The sad news was delivered just last week to the students of Goodrich High School, that their principal would not be with them through the end of the year. Instead, David St. Aubin will be serving in Iraq as a military police officer on a one year tour of duty. The 47-year-old lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves told students and parents in a letter about his deployment.
Some of schools seniors expressed their sorrow that their principal wouldn’t be there to see them walk across the stage and accept their diploma, the same sorrow that St. Aubin himself has expressed.
As a solution, a top secret plan was put into action. The mission, to surprise the Lieutenant Colonel. Staff, students and parents worked together to organize a graduation ceremony. They even contacted Josten’s who rushed caps and gowns to the school for the special event.
On Wednesday, they put their mission into action and I was a true victory. St. Aubin beamed with pride as his students accepted their “mock” diplomas and shared the experience with him that he would have otherwise missed.
On Tuesday, Nov 25th, the staff and students are hosting a community Open House to honor Dave and wish him well. This will be held in the cafe of Goodrich High School from 3 - 6 pm. St. Aubin will be deployed to Iraq in December.
A special thank you to Dave Hodgkin of BH Photographic, Grand Blanc for capturing the fantastic images of the event.
