Houston Christian High School students are resilient, digital natives with a new set of skills that will allow them to perform at the highest level wherever they go and succeed in whatever they do! Our students did ten weeks of class, took and submitted fifteen AP exams, created weekly student announcements, received their academic, arts and athletic awards, participated in the Red Shirt ceremony and celebrated each other - and it was all online. While this spring our seniors lost the chance to do many traditional HC rites of passage, the Class of 2020 did not waver for a moment and made the most of their virtual spring semester.
We are thrilled to welcome our 22nd graduating class of 2020 into the Alumni Association! These seniors are resilient and adaptable and add their class’s unique experience to our legacy! They transformed many great senior moments and traditions into virtual experiences. Our seniors worked together to create a Red Shirt Day video for the junior class - leaving their friends with helpful advice for being leaders at the school next year. The Senior Car Parade allowed our seniors to strut their college pride through car decorations, spirit wear and skirt adornments to show off where they are headed next fall. They also got to visit their new senior bricks that “mark their spots” at Houston Christian! While they missed out on prom and the senior cruise, they donated the funds to the Houston Food Bank and lunches for the front line caregivers at Memorial Hermann. It was a true pleasure to be able to celebrate this special class by having a live and in-person graduation where families and students gathered safely on our football field to celebrate all the hard work the Class of 2020 has accomplished in the past four years.
Here is a note from our Student Council leadership on how this spring has impacted the Class of 2020:
"COVID-19 has hit the Class of 2020 especially hard. Unable to see our friends and teachers during our last months of high school, us seniors were left to deal with an uncertain and saddening end to our senior year. Nearly all our end of the year activities were canceled: powder puff, prom, senior pranks, the red shirt ceremony, and sadly, the senior cruise. While we were initially saddened by all these changes, we decided to see this as an opportunity to give back to our community. Instead of taking back the cruise money, we decided to put it to good use. Using the cruise money, we decided to give back to the men and women on the front lines of this pandemic and donated 150 meals to Memorial Hermann healthcare workers from the Cadillac Bar. In addition to this, we used the rest of the cruise money to make a $10,000 donation to the Houston Food Bank. While us seniors are incredibly saddened by the loss of our last months in school, we are so grateful to be able to give back to the men and women struggling day in and day out to combat COVID-19. Our hearts and prayers go out to these men and women, and we were honored to give our cruise money to help our community in this small way."
--
Ellie Ashby '20
&
Payson Thomas '20
Student Council President & Vice President
Graduation was held on May 29
th
as a live event on our Mustang Field in the stadium. To wrap up the year, and after much discussion with students, parents and school leadership, HC decided to do the event outdoors in full compliance with TEA guidelines. It was a beautiful evening and the Lord blessed us all with a spectacular sunset. As we celebrated our 114 graduates and their families, we heard from our valedictorian and salutatorians,
Taylor Allen ’20
and
Ellie Ashby ‘20
, and also from alumna,
Natalia Khalaf ‘03, MD, MPH, FACP,
who had extremely wise words to share with our students. We also witnessed
Bobby Linhart
exuberantly accept the Excellence in Teaching award,
Josh Wilmot ‘20
accept the Servant Leadership Award and the
MPC Board
accept the Civitas Award in honor of the blessings, love and leadership that they share with HC every day.
