Spring Celebration 2010
Saturday, May 22, Quest School celebrated the end of the school year with the 5th Annual Spring Celebration. This is the time of the year that all of the Quest School students, who reside in the Residential Treatment Program, invite families and loved ones to gather for celebration of their accomplishments. Several students received awards for perseverance, academics, and athleticism.
Also in attendance, were youth from our Transitional Living Program (TLP) and UMCH staff. The first speaker of the day was UMCH President / CEO Gary Lemmon who said the real reason we are all here is not to celebrate Spring but to celebrate the youth we serve.
Dixie Conner, Quest School lead teacher, introduced the guest speaker Waylon Lawrence (left), who is a church minister from Christ’s View Church in Christopher, Illinois.
During the Awards Ceremony, Treatment Director and Master of Ceremonies, Tom Duff noted that there are 5 words that many of the youth do not hear enough, “We are proud of you,” and it became the mantra of the entire day.
Earlier in Spring, youth in our Residential Program were given the opportunity to showcase their talents to a panel of judges (staff), so they could perform at Spring Celebration. One youth played the piano, a group of young ladies sang “Lean on Me”, and a young man started to sing a song, but his CD skipped. He showed his true talent by finishing the first song acapella and proceeding to sing two other songs while getting the entire audience clapping and singing with him.
Festivities ended with a feast and cake. The weather was beautiful and the youth started to play outside. One youth from TLP was encouraged to do a flip, and he performed an entire routine of flips, handsprings, cartwheels, and one-handed flips. Another youth from Residential wanted to show his athletic talent, and ran up a tree to flip.
Gary Lemmon, then challenged anyone to stand on their hands longer than he could.
Spring Celebration was a beautiful day for the youth to have fun and be entertained. More importantly, it was great for the youth to see family and staff show them how much they care and want them to succeed. “We are proud of you.”