Today marks our last day in high school, and in my case, the last day in public school as well. After 12 years of being in an “everyman’s school,” an experience I’ve found invaluable, I’ll be heading to private school for the first time this August. While I’m extremely excited about this next step in my life, the transition has made me stop and consider what this change from public to private means, and what an extraordinary thing free public education actually is.

We live in a special place, but you all know that. I have no cliched advice for you today, no insightful message or sentimental speech about a childhood on this Island. Instead, I’d like to recognize some of the kids who have made this class exceptional.

I didn’t become a teacher till I was 36 years old, and I believe we are never too old to transform ourselves. Life isn’t about finding out who you are or discovering yourself, it’s about making yourself into the person you want to be. Every person is always a work in progress.

In April, six of us from Island Grown Schools were able to travel to Austin, Texas, for the seventh National Farm to Cafeteria conference. We joined 1,100 other farm to school advocates from across the country to share stories, triumphs and challenges in bringing school gardens, healthy food and farm-based learning to children.