Sandy Creek Christian Academy graduates seven

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Spencer Null and Sophia Mains remember graduating from kindergarten together.

On Saturday afternoon, they donned caps and gowns again, this time marking the end of their high school careers.

They were among the seven seniors receiving their diplomas from Sandy Creek Christian Academy during a graduation ceremony at The Tabernacle in downtown Seymour.

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Mains was valedictorian of the class, while Null and Heather Sparks were co-salutatorians.

While Null and Mains’ classmates joined them at different points of their educational careers, they all created bonds that will last a lifetime.

“We’re all very different, but when we need to work together, we definitely can,” Mains said. “Sometimes, our personalities clash, but usually, not too bad. It’s not something that we can’t get over. We are like a family. We’re a team, I think, for sure. … We’re all pretty easy going. We do what needs to be done.”

Null said a lot changed at the school over the years, including moving to a new building, adding programs and increasing enrollment, but his friendship with Mains remained constant.

“She’s like my sister,” he said.

Both of them attended preschool at Little Angels Day Care before moving into what was then known as Seymour Christian Academy.

Mains’ mother was the elementary administrator at the time and still is today, so that’s why she stayed at the school all of these years.

Null also has a family connection to the school.

“My mom teaches here, and my dad is the athletic director here, so we’ve just all been a part of this school,” he said. “My sister went to school here, so it’s just a family thing. I love this school, and it’s a good school.”

It’s all he has known, he added.

“I’ve always been taught to love God, put God first, read my Bible and pray daily, and I got those from coming to school here and from my parents, of course,” Null said. “It’s cool because you can get your general courses with math, history, all that stuff, along with the biblical integration with that. I think that’s really cool, and I just think it has really helped make me the person that I am.”

Classmate Madison Wilson transferred to the school in second grade. Up to that point, she had attended Seymour-Redding Elementary School.

“My mom was a cook here for the day care, and then also, my brother was in the day care since he was 2 years old, so my mom just switched all of us kids here,” she said.

From the teachers to the students, Wilson said she liked the atmosphere.

“I got a lot of Christian influence,” she said. “Being in public school, I definitely wouldn’t have gotten the influence that I did here.”

Seth Boyd and Eli Trapp both transferred to the school from Seymour-Jackson Elementary School in fifth grade.

Both went to The Tabernacle and learned more about the school, which was in the same building at the time, and decided it suited them better.

“All of the teachers and the Christian influences here have honestly made me the man I am today,” Boyd said. “The Christian principles and Christian standards that they stand for have made me what I am today.”

Trapp said Boyd and another friend encouraged him to switch schools.

“They were like, ‘This school is pretty cool. You need to go here.’ I decided to give it a try,” he said. “In public schools, there are 30-plus people in a classroom, so our class, there’s only seven people in it, so you get that one-on-one with the teachers, and it seems more simple.”

Sparks transferred from Redding when she was in sixth grade.

“My dad actually graduated from here, so he already knew about the school, and he decided to go ahead and enroll me in this school, and then later on my brother,” she said.

That wound up being a good move for Sparks.

“If I stayed at a public school, I feel like I wouldn’t have really known anyone,” she said. “Here, I know all of my classmates, and we’ve been really close together. I feel like they are my brothers and sisters.”

Noah Williams was the last of the seven to join the school. Partway through his junior year, he left North Decatur High School in Greensburg.

“It has definitely been a big, big change, but it’s for the good,” he said. “If you look at my transcripts and stuff, you can see my grades just rise from even my junior year, so I think the one-on-one time is probably the biggest thing that helped me a lot.”

All seven graduates said they will remember the memories they made together.

For the first time in more than 10 years, the senior class went on a trip together. Mains said they had a good time in Chicago, Illinois.

Boyd said the time he spent with his classmates has been awesome.

“It has been absolutely one amazing adventure,” he said with a big smile. “Some people in here, I actually grew up with. All of these friends in here are absolutely amazing. Without them, I don’t know what would have happened.”

Trapp said nobody causes trouble or drama.

“They are all amazing people, and we’ve had a lot of fun during school,” he said.

Wilson said it’s nice to know she has six lifelong friends.

“It’ll be great because I know I’ll always have Christian friends that I can turn to through anything that I need, whether it’s if I need advice or if I need someone to talk to about something I’m going through,” she said.

During the short time he has known his classmates, Williams said he has great memories.

“We’re all different. None of us are the same, so our personalities sometimes clash, but a lot of times, we all get along,” he said. “We just have fun.”

Null is going to major in biblical studies and minor in youth ministries at Indiana Bible College and also is going to take general studies courses at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis to figure out his major and minor.

Mains will spend the first semester taking general education classes at Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus before transferring to IBC to study worship services. She also will major in business administration or communications and minor in Spanish at University of Indianapolis with hopes of becoming a Spanish interpreter.

Sparks is going to attend IBC and IUPUI to earn business and education degrees with an ultimate goal of owning a child education business, while Williams also is going to IBC to major in worship studies and then go to IUPUC or Ivy Tech Community College to get a business degree to start his own business.

Wilson is thinking about attending IUPUC to become a veterinarian technician, and Trapp is going to enter the workforce and save money to put toward starting a business.

Boyd is heading to Pennsylvania, where he will help his uncle build a church and attend Pennsylvania Highlands Community College to earn an associate degree in criminal justice. He wants to become a police officer and later join a SWAT team.

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“It has been absolutely one amazing adventure.”

Sandy Creek Christian Academy senior Seth Boyd on the time spent with his six classmates

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