Just like finishing the last page of a great book or celebrating the last day of summer, it’s never easy to reach the conclusion of an enjoyable experience.

For North Pointe Center Instructor Molly High, Friday was another reminder of that fact, as she and her fellow Lewis Cass ISD staff members said goodbye to seven special education students who they have spent years building into responsible young adults.

However, while the seasons will always change and books inevitably reach their epilogue, the journey of the students being sent off that day is just getting started, High said.

“Just because they are leaving us — and that hurts — they are so much a part of the school’s family that they will always be with us no matter what,” High said. “This is not goodbye or the end. It’s the next chapter in their book of life, which is still being written.”

ISD educators and administrators were joined by other students and family members inside the North Pointe Center that afternoon to celebrate the graduation of the program’s Class of 2016: Erika Busick, Adrianna Contreras, Marcos Contreras, Anthony LaPorte, Andrea Nemeth, Joshua Payne and Diane Wilson.

The students were given their certificates of completion by ISD Superintendent Robert Colby, who was among the many members of the intermediate school district to congratulate the students on their accomplishments.

High, who worked directly with four of the seven graduates in her classroom, talked about all the fond memories she had with her students during their time at North Pointe. Be it through making her students laugh by dressing up as a cow (utter and all) for Halloween to just the simple conversations they shared with one another, the instructor has gotten to know her students extremely well over the years, she said.

“What’s funny is that we didn’t know we were making memories,” she said. “We were just having fun.”

Eileen Weingarten, another North Pointe instructor, was also full of praise for the students she worked with and shared with the audience what the future holds in store for them.

For example, Nemeth will be helping her mom as she looks to open a yarn shop in Dowagiac, Busick will assist her family on their farm and Payne will be connected with employees with Woodlands Behavioral Health as he continues to work on his job development skills, Weingarten said.

Colby also thanked his staff at North Pointe and throughout the entire ISD for their tireless dedication to the students, as well as the parents who place their trust in the district to provide their children with the education and care they deserve, he said.

“Your children are in good hands, from the time we pick them up to the time we drop them off,” Colby said. “And now they’re yours.”

High, at the conclusion of her speech, reminded the graduates that while they may be leaving the familiarity of North Pointe and walking different paths in life, they will always be cherished by their former teachers.

“Your family here at Lewis Cass loves you,” High said. “The only good part of finishing this chapter with you is waiting to see the good things that will be written in the rest of your lives.”