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Excerpts from Speech of 2009 Options Graduate Alex Hartsell

Senior Tribute May 20, 2009 My name is Alex Hartsell, I am an Options student at Eastside Catholic, the best high school in Washington. Many of you may know I learn and sometime act differently then you guys and girls. What Eastside Catholic has meant to me is that for the last four years I have been able to learn and to move forward with my life in a community that has nurtured and cared for you and me. With all of your help I have been able to continue to learn and grow in more ways than a book can offer or a test can measure. I came here four years ago as many you, a nervous, scared ninth grader. Would the teachers take a chance on me in their already busy classrooms, as I would probably need some extra help at times? Would I make friends? Would the classes be ok for me? But I stand here today telling all of you that Eastside Catholic has done more then make me feel ok and get me through.

I have been able to take classes that have made me think and learn things that I would never have been able to anywhere else. I have been able to do that alongside my peer tutors and friends who help me every day and the Options teachers who make sure I didn’t fall behind on my way to learning something new. What has meant the most to me is being able to share mainstream classes with all of you. I have learned more about God, American and world history, how to take a good picture, write a great spy story, work on computers, lift weights and learn to help others through all of our community service projects in Mentor. I thank the teachers for allowing me to be part of your classroom and my fellow students for always helping and guiding me through my classes. As you may have been lucky enough to be the Option tutor or mentor, I have been lucky enough to be your friend. You always asked and made me feel like I fit in and have a family here. You have made my faith in God and knowledge and have truly made me not only a better student but also a better person. I hope I have been able to help you start to look at your God-given talents of being thoughtful, kind, caring, and helpful to those who are different than you. I challenge you to continue these traits once we leave Eastside Catholic. I know I will share my gifts that I have learned here with others and the foundation that all of you and our teachers have given me here. I will always be proud to say I graduated from Eastside Catholic with the greatest students, faculty, administration and senior class there ever was!