Gulf Pine Catholic
•
June 3, 2016
17
S
acred
H
eart
From page 7
National Beta Club and National Honor Society.
She is co-founder and co-president of the Environ-
mental Club, a senior class representative and student
body secretary. Stewart is also a member of Future
Business Leaders of America and Social Justice
League. She competed as a member of the Math Team
for two years. Stewart was the 2015 recipient of the
Wellesley College Book Award, and was a Cum Laude
performer on the National Latin Exam in 2013 and
2014. Stewart was a 2014 Gold Key Recipient in the
Mississippi Scholastic Writing Competition, and was
a state winner and American Voices Nominee. She at-
tended American Legion Auxiliary Girls State and was
elected as a senator.
As an athlete, Stewart was a member of the cross
country, swim and track teams. She served as team
captain for the swim team as a senior and was a state
qualifier for four years. In cross country, she qualified
for state in 11th and 12th grades. She was honored as
a Forrest General Hospital/Coca-Cola Scholar Athlete
in 2015.
Stewart has volunteered at Forrest General Hospi-
tal’s Family Birthplace, Southern Pines Animal Shel-
ter, Hope House and St. Vincent DePaul. She has also
worked as a swim instructor at the YMCA.
She is the daughter of Deanna and Michael Stewart.
She plans to attend Western State Colorado University
and double major in Environmental and Sustainability
and Political Science.
O
ur
L
ady
A
cademy
From page 7
Salutatorian Diana Baroudi
is the daughter of Dr.
Bassam Baroudi and Mrs. Kinana Baroudi of Gulfport.
During her time at Our Lady Academy, Diana was an
active member of several clubs and organizations, in-
cluding the OLA basketball team, YMCA Junior Youth
Legislature, OLA Student Council, OLAAmbassadors,
and Students against Destructive Decisions. In addition,
she has been a member of the National Honor Society,
National Spanish Honor Society, and Mu Alpha Theta
Mathematics Honor Society. Diana has served leader-
ship positions in her school. She was elected as Student
Council Treasurer, National Honor Society Vice-Pres-
ident, and Outstanding Member of Mu Alpha Theta.
She has maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout high school
and has been awarded the American Citizenship award
for her sophomore year. She has also previously been
awarded for her academic achievement in English and
Math, and has been a Certificate of Merit. Diana has
also been selected to complete in Mississippi College’s
Science and Mathematics Competition during her junior
and senior year. Diana was nominated for the Chamber
of Commerce Award during her graduation ceremony.
Diana will attend Auburn University in the fall,
where she will major in biological science to pursue a
career in medicine.
Did We Tell Them Everything?
BY RHONDA PARKINSON CLARK, PHD
Associate Superintendent of Education
Congratulations to the graduating seniors in the
Class of 2016. Their Catholic education has served
them well. We are thankful for the teachers, coaches,
principals and staff who have been so integral to this
part of their foundation. They are now ready to conquer
life as they proceed down whatever path they have cho-
sen. These are words we often hear, but how can we be
certain that it is true? This year I was not only a school
administrator but the parent of a graduating senior. As
I talk to other parents, I have discovered that we are all
wondering the same things. Did we tell them everything
they need to know? Did they listen to anything we told
them? Are they really ready to go to college or to begin
that next chapter of their lives? Have we, as parents,
done all that we could do -- and all that we wanted to do
-- to make sure our children are prepared for what lies
ahead of them?
As our children graduated from high school over
the past few weeks, we all looked back at photographs
of them in elementary school and wondered where the
time had gone. Wasn’t it just yesterday that my little
boy had curly blond hair and glasses? When did he
become a 6’4” young man? We all realized that time
passed by far too quickly and that, whether we liked it
or not, these kids of ours were now young adults. The
questions weighing on all our minds were whether we
did enough, whether we adequately gave them the life
skills that they need to succeed, whether we set the
proper boundaries for them to make moral and ethi-
Dr. Rhonda Clark, assistant superintendent of
diocesan schools and her son, Stephen, a 2016
graduate of St. Patrick Catholic High School in
Biloxi
cal decisions on their own, whether we were good role
models that they admired and wanted to emulate. We
pray that, with the guidance of our Lord, the answer to
these questions is yes.
The Class of 2016 must now be spoken of in the
past tense. They are no longer high school students but
will eventually become the leaders of our church, com-
munity, schools and government. These young men and
women will never need their parents the way they did
when they were in elementary and middle school, and it
may be difficult for us to accept that we must allow them
to make their own decisions and, yes, to make their own
mistakes. It is now that we hope and we pray that all
of the lessons we have instilled in them for the past 18
years will guide them in life, and we hope and we pray
that they will still come to us and seek our guidance
when they need it. The foundation we started laying on
the day they were born is not yet complete but has come
to a pivotal juncture. Our children are now ready to go
to the next phase of their lives, and our roles in their
lives will be vastly different. We cannot be sad but must
be excited to see what the next chapter holds for them.
As my son heads off to college this fall, in my eyes
he will still be that curly haired little boy starting pre-
kindergarten in our Catholic elementary school. But I
have to realize that this is a memory I hold in a special
place in my heart, for the rest of the world sees him as
a young man. We have completed this phase of being
parents, and we must be ready to move on to the next
phase, no matter how hard. I am confident that the guid-
ance these students’ parents have provided and that the
Catholic education they have received have prepared
them for life beyond high school. I have great expecta-
tions for the Class of 2016 if they do two very important
things … go to church and go to class. I know that they
are ready to take on the world. Congratulations.
