My First School Board Meeting

I anxiously waited at the bottom of the stairs leading up to my parent's bedroom as I waited for my father to finish getting ready. By ILC standards, not being fifteen minutes early is considered late and 5:45 PM was approaching quickly. When he got in the car, I explained to him once more how the evening should play out on our way to LeVonya DeJean Middle School. Pulling into the parking lot, I saw many familiar faces of friends from other cohorts. As my father and I entered the auditorium, I saw members of my own cohort and said hello.

Our chaperone, Mr. Hillyer, called us over for some quick introductions and a discussion. He told us about how we will get to visit other colleges and about all the ideas he has for our trip! We will get to spend a day in Manhattan, possibly go to a Phillies baseball game, go out for weekly dinners and see tons of historical landmarks around Philadelphia. Being a history teacher, I'm sure he will have lots of fantastic things to talk about as we tour the East Coast. I feel truly blessed to have such an amazing chaperone!

This was my first School Board meeting to have attended, so I was not sure what the agenda would be like. I talked to Audrey about it because she has been to a couple meetings in the past and she told me a little bit about what to expect. The meeting started and we all listened patiently as we waited for our turn to present ourselves. My group got called up third to last and both Mr. Hillyer and Audrey gave beautiful and inspirational speeches. It felt amazing standing up there in front of the Board, the community and the other ILC students. I knew everyone was so proud of us all to have been accepted to this wonderful program. At the end of Audrey's speech, Mr. Hillyer had us introduce ourselves and then gave us our certificate. I must say, it was a beautiful certificate, although my first name was spelled incorrectly. It was missing the final "h." We were applauded and sat back down.

After even more great speeches, I was very impressed by the quality of each speech, we gathered to take the group photo. It was not as difficult to get a picture of this group of over one hundred people as I had expected. Afterwards, my cohort met up once again and our parents met our chaperone. By the end of the evening, I am happy to say that I feel as if my cohort, my chaperone, and the program and school I was selected for are the perfect match for me and I am unbelievably excited for this summer!