Mooseheart Commencement Exercises are always special moments, and this year was no exception, with a crowd of more than 1,000 at the Mooseheart Fieldhouse present to see the 21 members of the Class of 2008 receive their diplomas.

"It's been an exciting year at Mooseheart," Mooseheart Executive Director Scott Hart said. "These youngsters who came in here as children, are walking out today as young men and young women because of what the Moose fraternity has provided in this very special place called Mooseheart."

Hart took special time to recognize the efforts of the Moose fraternity, whose support provides entirely for the care of every child at Mooseheart.

"Without your tireless efforts and your dedication and the ability to be selfless and to think of others, this day would not be possible for these kids," Hart said.

Hart then addressed the 21 graduates, whose time at the Child City had turned into minutes rather than years. "God has created you for a purpose," Hart said. "He has placed you here at Mooseheart for a special reason. That reason may sometimes seem confusing to you and you may not understand the reason. But someday in your life, you will. I believe that purpose for you is to reach your full potential in life."

Class Salutatorian Chris Morones spent 17 years, 2 months at Mooseheart. He arrived as a baby and grew to adulthood at the Child City.

"During this time, I have had the privilege to watch many graduates pass over this very stage," Morones said. "Year after year, I've waited in anticipation for my day to come. I woke up this morning to find that my wait is finally over."

Morones mentioned that his home for his entire life has been Mooseheart.

"It hit me real hard to realize that once I come down from this stage, Mooseheart will no longer be my home," Morones said. "But in my heart, it always will be."

The keynote address was given by Supreme Governor Gene Huggins. He is a native of Batavia, which is located just to the north of Mooseheart.

"I have had the experience of having a Sunday School teacher, a fifth grade teacher and principal and barbers who cut my hair, all who were graduates of Mooseheart," Huggins said. "I even watched them build the House of God. I went to school with children whose parents were active in the community and who were employed at Mooseheart. For over 60 years, I have witnessed or experienced the positive impact that the Mooseheart community has made to society."

Huggins turned to face the Mooseheart graduates for almost the entirety of his speech.

"There is no right or wrong answer to the question 'what is success?'" Huggins said. "Neither is there any defined path to success. There are many different paths; all have obstacles."

Huggins related how every year, the students have a karaoke contest with members of St. Charles, IL Lodge 1368. He said Mooseheart's students always sing 'Lean on Me' - and always win the contest hands-down.

"What is very, very unique about Mooseheart is the closeness of the students and the way you do lean on each other," Huggins said. "It's our hope that you remain connected to encourage and help each other and help each other reach their goals."

Class of 2008 Valedictorian Jake Stegeman then offered perhaps the morning's highlight, in his address to the audience and his fellow graduates. Stegeman, who came to Mooseheart at the beginning of his high school freshman year, had already received the honor as the top English student in his class. His mature and stirring speech offered vivid demonstration as to why.

Click To Hear Valedictorian Jake Stegeman's Commencement address

"Behind me are 20 men and women, transformed from children that still exist in our hearts today," Stegeman said. "In just four short years, I have seen these guys grow up, as I have matured beside them. In fact, we have almost raised each other. In turn, we have become family."

He said youth becomes a memory as you mature in a process that is impossible to avoid and impossible to halt.

"Unbeknownst to most, we have been fitted with the magical wheels of time, made to never stop," Stegeman said. "These wheels roll, never ceasing, only increasing speed as you travel through your life."

Stegeman urged his fellow graduates to "not forget where we have come from."

"I drove through those stone pillars almost four years ago, unsure and not fully convinced that this place could be a home," Stegeman said. "For many weeks, my room remained as sterile as it had upon my arrival."

Stegeman said things changed some months later.

"Mooseheart wrapped me in its wings, crystallizing me in hope and passion, easing me into a cocoon of which I have been bursting from day by day, learning life and learning to love, shedding the layers of hate under the sunlight of happiness Mooseheart has provided me," Stegeman said.

Stegeman concluded with a series of personal remembrances of his time at Mooseheart.

"I shall forever hear my youth laughing in the school halls with the locker bang melodies," Stegeman said. "School mornings with fresh dew on my sneakers and the smell of Irish Spring; dazzling summers with hushed, heated nights with the AC unit revving outside my window; sunrise snow shoveling at the House of God on Sunday, with the sound of vacuuming and the swish of brooms upon our arrival; sleepless nights and sweaty sheets, the wind counting outside my window pane."

Stegeman said he is no longer that unsure youth who arrived four years ago.

"Mooseheart, more than I could every comprehend it, has become a home for me," he said. "Even as I leave through those gates for the last time, while even though I have left, my heart shall never leave, remaining as steadfast as the love that made Mooseheart possible. We made it."

All that remained at that point was for Superintendent of Education Gary Urwiler to proclaim the Class of 2008 graduated. As is his tradition, Urwiler paused before giving them the words they so longed to hear.

And then the Class of 2008 celebrated one final time together before, as Stegeman said, leaving the Child City forever.