Dexter, Missouri - Each year freshman enter the doors of Dexter Senior High School, some are excited, some are scared, some have an attitude of can't wait to get out of high school or possibly they are ready to buckle down and study hard.  No matter how they were feeling, Mr. Mouser had the pleasure of speaking to this year's graduating class on their first day of high school.

He said something like this, "In four years you will have blinked and high school will be gone."  No one really believed him at that time, that's a lifetime away, four years is so long.  Well now that the time has come for those students to graduate, this reporter asked a few, "Do you remember that speech?"

To my surprise they did and they all agreed that these four years flew by and it seemed like only yesterday they were freshman sitting in the auditorium listening to Mr. Mouser talk about high school and all that it had to offer them.

This past Sunday, May 12th, I sat through my first high school Baccalaureate Service since I graduated high school so many years ago.  It was also Mother's Day. 

The class chose their motto to be "Remember Yesterday, Dream for Tomorrow, Live for Today".  They are right I remembered my past, I have dreams and I truly live for today.  Most of us do this without thinking.  These students are young, but they already know that life is short and they have to make each day count.

Reverend Ken Biggs from the First General Baptist Church greeted the students and introduced Revered Mike Kohlbaker from the First Assembly of God Church to offer prayer to the students and performed the invocation.

Miss Taylor Winstead did an extraordinary job reading scripture from passages such as Joshua 1:9 and Jeremiah 29:11-13.  The 2013 Class speaker was Miss Brook Duckworth who also did an amazing job talking to the students and assuring them of the future.

David Dohogne of Sacred Heart Catholic Church was the main speaker and his inspirational presentation of the Bible being compared to a recipe book was exceptional.  I am sure the students could relate easily to his story.

Students were given the opportunity to submit a baby photo and senior photo for the class video presentation.  There were many parents and students laughing, some shedding tears, and some were merely holding back.  It was all great and most of the moms were doing pretty well fighting off the tears until Joseph Greer took the stage and sang his song, "I'm Not Gonna Cry".  Well that did it for many us and the tears flowed.  Thank you Joseph!

Brooke Duckworth ended the beautiful ceremony with a closing prayer and a reception followed in the Fellowship Hall of the First Assembly of God Church.

It is our hope that each year students will feel they are not only welcome to participate in Baccalaureate Service, but that it is an honor to have each and every student there.  We wish all of the students a safe and successful life.

Congratulations to the Class of 2013!