On Sunday, September 22, the North Polk community lost junior Chad Dittmer in a tragic vehicle accident. It left many members of the community upset and in shock when the news came out; no matter where people found out, many found it hard to believe that a friend passed away. 

While Chad and I were never close, my brother had been going to school with him since pre-school, and shared a friendship throughout elementary, middle and high school. I remember the night of his passing both my brother and I were left in shock, as in our minds, there was no way that someone so young could go. This story is dedicated to him.

We talked about it some days following the accident, and realized that there was so much that we not only took for granted, but that we were missing out on throughout our short life. We realized that no one ever truly knows what could happen, and realized the importance of looking for happiness everyday.

After getting permission from the family, I wanted to begin a story that younger audiences could look to as advice for appreciating life, and “living it to the fullest” as some might say. In order to get this valuable perspective, I sought the help of staff at North Polk High School and gathered responses, advice, wanting to be given by said staff.

Below are the responses: 

“Be present in each and every moment.  

Your life is a story filled with wonderful characters.”

• Jessica Allen

“Love people where they are in life. Don’t assume you know about someone if you have never had a conversation with them. A little bit of love and encouragement can go a long way.”

• Angela Bair, Paraeducator 

“Take time to enjoy life.”

• Alex Bollmeyer, Math Teacher 

“I encourage younger generations to “be in the moment” as much as possible.  Don’t always be looking to the next thing or worrying about the future.  Appreciate what you’re currently doing and give it your best.  Put your cell phone down and talk to your family, continue to “play” no matter what your age, try something new and adventurous.”

• Aaron Dose, Science Teacher

“Surround yourself with the people that make you the happiest. Not the most fun, most popular, the most outgoing, etc., but the people that you feel the happiest with. Someone once told me you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Time is valuable so choose those that make you the happiest and the best version of yourself.”

• Lyndsey Dose, Dean of Students 

“Imagine if tomorrow was your last day on Earth. Two things immediately become clear: what actually matters to you, and what does not. How you would spend your last day reflects your values. Living a value-driven life (spending time/money/energy on the things you actually care about) allows you to have peace no matter how many days on Earth you have left. It also gives you the freedom to not get so upset or down about things that don’t really matter.”

• Bailey Eckert, English Teacher

“Live your life to the fullest with God’s guidance. Treat others as you would like to be treated.”

• Gabriela Greene, Nutrition Substitute 

“Be bold by loving one another. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Don’t repay evil with more evil. Take care of each other.”

• Alexandra Groff, Math Teacher 

“Always do your best, and don’t let anything hold you back from what you want to achieve out of your life.”

• Olivia King, Paraeducator

“Practice gratitude.  Try to find a few things each day you are grateful for.”

• Kerry Lust, Social Studies Teacher 

“Pay attention to the people that God has put right in front of you…the ones you see every day or every week. Expend your energy on those right around you first. Don’t let all the voices in the world paralyze you with ‘you can’t do it all, so do nothing’ with their onslaught of news that does not immediately impact you or your immediate community. It is a balance of caring but not taking on the cares of everyone and everything around you. Then figure out one thing to do to make a difference somewhere.

Try to enjoy the simplest (even goofy) things in life that make you laugh- even if no one else ‘gets it’.”

• Connie Pitcher, Administrative Assistant

“Always remember you have a choice in what type of ripples you put out around you, Be the positive ripple” You can definitely sum this up and/or re-word this but I think as I have gotten older and I have been able to reflect more on my life, the impact that a person leaves on their environment is so important and I am always about leaving a positive impact.  I like to think that when people think about me and/or when I am gone, that I have positively impacted some people that I have had interactions with.  We can get so caught up in things from our past and things that may or may not happen in our future and we forget about the present and the present is where everything is happening.  So, embrace the present moments and make the most of them when you have them as we don’t always know how many of them we will have.  Never underestimate the power of your presence[.]” 

• Anne Sloan, Health and PE teacher

“Control what you can control. Don’t worry about the stuff you can’t control. Life is too short to let things stress you out that you can’t do anything about.”

• Brandon Weeks, Band Director

“Practice gratitude:  being thankful for the things you have been given is a skill that has to be learned and practiced.”

• Jacob Wolfe, Counselor