'Don’t give up-with feet on the ground, reach for the stars': Mayor DeVries delivers message to IDEA graduation

Not even the blanket of grey skies and the looming threat of rain could dampen the excitement of the 2022 graduating class of IDEA Homeschool, held May 24 at the Menard Sports Complex.

IDEA Homeschool is the largest and longest running Alaska homeschooling program outside of the MSBSD. The program has options for full-time enrollment, students who take classes at public and private schools while enrolled at IDEA, and part-time enrollment, and special education needs.

The commencement had all of the usual elements-diplomas, tassels, excited students, nervous ones too, and proud family and friends. But there was one unique portion of the ceremony- the diplomas were given by the parents rather than a principal or staff member, honoring the broad spectrum of students that attend IDEA and the people who support them along their path to earning their high school diploma.

“At IDEA, there are 2 types of graduates…one group are our kids that pretty much followed a traditional homeschool path with their parents as their primary educator,” said IDEA Director Daryl Bowers. “We also have our I-grad program, which is a credit recovery program for kids that face substantial headwinds to get their diplomas.”

Bowers explained that since it is often the parents who do the majority of the heavy lifting to help get the students to this point, it is the parents who should be giving the graduates their diplomas.

Guest speaker Mat-Su Borough Mayor Edna DeVries delivered the Commencement Address to the graduates with a simple message: “keep your feet on the ground, but reach for the stars.” The message had resonance as she told guests that it was a message given during her own high school graduation.

DeVries explained that the stars were the graduates’ dreams and goals and encouraged them to pursue their stars, but to also remember to be practical, grounded, and use common sense, intuition, or spirit that lives within.

Her words come from her own experience as she told the graduates about reaching for her own star of becoming a teacher, something she had to hold off for 18 years as her life happened until she got a good hold on her own star.

“Sometimes life will sometimes happen and you’ll find you still have that star,” she said, “You may not get a good hold on it, and it may not be fulfilled for many years…but don’t give up. Continue to keep those goals and dreams alive because we need each one of you with your unique talents and unique abilities to make this a much better place,” she encouraged.

DeVries acknowledged that the graduates may have heard her words before, she wanted to enforce them again

“I’m sure many of you heard many times over your short life ‘get up, get outta bed” knowing that there will be many times in the morning you will feel like throwing in the towel and you haven’t accomplished anything. That the mountains ahead of you are too big for you to climb, or there’s no way around them, but let me encourage you that there is. There’s always a way to pass the impossible, no matter what is facing you.”

She also spoke of her affinity for young people, spending much of her life teaching, watching them mature, and face the challenges that may come their way.

“You all were uniquely made and wonderfully formed, and with that each one of you have unique talents and abilities, some of you may have already discovered that…so I ask you to concentrate on those things. Allow those gifts and talents that you have to be able to shine through your life, not only for yourself, but for your community. No matter where you go, whether it’s Alaska or someplace else, you will find that you’re in a community, a neighborhood, a family, a group setting, and that community needs each one of you to bring forth the gifts and talents that you have.”