Paul Sutton's 2009 Letter to the Sammamish Community

[Paul is the student advisor for the Walk. He and wife, Christie, had a baby just before the event and he was out for the week preceeding the event.

Following is Paul Sutton's letter to the SHS after the Walk for Aidan on Saturday, May 16th. It eloquently sums up the day, the contributions of many, and the value an event like this has - well beyond the honoree. Reprinted with his permission.]

Good morning Sammamish,

For as long as I have taught at Sammamish, we have been a little different because our kids are a little different. We laugh harder at our assemblies, we hurt more through our deepest tragedies, and we boast a capacity for empathy beyond any school I can name. Our successes and failures are shared across demographics and socio-economic lines. When something happens to one of us, it happens to all of us. If there is a common Sammamish experience it is in the early morning greetings, the doors held open for those we don’t know, the consoling hugs in the hallway after a long day and the outpouring of support when tragedy strikes. At Sammamish, our students are not just scholars, they are instruments of social justice.

That spirit was again on display at this year’s Walk for Aidan. This year’s story was not necessarily about the money, although raising a little over $20,000 in one day is an outstanding achievement and one that should make us all very proud. Combine that with the money raised during the Darius Goes West screenings and our student leaders raised over $30,000 for the Aidan Leffler Trust Fund and Duchene Muscular Dystrophy research on just two days. I would argue that in a deep recession year our student leaders put together an event that far surpassed all expectations. Beyond the money, I think the story of this year’s Walk for Aidan was one of community and the service paid that has nothing to do with donation totals. As such the following people and groups proved themselves to be anchors of the Sammamish community and examples of who we are when we’re at our best.

Mike Bussing runs our BBQ during the Walk. As our grill master he runs a very efficient and tasty BBQ, making sure everyone can get their food and get back on the track for more walking. But more than that, he is a consistent and life-long servant to the Sammamish community. He routinely does whatever is asked of him whenever anyone needs it.

It seems as though Andi Tomlinson has been with us forever. Over the past two years Andi has proved herself to be an integral member of Sammamish and the Walk, taking care of us even if it’s not her job to do so. For the past two years she has used her deep community influence to get us whatever we need, as well as supporting the idealistic requests of the student organizers.

Although he had to be in class all day Saturday at the UW, Tom Duenwald went out of his way on his way home to come by and congratulate the student organizers. Just like he didn’t have to come see them present to the School Board, Tom took time out on Saturday afternoon to let our students know that their efforts mattered to him. Our students are his kids and on Saturday, they felt like it.

Ian Duncan, Adrienne Curtis and Jeff Bright are just flat awesome. Most schools would consider themselves lucky to have one of them, but we got them all. Despite spending most of the week very sick, Adrienne made sure the money flowed smoothly and legally. I have all kinds of sympathy for Ian. All week he had to be me. He did such a good job next year I will half kill myself trying to be more like him. As if running ten miles a day wasn’t crazy enough, Jeff ran the car wash for four hours managing both SHS students and overly excited Tillicum students in the un-shaded parking lot of Kmart.

Talking about Tillicum middle school, 60 of their finest students worked their tails off supporting a cause they had no personal connection to and did so with the utmost politeness and cooperation. If their students are not evidence enough of their mettle, Katherine Lamb stood out on the hot blacktop of the Kmart parking lot, overseeing the lemonade stand with no breaks. Did I also mention she’s pregnant?

Sammamish is nothing without our students. Coming from every corner of the globe and every walk of life, it is our students that make us who we are. Over 275 of them volunteered to work at least one shift on Saturday, most of whom arrived at 6:45am to help set up for the day. They did everything from washing cars, to taping down extension cords, to working the t-shirt press, to processing the deposit. There are all kinds of ways we judge excellence. In all the ways we measure the humanity of a group of people and their capacity to offer the kindest of efforts to another, our students are excellent beyond measure. Shoulder to shoulder, arm in arm, they show us how we can support each other when life becomes too much for one person, or one family, to bear. They are the heroes of our Sammamish story. And on Saturday, their heroism came to the rescue and reminded all of us that we as a school are not what we seem. We are better. In all the most important ways, we might just be the best.

Have a great Monday and a great week.