Fifty-two heads held high

The following is a column by Lt. Governor Mark Parkinson. A press photo of the Lt. Governor can be found at www.governor.ks.gov/LtGov/pressphoto.htm

I love our state motto, Ad Astra Per Aspera: To the stars through difficulties. It encapsulates the strength, resilience and determination displayed by the pioneers, soldiers, farmers and small business who have tamed this prairie state for nearly 150 years.

It is a motto I saw personified in the graduating eighth graders and high school seniors in the town of Greensburg just over one month ago.

Their homes destroyed, their school obliterated and their town wiped off the map, the students of Greensburg came together on Cannonball Golf Course, not only to celebrate the achievements and accomplishments of their school careers, but also to demonstrate to the world – Mother Nature included – that they would not go quietly into the night.

Their graduation symbolized more than the rite of passage thousands of Kansas teens experience every year. The ceremony saw the people of Greensburg declare their strength, their resilience and their determination in the face of incalculable odds.

Further, their neighbors in Haviland rose to the challenge as well, providing shelter, support and volunteers following the tornado. This doesn’t surprise me, since the area’s residents have continually displayed servant leadership.

Robert Johnston served as the president of Barclay College for a number of years, but recently returned to the school as head of the maintenance department. Not because he needed the pay, not because he necessarily wanted to, but because it needed to be done. That’s leadership, and the people of Haviland have continued to display it to this day.

I am continually impressed with the character of individuals throughout our state; however, I was especially inspired by the perseverance, commitment and willpower of those 52 young men and women as they each walked across that stage with heads held high, resolved to face the world and any challenge, obstacle or setback the future might throw at them.

Ad Astra Per Aspera: To the stars through difficulties.

To the students and people of Greensburg, this phrase is more than a motto. To them, it is a way of life.

Listen to the Lt. Governor’s monthly column at www.governor.ks.gov/LtGov/audio.htm

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