◆ “Never once did I hear Mikey complain…”

Swift Creek High School honored one of its students, Mike Stewart, in a special individualized graduation ceremony Tuesday, June 8 at Swift Creek High School. SCHS staff and students welcomed friends, family and community celebrating Mike and his accomplishments at his graduation.

SCHS teacher, David Saltzman, spoke at the ceremony saying, “Mikey, I’m making you a promise right now, that as long as I am at Swift Creek kids are going to know about you. Never once did I hear Mikey complain. When a kid comes to me and tells me school is hard and I don’t know if I can do this, I’m going to say ‘You know who never complained? Mikey Stewart never complained, and he managed school through chemo.’”

Stewart, who has battled cancer, losing a leg to it earlier, has a grim prognosis. Doctors give him just weeks to live.

Stewart has been a student at Swift Creek for about a year and a half. Principal Jack said, “He had a little work to finish to graduate, and it started to make sense why he had been so tired. We put together the work he needed to finish and now he’s going to get his last credit and graduate.”

Swift Creek High School posted this comment on Facebook: “The Swift Creek family loves Mikey Stewart. He has been an inspiration to us all. We are so proud of your accomplishments, Mike!”

One of Stewart’s dreams is to write and record a rap song. The Make-A-Wish foundation provided Stewart with software and hardware to do just that, but it’s very complicated. Now he’s not sure he wants to take the time to learn the software to record songs. He has plans to travel to Oregon to see the coast.

Principal Jack said, “He’s a really quiet guy until you get to know him. He’s an awesome young man and we’re proud of him finishing and graduating from Swift Creek High School.”