GALION — Third grader Luke Garverick finally found his voice on Thursday, May 4. Maybe it was “the force.”
“Luke doesn’t talk, not even eye-contact,” Galion Intermediate teacher Marsha Garverick, who is Luke’s mother, said. “Not until recently, at least.”
Garverick said her son has always been a silent, almost mute, child. But after he saw “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” during Christmas break this school year, he got an idea: have his entire school dress up for #Maythefourthbewithyou — a Star Wars-themed social media craze — on May 4.
“So I went and talked to the principal about it and he thought it was a good idea,” Luke said after speaking fluently on anything Star Wars related. His favorite character is Darth Vader, followed by a close-second: Kylo Ren, the space epic’s newest antagonist.
Galion Intermediate School Principal Alex Sharick not only liked the idea, he saw Luke’s enthusiasm as an opportunity for growth in the shy, near-mute third grader.
Sharick said the intermediate school, grades three through five, has adopted the Leader In Me Program for the 2015-16 school year — a program aimed at empowering students by showing their natural leadership abilities.
“We invest our time into what’s important to us, so I saw this was very important to Luke and worked with him to make it happen,” Sharick said.
Luke was encouraged to write his principal a “newsletter,” stating reasons for why dressing up as favorite Star Wars characters would be a good idea. Sharick also encouraged the third grader to update him every so often.
“I wanted to make sure he was committed and taking initiative,” Sharick said, as he winked at Luke who sat at a desk nearby.
“I was responsible and I took initiative,” Luke said promptly with a confident smile.
That initiative inspired the principal to spread the word throughout the school, advertising the Star Wars day. He even found a way to get cardboard cutouts of Chewbacca and Darth Vader, and a replica of R2-D2. Students and teachers in all three grades wore Star Wars garb and some, like Luke, were donned in their favorite character’s costume.
“What I’m most proud of is that he had an idea and went through with fulfilling it. And then his peers all joined in to make his goal come to life,” Sharick said.
His mother, Marsha, was gleaming with pride.
“Even that he’s talking with a reporter right now is amazing,” she said, glancing at Luke who simultaneously gave a sheepish smile. “I think he saw that if you stick with something that you can achieve your goals.”
