"Choose Houston" MLK Assembly
Written by Savannah Schedin, Former Student on Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Snohomish High School 2007 graduate Houston Kraft was the featured speaker of this year’s MLK Assembly at Snohomish High School. Kraft’s sometimes humorous and often heartfelt message to the student body and staff on Friday focused on love.
Using examples from his elementary, middle school, high school, and even college years, Kraft told the student body of life experiences that he learned important life lessons from.
“I think Houston is a lot more relatable as a previous student at Snohomish High School, and he had a good message that was delivered humorously,” stated Junior Shelby Garrison.
Most of the life lessons conveyed ideas of courage, and how bravery and love go hand in hand.
Amanda Cote, a former teacher of Kraft’s, stated, “He was always very outgoing and brave when it came to speaking in front of people. He also started the R.A.K.E. club at Snohomish HS, which was a positive experience with positive changes.”
One of Kraft’s stories that evoked an emotion in the student body was his childhood story about a girl named Lisa.
Kraft told the audience about a small girl that dressed in the same clothes every day and was easily the odd one out of the class. What Kraft didn’t know at the time was that Lisa and her mother had previously been in an abusive relationship and were struggling to make ends meet. But instead choosing to be brave and stand up for Lisa, he chose to put her down before hearing her story.
Junior Hannah Pieper stated, “I took away the idea that you should always treat people with love and respect, you don’t want to take away someone’s Lisa moment.”
The moral of the story was to be courageous and spread love in oppose to putting down others to raise one self’s standing.
“After the assembly, I went home and shared with my kids that you shouldn’t be afraid to do the right thing, don’t let what others think hold you back,” said Cote.
