The truth is, the Brother Martin High School Class of 2018’s final year really began in the second week of school.
While the first week was filled with the well-rehearsed tasks of finding a new locker, preparing for that last calculus class, or finally having lunch at the front of the Benson Mall, it’s really the second week where things get serious. There’s the Senior Ring Mass, where the most precious symbols of being a senior Crusader are blessed and conferred, the Fun in the Sun Day where the upperclassmen bond for the rest of the year, and there is the mandatory meeting for seniors and parents.
It’s the latter that grounds families in reality — launching them fast and furiously into facing that this is it – the year their sons finish high school, select colleges, maneuver the maze of the college financial aid process, finalize those last service hours and, somewhere in between, soak up the experience of being seniors.
“It’s going to go by quickly,” Principal Ryan Gallagher ’00 said at Monday night’s meeting.
Seniors and their parents heard all they needed to know for this last, jam-packed year. Assistant Principal for Academics Deborah Broussard reminded families about ways to boost grade-point averages and continue to strive for their individual academic excellence; College Placement Counselor Kelly Wild meticulously detailed the college application process and acknowledged upcoming deadlines; Director of Campus Ministry and Service Programs Coordinator Thomas Baier outlined retreat rotations and senior service hour requirements.
More than 500 were in attendance at the mandatory meeting in the Benson Mall. They received a copy of their transcript, turned in permission forms and graduation materials, and they got an idea of a strategy for surviving senior year.
“He’s ready,” said Eboness Young, mother to senior Darnell Young. “He’s learned at Brother Martin to accept responsibility and work things out on his own. I’m here to help, but Brother Martin taught me not to interfere in his growth. He can do this.”
Nearby, her son smiled. He’s interested in applying to Clark Atlanta University, where his mother is an alum. He’s working at reaching his full academic potential with his ACT score.
“It’s tough at times,” he admitted. “But all my friends who graduated before me said that while the work seems hard now, it evens out in college. The classes, the material, the professors here are no pushovers. I feel prepared.”
Parent Ryan Robbins ’90, has twin boys at Brother Martin, Brandon and Blake. He’s confident they will manage the college application process well.
“This is certainly the biggest decision of their lives,” he said.
He said it’s evident that how Brother Martin treats its students makes for better prepared young men.
“It’s made them (his sons) more than prepared for these decisions. No doubt in my mind that they are able to handle all of this because of Brother Martin.”
With all that’s coming up, parents are encouraged to visit the Brother Martin website for more information on Senior Class news.
