Graduating Seniors Well

Graduating seniors well does not just impact your students now, it also sets your ministry up for the future. We not only want the students to flourish spiritually in their new environment; we also want them to come back to our community and continue to engage with Cru.

Sending Them is Not Saying Goodbye

This topic really came home to me a few weeks ago when our city had the annual golf tournament/fundraiser. As I looked around the room during the post-golf dinner, I realized the biggest part of our financial backing came from former students. These men had been involved with us in high school and came back to help us invest in the next generations. They are a big reason why we are able to continue ministry the way we have for decades. Even though many of these guys had periods of time where they strayed from their faith, God used the investments made in them through Cru to bring them back around.

We also have many men and women who volunteer with our ministry today who started out as students. Now they are teachers, coaches, and business people actively involved in our ministry as volunteers who are connecting personally with students. You also never know who God is calling to join staff with your team. The presence of a former student has a motivating effect on the lives of the youth in our ministry.

Graduating seniors well does not just impact your students now, it also sets your ministry up for the future.

Four Stages of Sending Them Well

Sending seniors well does not start in the last semester of their senior year. It is something you prepare them for throughout high school. These are some ideas to get you started on preparing students to graduate well.

Freshman/Sophomores

Share with students how to be self-feeders when it comes to their faith.
- Help them set regular times and days of reading the Bible and praying separately from the church or other Christian meetings.
  - One helpful method might be teaching them the “Observe, Interpret, Apply” method for studying scripture.
Help your student find a local church and prioritize attending and getting involved.
Plant seeds that God wants to use everyone and has a purpose for their life, even if they are not an upfront leader.
- Psalm 32:8 “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.”
- Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Juniors

Help students choose a school or vocation for their next step and encourage them to meet with their school counselor to plan for graduation.
Check for Christian student movements in different schools or different cities and reach out to Cru staff in these cities.
Discuss student’s financial needs.
- James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously without criticism, and it will be given to him.”
Take students to Winter Conference to see what the college ministry does.

Seniors

Help a student find a church near their college campus or job.
Prep the student for what life on their own will be like.
If possible, go to their future campus with them and help connect them with a Christian ministry on that campus. Visit the weekly meeting, have a meal with the staff, etc.
Help them make decisions ahead of time, and talk them through challenges and temptations they will face after high school.
Talk about the importance of having Christian friends to keep you on track.
Have a farewell dinner to honor and celebrate the seniors.
Plan to stay in contact via social media, texting, and calling every once in a while to check in.
Create a Vision Plan for your closest students. Meet one on one with students to highlight the student’s strengths and some areas that could trip them up. Use this time to encourage them and cast vision.

Your students need caring adults to stay in their lives to help give them direction and to anchor them during the turbulent years after high school.

Postgraduate

Keep a list of students with whom you want to stay connected. Stay connected with them often through texting, social media, or notes. Put together a plan or schedule if that is helpful for you.
Add them to your prayer letter list or a city mailing list to help them feel connected with what is going on in the ministry and help them begin to see things from a volunteer/staff or donor perspective.
Ask former students to volunteer with conferences, retreats, and mission trips.
Host a Thanksgiving or Christmas get-together to keep former students connected with each other and hear about what is going on in their lives.
Challenge them to come back in the summer to help with the ministry.
After they get into the workforce, challenge them to become financial partners and volunteers.

The 8-Year Plan

Your students need caring adults to stay in their lives to help give them direction and to anchor them during the turbulent years after high school. Sending students well can include an 8-year commitment to help your student on their journey from a freshman in high school all the way through their college years.

The people who have been through our program are the best people to recruit to join us on staff or as partners in our ministry. Staying connected with them is not only a blessing to them, but it also keeps the door open to join us in more significant ways in the future.

A Long-Term Investment

Sending students well, whether they are going to college, entering the military, or training for a vocation, means keeping in mind that this is a long-term relationship. Investing in a student’s journey is a calling, and it is an honor to be used by God in a student’s life!

Next Step

Start using the Alumni Tracking Spreadsheet today! Make your own copy of it and enter your current students by grad year. Enter any former students too. Then text all your former students to see how they are doing.

Alumni Tracking Spreadsheet