NHS class of 2010 receives advice from teacher

Graduation week is in full swing at Neosho High School, and on Wednesday evening in a warm, humid gymnasium, more than 100 members of the Class of 2010 gathered for a baccalaureate service featuring guest speaker Mickey Sandford.

A day after taking part in the traditional painting of Senior Hill, and two days prior to taking the walk across the stage to receive their diplomas on Friday night at Bob Anderson Stadium, Sandford spent 10 minutes of his speech Wednesday evening to talk about life.

“Part of the reason this week is so stressful, and graduation is so stressful, is that you are realizing you will be separated from your life-long friends for the first time,” Sandford said. “And you have no idea who you are apart from them. You need to figure that out. You need to know if the decisions you have made are a reflection of their influence, more than they are a real picture of you. You have been dealing with peer pressure all of your lives, and trust me, it doesn’t cease to exist after high school. As adults, we get to choose our relational environment to a large degree, but none of us had anything to do with where we were born or who we spent the first few years of our life with.”

Sandford came to Neosho High School in 2006. He has taught industrial arts, industrial technology, technology education or woodshop for 11 years in either high school, junior high, or both. He was raised in Canton, Ill., but moved to Branson in 1983, where he attended the College of the Ozarks. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and religion in 1989, and a bachelor’s degree in technology education in 1991.

Sandford is married to Deanna, who has been teaching at NHS for three years.

In his speech, Sandford encouraged the students to make the right choices.

“That is very easy to say and read, but harder to do,” Sandford said. “I have three tips to help you make right choices. First, seek solid advice. You are never too old, or never be too smart to ask for advice from people you trust. I like to refer to this as taking decisions before the board. Take a piece of paper and draw a large table. Place people who have positively influenced your life and put them around that table. Make a commitment to not make any decision — major or minor — without taking it before at least one member of that board. Major decisions should probably go before all members of the board. I put God at the head of my board table. He is my chairman. Sometimes I know that He will not be happy with my decisions, so I try to sneak one by Him. Most often, I suffer the consequences.”

Secondly, Sandford asked the students to learn from the mistakes and victories of others.

“I know you are at the age when the last thing you want to hear is you shouldn’t do this or that, because when I was your age…” Sandford said. “Of course, your response is typically, ‘things are different now, we’re in love.’ If you know someone who has lived through a failed marriage, don’t waste that mistake, learn from it. Find out what happened, and avoid those causes like the plague. (Divorce) is one cycle that needs to be stopped in your generation. On the other hand, if you know a couple who have survived, learn their secrets and follow their behaviors. Put that couple on your board, and seek their advice.”

And finally, Sandford urged the students not to stray from what they know is already true — truth is absolute.

“(Truth) doesn’t change with the times,” Sandford said. “John 14, Verse 6, Jesus is speaking and He says, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the father but by me.’ Some might think that this way is too narrow when in reality it is wide enough for the whole world, if the world chooses to accept it.”