Oh, So Priceless: A Sweet Surprise
High school students waited eagerly in the gym just after noon on Friday, October 22, waiting to be called to the Sherill Center for the Performing Arts for a surprise they had been anticipating all week, speculation swirling as students and teachers alike tried to figure out who the special speaker would be. Seniors were dismissed first. They rushed to find seats close to the stage, one grade level filing in after the other. Once everyone was seated, Superintendent Dr. Kevin Mathes announced that Christian band ‘for King & Country’ was there to perform and tell the students their ‘Priceless’ message.
“The fact that NRCA had a schedule change for the whole high school showed what a large-scale event this was,” Student Life Director Josh Leonard said. “The students caught on to this and knew that something special was coming. The whole week I had students trying to figure out who it was, even going so far as to track my Spotify account to see who I was listening to.”
Part of the surprise was that the entire high school would be together for the assembly, a first since February 2020.
“Watching the students come back from lunch 15 minutes early to be first in line was incredible,” high school teacher Mrs. Kristin Deim said. “Once the students were seated, just seeing the Fine Arts Center filled to capacity brought tears to my eyes. It had been so long.”
After finding their seats, the students were ecstatic to see ‘for King & Country’ walk out onto the stage.
“Throughout the whole week leading up to ‘for King and Country’ playing for us, there was so much hype and speculation as to who would be there,” senior Matthew Dubia said. “For me, I am so incredibly glad that FK&C came to our school as they have been my favorite Christian band for several years. The experience was unbelievable, getting to see them perform from the front row!”
The band performed many of their songs such as ‘Fix My Eyes,’ ‘God Only Knows,’ and ‘Priceless.’ They shared the message throughout their performance that we are priceless because our value comes from being created in God's image. “Their ‘Priceless’ message was incredibly timely in a world that continues to devalue human life. It is so important for both young men and young ladies to understand their value and self-worth comes from the Lord as they are created in God’s Image and are priceless,” Mathes said. “I pray that the ‘Priceless’ message resonated among our high school students and that they will not only embrace their true self-worth as image bearers, but also treat each other the way God has intended.”
Towards the end of the assembly, Dr. Mathes announced that each of the girls would receive a ‘Priceless’ necklace to reinforce the message behind the hit song and the 2016 movie the song inspired. “I think the ‘Priceless’ message was very impactful, especially to the girls who have a prejudice against Christianity because of their interpretation on how the Bible speaks about women and their roles in society and the family structure,” senior Kaycie Kennedy said. “When talking about all the times God used women in His plans, and the relationships Jesus had with women, it showed us girls the love God has for us and encouraged us to find men who will love and treat us like Jesus does. I think it opened the eyes of the girls to look at how Christianity really views women instead of how society claims it does.”
By: Evan Ko & Mathew Nelson, Shield Senior Editors
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