Mission students showcase hard work, plans
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ST. IGNATIUS — Beaming smiles and the sounds of laughter filled the halls of nearly every St. Ignatius School District building April 25 as students, parents and faculty alike participated in the latest installment of St. Ignatius’ Community Showcase.
“I love it,” smiled middle school principal Dan Durglo. “It’s an opportunity to display and showcase all the talent and expertise we have at our school from kindergarten to twelfth grade.”
Durglo’s son Connor then read aloud a story he’d written in class for his father, eliciting a still wider grin from Dan.
“It’s great,” Durglo said. “It’s a chance for parents to come in and have a nice, positive interaction here at the school, and for the school to showcase all the students and talents we have here.”
As parents and students made their way through the middle school halls, evidence of students’ hard work adorned walls, tables and ceilings alike. In one hallway, paper storm clouds depicting rain hung above pots filled with flowers and vegetables students had planted earlier in the spring. Down another hall, storybooks bearing the names of middle school students and containing tales of winged creatures and drawings of flying students sat proudly on one side, while marshmallow catapults made from plastic spoons, toothpicks and wooden tongue depressors sat on the other. Above, life-sized cardboard cutouts of native birds hung from the rafters.
Superintendent Bob Lewandowski said the yearly event “is a big part of graduation and trying to get everyone — kindergarten through 12th grade — involved in the expectations and accomplishments of our kids.”
Lewandowski pointed to the senior showcase presentations as one such accomplishment.
High school seniors work on senior projects throughout the year and present them at the event. The students spend a great deal of time during their senior year researching, creating and practicing a presentation to be given during the showcase. Presentations are graded by three advisors and, if students do not get at least a score 3 out of 5 in every category, they cannot graduate.
“It’s a lot of pressure and I’m a little nervous,” laughed senior Nikko Alexander. “But it shouldn’t be too bad.”
This year’s showcase theme was, “Where I’ve been; Where I am now; Where I’m going.”
“It’s a trifold with everything that I’ve done in my life,” Alexander said. “I have to do a 25-30 minute speech and score above a 3 out of 5 in every category to graduate. It’s based on a five-year plan, so it’s really cool to see where all my fellow classmates are going to go next year.”
Alexander’s own path will be south on U.S. Highway 93. His presentation’s “Where I’m Going” section contained two pieces of material. The first was his acceptance letter from the University of Montana, where he will attend his first semester of college as a pre-law freshman this fall.
The second was a fairly simple phrase, deep in meaning and seeming to apply to every graduating senior of St. Ignatius High School.
The phrase read, “The road to success will be whatever I choose it to be.”
“It went very well,” Lewandowski said at the event’s conclusion. “It’s kind of one of those pinnacle moments for our seniors. It’s great here in our school to do this, and we’re very proud that we’re one of a few schools that do this.”
