This week a new tradition began: graduating seniors gave rising ninth graders their blazers. It’s a moment of culmination where (in their words) they “blazered” the new Rhetoric School students. In the future, the Blazer Ceremony will be one of the culminating events, like Grandparents Day and the Senior Assembly, that help us find meaning in our adventure together.
Contemplate that idea of culminating events that help us find meaning: School is already hard. We teach students to read, to write, and to do arithmetic. We teach them to be respectful, responsible, and thoughtful. Classical schools go one step further: we want students to find meaning in their labors. It’s an ideal built on the belief that our toil and frustration are driving toward a meaningful end.
Finding meaning begins as an intellectual exercise. It’s time spent in class and at home learning how to read and then using that skill to gain wisdom from the books that we read. Students write a paper or take a test, sharing with their teacher what they gained from the exercise.
Finding meaning is also a spiritual exercise that demands the development of spiritual disciplines. Coming to know something requires a willingness to be changed by the topic. You choose to allow the topic to change the way you think, the way you feel, and the way you act. This is why wisdom begins with learning respect, responsibility, and thoughtfulness.
Ceremonies add experiential knowledge to the learning process. They help us experience the virtue gained through mastering a skill. They show us how meeting certain expectations changes the way we are seen by others. When seniors receive their diplomas, they do not become instantly smarter. They do, however, instantly become graduates of Cary Christian School. The ceremony, in the act of conferring a new title upon them, changes who they are.
Ceremonies also call us to embrace a new set of standards and to accept a greater level of responsibility. If you want to understand the blazer, read the following Blazer Statement written by our graduating seniors:
The Blazer Statement
For over 200 years, the blazer has been a staple of academic institutions. With origins in collegiate rowing teams, the blazer symbolizes new and uncharted waters. Besides its intended pomp and circumstance, for you, the blazer takes on greater meaning than prestige and style.
Our blazer represents order, timelessness, tradition, and growth amidst the new and unchartered waters of the Rhetoric Hallway.
When you adorn this blazer, you take your next step into adulthood and accept the responsibility and professionalism that comes with entering Rhetoric School.
In these blazers, we as a school are united as brothers and sisters in Christ in a sea of navy blue, standing for truth, goodness, and beauty.
With it, we represent integrity, camaraderie, and belonging. Accordingly, we will walk in excellence and wear the garment with poise, elegance, and grace, taking on the necessary discipline and confidence required to positively impact our campus on this side of the Oak Tree and beyond.
As you accept this blazer, may your heart be ablaze with love and adoration for our Lord Jesus Christ, compassion and care for others, and humble pride in Cary Christian School.
