Graduating seniors from Prince Edward County High School learned about the impact of education, compassion, resilience and growth during a baccalaureate ceremony held at Farmville Baptist Church Sunday.

A baccalaureate ceremony honors high school graduates, and sometimes takes place for middle school graduates.

The school division and Superintendent Dr. Barbara Johnson reinstated the ceremony this year. The last baccalaureate ceremony had been in 2002.

Speakers for the ceremony included Cainan Townsend, director of education and public programs at the Robert Russa Moton Museum and a member of the Prince Edward County school board and Adam Freeman, an area minister and Prince Edward County High School resource officer. The Rev. Ronnie Kiehm, pastor of Farmville Baptist Church, also spoke and gave an opening prayer and benediction.

Townsend and Freeman spoke about the history of education in Prince Edward County and challenged students to hold the history and people who went before them close to them, citing the work of Barbara Rose Johns and Charles Moss.

“Fifty, 60 years ago, I would not have been allowed to stand up here,” Townsend said. “Because I am here today, I am extremely honored and blessed to be here.”

Townsend told three stories, all using bugs that symbolized lessons students can take with them.

The first story involved an ant and a dove. The dove first saved the ant from drowning in a creek, and to return the favor, the ant saved the dove from a hunter by biting its leg.

Townsend encouraged students to make it a habit to help those around them.

The second story could conflict in some ways with the first. A man sees a caterpillar, turning into a butterfly, struggling to leave a cocoon. Rather than letting the butterfly emerge from the cocoon, the man split the cocoon to let the butterfly out. The butterfly was underdeveloped and lost the opportunity to become resilient by struggling in the cocoon.

“You’re going to go through struggles, you’re going through pain, you’re going to go through heartache,” Townsend said. “But sometimes you need to get through it to go through the other side.”

The third story was about fleas. He said fleas can jump an enormous distance for their size, but if they are put in a box, they become conditioned to associate jumping beyond their boundaries with pain from hitting the top of the box and won’t jump even with the lid removed.

“They memorized where that barrier is,” Townsend said. “They memorized where that ceiling is. They memorized that struggle and that pain, and they will never be able to jump any higher than right below where the top of this box is.”

Townsend encouraged students to have faith and hold their beliefs close to them to brave through challenges.

“We’ve all got a bad test grade one time, we’ve all struggled, we’ve all had issues, we’ve all lost that athletic match,” Townsend said. “But instead of giving up, you keep pushing forward … Without struggle, there is no growth, right? It may be hard, but it’s a blessing. There’s something positive waiting on the other side that you have to get to.”

Freeman left the stage and peppered the audience with jokes, even giving students a chance to do an activity on how to get a pin out of a cola glass. The answer, discovered by senior Renee Stimpert, was to pour water in the glass.

Freeman, like Townsend, spoke about the importance of education and being resilient in the face of challenges.

In less than a year, Freeman said, he had the tip of a spear from a boat go through his foot, a piece of wood stab his big toe, had fingers punctured by a drill, was bitten by a centipede in the shower, had a mouse steal his blood pressure pills and had a upper respiratory infection he could not shake.

He encouraged students to find positive ways to overcome challenges.

“Once again, why am I telling you all of this?” Freeman said. “Because things like this are going to happen to you, and you are going to have to find a way to get over it and to move on and don’t let it bring you down.”

Though mostly humorous, Freeman gave a more solemn message to have compassion for people who are far away, or who are facing difficult circumstances. Noting those affected by the shooting at Santa Fe High School Friday, Freeman encouraged students to have compassion, quoting Galatians 6:2.

“The law of Christ is love,” Freeman said. “Without love, you have absolutely nothing. So young folk, even though it didn’t happen to you, show compassion for somebody else.”

Freeman closed the message, interspersed with messages from the New Testament encouraging students to be themselves, 

“You are special. You are somebody,” Freeman said. “Young folks, believe in yourselves. Know that you can do all things with Christ who strengthens you.”