love of math and pushing me beyond what I thought I could do. In math, once you think you’ve hit a wall, someone will kick that wall down and show you that you can do so much more–that person is a math teacher. Even though Mrs. Moynihan roasted me for failing my license test sophomore year, she sent me into Calc with enough preparation to survive. Even though Calc BC got me my worst grades in high school, I gained a foundation for years of math to come. And CLADE was the most challenging yet rewarding math class I have been a part of at AVHS, where our curiosity and confusion about math reached new levels. (We also ate a lot of food and got off task.)

Thanks, Mr. Otto (even though I only had you for two trimesters) for being one of the coolest and most knowledgeable teachers at AVHS.

Thanks, Mrs. Voss, for your emphatic nodding and smiling during some of the worst speeches I have ever heard.

Thank you, Mr. Martin, for being one of the few English teachers I have had that gives genuine feedback on my writing. I know that you want each of your students to succeed and do their best. You really provide individual teaching based on different ability levels, which is something that many take advantage of and is rare to find. Also, thank you for starting this newspaper–I am so proud of what it has become over the past year.

Thank you, Ms. Jagim, for pushing all of us to our writing limit in AP Lit. I just turned in a 12-page paper that I am really proud of, and I was able to do it because you give us the skills and tools we need to succeed. The depth that we go to in our texts forces us to expand our understanding of the world and take a second look at those familiar stories. Your class and knowledge is one of the most valuable experiences at AVHS.

I have spent four years of my life at this school and met many different people. Everyone you meet knows something that you don’t. Find out what that is. And you know something that they don’t. Tell them what that is.

It’s ok to spend three nights in a row watching Netflix in bed instead of doing homework. Me-time is necessary to getting through high school. But don’t get far behind, and use your time in school well.

There’s not much to high school. You wake up and go to class and do your work and in the meantime, have fun. Utilize this time to enjoy life rather than stressing out about schoolwork.

You will move on to greater things and eventually, high school will seem so insignificant in your mind. But for now, it’s the hardest thing we have done so far. With that in mind, don’t sweat the small stuff, and know that what seems like the end of your world will be forgotten about down the road.

Thanks, AVHS.