Jordan looks both at the past and into the future

As she leads the 2017 graduating class of Banner County High School, valedictorian Savannah Jordan looks back at the formative junior high years, the friends she will miss and all the support she has received from her teachers

While most remember their junior high years, Savannah recalls hers fondly, in fact, those years include some of her favorite memories.

"I know that is odd, because that is usually the worst two years of people's lives, however, I had my two best friends, Heidi and Jacque, in those two years and we joined the boys basketball team as their managers," she said. "These were the best memories, because we were able to watch them play shirts versus skins during practice, and watch them play their hearts out during the games."

Along with her best childhood friends, teachers at Banner County schools are one of the things she will miss the most.

"I have grown so close to them since I have been at this school for my whole student life," she said. "The teachers are very caring and understanding if you give them your respect. I will miss this friendship, but I am ready to meet new staff and grow more friendships."

Savannah added that she is looking forward to being on her own. She feels up to the challenge of life without her family right beside her and she looks forward to seeing what she can accomplish in life on her own.

Although she may not have known it, the active high school life she led has prepared her well for her college years. Savannah has remained busy throughout high school and has been active for four years in One Act plays, basketball and volleyball. She added FFA her sophomore year and continued in the chapter her senior year. In her junior year, Savannah was inducted into the National Honor Society.

Science classes were her favorite, Savannah said, because the class always included something different.

"I enjoyed the hands-on activities," she said. "I understood the material, because of an amazing teacher, Mrs. Leffers."

Though Leffers was a great teacher for Savannah, her favorite was her math teacher Mrs. Olsen.

"She answered all of my exotic questions," Savannah said. "She broke everything down so I could understand it with my photographic memory. Plus, she is honest to the point of being hilarious!"

In school her biggest support came from her elementary Title One teacher Mrs. Steer. Savannah credits the educator with pushing her to do her best and she feels that she would not be where she is today without that support.

"She would let me know when I was being efficient and keep me positive when I was struggling," she said. "I will miss the staff of Banner County School."

Savannah, daughter of Hope and Gregg Wurdeman and Shannon and Melanie Jordan, represents the top ten of her graduating class and she is the sole graduate who is also a member of the National Honor Society.

She looks forward to emulating the teachers that have shown her so much support once she completes her higher education in the elementary education program at Concordia University of Nebraska in Seward after which she hopes to return to Banner County to begin her career teaching elementary school.

She leaves future graduates with a message, "You will accomplish anything if you put your heart and mind to it. I know you have heard this many times before, but it is the bold truth. I also want to say that life never stops; therefore, you will get through the rough patches and see the light at the end of the tunnel."