As this 2018-2019 school year comes to a close, headmaster of Cape Henry Collegiate, Dr. Christopher Garran, reflects upon the school year with a. Dr. Garran sums up the year as “a great one, although it went very fast”, commenting humorously that maybe the speed of the year “comes with age”. He sighed and laughed as he continued, “it seems like just yesterday that I was wearing my Winnie the Pooh costume on Halloween”.

When asked to elaborate on what he thought were the student body’s biggest accomplishments throughout these past nine months, he identified the greatest accomplishment to be the school’s overall sense of community. “With over 900 some-odd students, each one of them manages to look out and support each other,” Dr. Garran expressed in awe, citing situations where younger kids help one another on the playground, and through the progression of the musical production, Mamma Mia, where the cast members never failed to lift each other up. He finds it amazing that every day he witnesses people “going out of their way to get to know each other” within Cape Henry, and prides the school on fulfilling the core value of community in such a solid way. His personal favorite events of the year were ones in which the student body gave back to the Virginia Beach community, and to their peers. He listed ‘Crush Cancer’ as an inspiring event at which students and their families rallied around a common cause with an overwhelming amount of support, as well as the Meningitis Awareness brought to the school’s attention annually, for which $500 was raised this year to contribute to the cause. Dr. Garran’s strongly believes in the power of Cape Henry’s community giving back to the larger community from the phenomenal collaborations this year has produced.

A few of Dr. Garran’s other favorite events from this year focused upon the Arts and Theatre, stating that “anything hosted in the Dreyfus or Perry Auditoriums” such as Cabaret, musical concerts, plays, and musicals were a highlight of his year. He thoroughly enjoyed the beginning of a greater realization that he, as a Headmaster, knows the students of the school by seeing them in their environments in which they are gifted, but the teachers, who know only the students in their classes, are afforded the opportunities to go watch and support them through their other successes outside of the academic arena. He loves that the teachers and faculty are able to see the students “shine in all of their other activities” – whether they are performing on stage or on the fields – and that the students are allowed to express themselves in the areas where their talents excel.

Wrapping up this year, Dr. Garran claims that his favorite part of the whole school year is the time nearing graduation, and the Commencement of the class of 2019 is what he enjoyed most, viewing the celebration to not be an end, but a wonderful beginning for the Senior class. He believes firmly that Commencement, “the biggest celebration in K-12 education, allows for the students, family, and faculty, to press pause and celebrate what the senior class has accomplished.” For the graduated class of 2019, Dr. Garran knows there are so many opportunities awaiting them beyond Cape Henry’s campus, and he is ready to “gear up for next year,” so that hopefully the preceding school years will be just as memorable.