Her Speech Given to our 2026 Gala Fundraiser:​

I am proud to be standing before you tonight as the whole of Valor's first graduating class —
which, if I'm being honest, is something I did not see coming when I walked through the doors as
a sophomore with absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into.
Someone recently asked me why I came back as a senior. My first instinct was to say, "Great
question" — which, as any student of rhetoric will tell you, is what you say when you need a
moment to think. So I thought about it.
And here's what I came up with.
I began my high school career at Sandpoint High School. My experience there was fine. But
looking back, I realize I was just going through the motions. I didn't care why I was there or what
I was learning. High school was simply the next step — nothing more, nothing less.
Then, the summer after my freshman year, I heard about Valor. I had no idea what this school
would actually be like. But I was drawn to the idea of being part of a school that genuinely
served the Lord. So I took a chance. A few other brave — or maybe just adventurous — students
and I decided to embark on this journey together, becoming the foundation of Sandpoint's first
Christian high school. No pressure.
Over my sophomore and junior years, I learned more than I had at any other school. And I say
that having attended ten different schools throughout my education — so I have a fairly large
sample to work with. Those schools always got me to the end of the year in one piece. But none
of them gave me a hunger for learning the way Valor has.
Take rhetoric and logic. I walked into both of those classes with genuinely no idea what I was
about to learn. And yet here I am, using the canons of rhetoric to shape this very speech and
logic to hopefully make my arguments valid — you can be the judge of that. Valor has handed
me life tools I didn't know I needed, and I find myself reaching for them constantly.
Of course, this journey hasn't been without its bumps. For a school that's only three years old, I
expected there would be some trials to navigate. And there were. But every one of those hard
moments has shaped me into the person standing before you tonight.

A person never truly grows by taking the easy road. It's in the hard moments — when you're
struggling, when it would be easier to quit, and the people around you choose to press forward
together — that real growth happens.
Which brings me to the answer to the question I started with: why did I stay?
There's no simple answer, but let me take you through my thought process: I had to ask myself
what truly matters. Do I want the classic high school experience — the dances, the familiar
hallways you see in movies, the traditional graduation walk? Or...do I want something greater
— to be part of the first graduating class of Valor Christian School?
When I put it that way, it wasn't a hard choice.
And at the end of the day, graduating wasn’t the reason I came to Valor. When I walked through
those doors as a sophomore, graduation felt like a lifetime away. I came because I wanted a
deeper understanding of the Christian faith — and the courage and conviction to proclaim that
understanding to the world.
Matthew 28:19 says, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." That mission — Valor's mission — was the
very thing I had been praying for without even knowing it.
And it's what I found here.
So next year, when I pack up and move to Colorado to pursue a degree in both theology and
politics, know that this is where it started. In a young school, full of hopeful students and
dedicated teachers, built on the mission to educate students in a biblical worldview and good
character — preparing them to live victorious lives as Christian adults.
Valor gave me that foundation. And I am so grateful.