As I reflect back on my time with Mt. Pleasant Christian School, Inc., it is hard to believe that it has been ten years since I first walked through those doors as a K-4 student. My parents attended and were married here at Mount Pleasant Church. When I was born, my mom said that she knew that I was going to be a part of this school. They wanted a solid foundation of God to continue to grow within me and what better way than to attend such a great school. I remember my mom telling me that she was so excited to meet Dr. Haynes. She watched Dr. Haynes take me in the office to be tested. So here I am, ten years later, graduating.
My experience here as a student has been amazing and challenging at the same time. In K-4, I remember crying because I had five pages of homework every night and I was only four years old. Now I realize that is was only preparing me for the intense effort ahead. As the years came and went, the school work load required more and more dedication and determination. No matter how challenging it was, the feeling of accomplishment felt awesome. I have had some amazing teachers, starting with Sis. Timera Loftin in K-4. Sis. Loftin was a great teacher. I will always remember how she used to rub her feet together and I would imitate her because I wanted to be like her. Now Sis. Loftin has moved on to other things and Sis. Patterson has taken her place. Sis. Patterson is an intelligent teacher with an amazingly youthful spirit and she will continue to help nurture other K-4 classes. My K-5 teacher was Sis. Brogden. She is such a sweet and loving teacher. I have a few memories from kindergarten; I remember when I was so mad at myself because I forgot over half of the words on the spelling test. That was the first spelling test that I ever failed and I did not want that to happen again. I also remember learning how to spell Strawberry and Hippopotamus like a boss in that grade. I felt so accomplished! After K-5 there was 1st grade. Ah Sis. Stevenson, what a delight she is. Sis. Stevenson taught me so many different things. She would always say “First grade is your first year of elementary school!” mainly to imply that we needed to start acting older. The one thing that I remember the most from her class was when she would always tell me to take my fingers out of my mouth. I did get nervous and biting my nails always helped to subside the nerves. I love you Sis. Stevenson! Next was second grade and my teacher was Sis. Rebecca Spangler. Sis. Spangler was so kind and I always would try to earn student of the week in her class, but I felt sad and happy at the same time when I found out that Sis. Spangler was leaving MPCS to do missionary work in Tanzania. She had two sons and a daughter and she now lives here in the states. She was a wonderful influence on me! Sis. Lofton was next, coming in that third grade spot and she was so much fun! Although I do not have too many memories from third grade I do know that Sis. Lofton did not play unless it was time to be playful. For fourth grade I had Sis. Gay Stewart. My class was Sis. Stewart’s first and FAVORITE class. She always makes sure to remind us of that; but in fourth grade I struggled. That was the first year I did not make honor roll. I had so many things going on. The main thing was that my parents were going through a divorce and that was extremely hard on me. Although it was difficult, I had God through everything to help me push through. In Fifth Grade, I had Sis. Boyd, who now works as the second grade teacher. She would always touch our faces and give us nice hugs. I did not have Sis. Johnson, however she is now the 5th grade teacher and she knows what she is doing! Now on to Middle school! Bro. Johnson was my sixth grade teacher. He was definitely one of my favorites! He is probably one of the teachers that I know the most about. He went to Dulaney Senior. High school and Loyola College. I know that he loved running track. He went to Israel and he loves red velvet cupcakes. He was always laughing, keeping up with the newest trends, and his room always smelled amazing! He always showed his love of the Word and shared with us all that he knew about It. He was so influential! Seventh grade was Bro. Peters and he was probably the most comical teacher I have ever had. I had him for seventh and eighth grade history and English. He loves sports and anything to do with chocolate. His daughter and I have become friends and he is one of the most laid back and down to earth teachers I’ve ever met and I will most definitely miss him. Last, but definitely not least, there’s Sis. Stephanie McDaniel who is the best Eighth grade teacher a girl could ask for. I thank Sis. McD for all of the love, support and guidance that she has bestowed upon my life. She has always taught me to never give up and to persevere because she knows that I can do it. She is very funny and playful, but sometimes so serious when it comes to math. It’s hard when one of your favorite teachers teaches your least favorite subject. Sis. McDaniel and I have known each other way before she started teaching at MPCS. For the first ten years of my life I lived at my grandmother’s house, which happened to be right across the street from Sister McDaniel’s house. I went from calling her Ms. Stephanie to Sis. McDaniel in .25 seconds. She is so amazing and I love her so much. I will miss her. Dr. Haynes is a great principal. She has been there and she shows all of her love all the time. I will miss her dearly. Bro. Livers, has been there from the beginning. I talk with him every morning in Before Care and I can share stories with him. I love Bro. Livers and his wife Ms. Lisa and I will truly miss him. I cannot say enough how grateful I am to have had teachers who truly cared about my wellbeing and success. More importantly, the way each one in their own special way nurtured my relationship with Jesus. They brought life into what they taught me, and they shared their faith with me. I remember hearing a story of being in preschool just before I attended MPCS. I bowed my head to pray while at school for lunch and was told I could not do that. To be able to come to school every day and share my faith, learn about Jesus and develop my relationship with God is something I will always be so grateful for. It will be with me forever. God’s words that I have learned here will always be in my heart.
I love my class. They are the ones that have stayed with me through all of these years at Mount Pleasant, starting with Camryn Denise Little. I met Camryn in first grade and she has stuck to me ever since. She is one of my best friends. She has always been my shoulder to cry on. She is such a colorful character who will never leave that special place that she has in my heart. I truly love her. Next is Katelyn Dione Street. I met Katelyn in K-4 and I knew that we were going to be friends from the start. She is so sweet and loving. Now there’s Kholby Maurice Maultsby. Kholby is my closest friend that is a boy. He is a funny and witty person and I know that we will carry our friendship for many years to come. Last is Jalen Wilson. Jalen is the type of person that will make jokes all day. Even though our friendship is a little complicated, I know that I will miss his laughter and his clever remarks.
My family is the reason why I have been able to be at MPCS all of these years. My dad and mom were committed to continue my education at MPCS. I am so thankful for their hard work in allowing me to attend such a great school. Being a student here has allowed me to build my confidence and create friendships that will last a lifetime.
I loved being a part of the After School clubs. Dance was and always has been so much fun. I will miss the closeness we have and feeling like we are a family. I will miss walking through the halls and knowing everyone’s name. Mt. Pleasant Christian School, Inc. has been the best place I could ever asked for to grow as a student and as a human being.