By Maire Crooks, Current Writer
Thanks to their class sponsors Ms. Liu and Mrs. Kump, the River Hill High School class of 2021 have felt supported and mentored from the moment they stepped foot into River Hill in 2017.
From decorating homecoming hallways with the Class SGA to planning events and working on masked-up graduation, Ms. Tiffany Liu, a science teacher at River Hill, and Mrs. Lisa Kump, a member of River Hill’s English Department, have led the class of 2021 through the twists and turns that high school brought, not to mention the high school experience during a global pandemic.
Mrs. Kump has thoroughly enjoyed watching the class of 2021 mature and flourish throughout their high school years. She explains that “sponsoring the class of 2021 made [her] appreciate the importance of fostering the individuals who grow to be influential members of a community.” It was very meaningful to witness “students … become computer specialists, teachers, entrepreneurs, etc.”
A prominent part of the graduating class’s journey for Mrs. Kump was the Homecoming Dance of 2019. “The class was such a cohesive group! We had so much fun decorating our Finding Nemo hallway,” she exclaimed. In fact, Mrs. Kump proudly recalls that the class of 2021 Junior hall actually beat the Senior (class of 2019) hall that year in the annual competition for the most decorated hall.
With the unforeseen pandemic that stole part of their Junior and Senior years, Mrs. Kump has realized that her favorite part of sponsoring the class of 2021 was “simply seeing the students in person.” She is grateful for the in-person opportunity Senior Night offered on May 11th, as she reflected that it “was such a wonderful night witnessing the students spending time together playing games and enjoying each others’ company.” The weather was gorgeous and the night brought in-person unity to the class.
As in-person opportunities began to arise for the class of 2021, Ms. Liu welcomed a new baby into her life and is finishing the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year on maternity leave.
While the Senior class begins to embark on their next chapter in life, Mrs. Kump would like to share her favorite quote for 2021 to serve as words of advice: “Challenges are what make life interesting. Overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.”
Mrs. Kump bids a bittersweet, fond farewell to the senior class: “Thanks for your diligence, resilience, and inspiration. You will be missed and never forgotten!”