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SAC Senior Night
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SAC Senior Night

By July 7, 2026No Comments

CultureWorks celebrated four seniors graduating from our Student Advisory Council this year.

June is perhaps the most bittersweet time of the year at CultureWorks; students we have known for years and years don caps and gowns, cross a big stage and receive their diploma. After lots of hard work, both in school and out, we get to celebrate their accomplishments and the people they have become. Once-shy sixth graders transform into confident and kind young adults. Budding artists grow skilled at creative ideation and their favorite mediums. Members of a middle school develop into active members of their broader community, volunteering and preparing for a lifetime of civic engagement. Once-strangers are now dear friends. We get a front-row seat on the lives of young people as they grow more and more into the people they were always meant to be, and there is so much joy in cheering them on along the way. The sad part is saying “goodbye.” The season where we get to support this particular group of teens has drawn to a close, even as they move on to the next good thing.

We spend more time with our Student Advisory Council (SAC) than with any other group of students as we focus on leadership development, youth-driven projects, and forming a healthy community that can make CultureWorks better for all the people that it serves. Each year we gather to thank the seniors and offer them a proper send-off after all the ways that they have participated in their time here. This year Emily Christensen hosted a giant potluck dinner in her backyard for SAC students and their family members. We feasted together, spread from living room to dining table to picnicking on the patio, and then we congregated outside to play games and give awards to the seniors.

We kicked it off with a round of two truths and a lie. Each senior submitted a notecard with their 3 pieces of information, we read them anonymously, and families and other SAC students got to guess who said what and then guess which was a lie. This group of seniors is quirky in all the right ways, and both the truths and the lies had us laughing heartily and ready for some more earnest bits of celebration.

This crew has been a part of shifting SAC to a more student-driven model, and they’ve led the charge on some amazing projects over the past couple of years. Collectively, they volunteered 624.5 hours at CultureWorks in their years on the council. They combined forces to create sculptures of endangered species made from recycled materials, and then found places in the community to display them. They hosted a winter art market at CultureWorks to help with fundraising. They met with legislators to learn about policy and ask tough questions. This spring they vocalized their concerns about censorship through a student art show, Redacted, hosted at Lemonjello’s Coffee in downtown Holland, where their work was seen by thousands due to Tulip Time traffic. We gave each senior a personalized award, collectively celebrating leadership skills, can-do attitude, wisdom with words, and listening and sharing skills.

The night ended with more games and then a slow trickle out, from the rhythms of high school to the next season of life. We are so grateful for the time we’ve had with each of our seniors, but oh man, we’re sure going to miss them. We wanted you to get a tiny glimpse of the wonderful people we’ve gotten to know over the years, so we asked them some questions about past, present and future. Here are some tiny interviews of these fabulous graduates, along with their award titles; if you see them around, wish them well!

Oliver Amerine aka “The Storyteller”

Where are you going next?  I plan on continuing to work for at least another year, and then I’ll go to a cosmetology school in GR.
What advice would you give to your 8th grade self? Control only what you can, look at everything with a positive attitude, and accept as many opportunities as possible.
What artistic medium surprised you with how fun it is? Definitely linoleum print carving.
What was your first or most memorable stuffed animal? (What kind of animal and what was it called?) My most memorable first stuffed animal was an elephant that I had wringed the stuffing out and made raggedy and at the time I didn’t know how to pronounce it, so I called it a (phonetically) Foo – Font.
Annabelle Boyd aka “The Busdriver”
Where are you going next?  I am going to Colorado College in Colorado Springs and majoring in environmental science or organismal biology and ecology! 
What advice would you give to your 8th grade self? I’d tell my 8th grade self that it’s OK to be “bad” at art (also known as: dissatisfied with what you create… there’s really no bad art). What matters is that you keep doing it, and not letting dissatisfaction overwhelm you and sap your creativity. If you focus on being creative and having fun, your skills will naturally improve with time and you won’t lose your spark striving for perfection. That said, still do some anatomy studies. Please. 
What artistic medium surprised you with how fun it is? I never knew what block carving was before CultureWorks, and I wasn’t very knowledgeable about printmaking in general, either. I thought screen printing was mainly just for mass production and didn’t realize what an incredible art form it is… anyway, printmaking is now one of my favorite ways to make art (thanks CultureWorks)!!
What was your first or most memorable stuffed animal? (What kind of animal and what was it called?) My most memorable stuffed animal was a tiny stuffed blue dragon with magnets in his hands and feet named Bluey. I would clasp the magnet hands together and wear him as a bracelet so I could conveniently bring him literally everywhere. 

Greta Christensen aka “The Happy Camper”

Where are you going next? I’m going to Michigan Tech to study environmental science.
What advice would you give to your 8th grade self? Have some fun! Experience life! Don’t wait for the future to be happy. Also, don’t be so afraid of people. They’re not that scary.
What was your first or most memorable stuffed animal? (What kind of animal and what was it called?) A bear… named “Bear Bear” (I was a really creative child, obviously.)

Ryan Gonzales aka “The Word Wrangler”

Where are you going next? I’m going to Colorado College! Higher education awaits me and I am onwards to a new chapter of studying animals and science and all that fun stuff! Otherwise, I’ll follow where my curiosity takes me and try to abide by where my moral compass points.
What advice would you give to your 8th grade self? To my 8th grade self, have fun!!! Grades are awesome but building friendships and enjoying the last chunk of life before adulthood is really important. Don’t stress too much about everything that needs to line up or go to plan, and instead just try to do one fun thing a week or so that you will look back on fondly.
What artistic medium surprised you with how fun it is? I’ve been surprised by how much I love block carving! It’s so permanent, which usually stresses me out with art, but something about it is both calming and fun to bring to life. I’ve grown to love carving into pumpkins for similar reasons, although obviously that’s a bit more seasonal here.
What was your first or most memorable stuffed animal? (What kind of animal and what was it called?) My first memorable stuffed animal was this Komodo dragon my grandfather bought me at the Detroit zoo. It was super comfy and I treasured it for years, and eventually it became a weapon between me and my stepbrother due to its hard plastic eyes. May it rest in peace.