On Sunday, May 30, 2021, Highlands High School celebrated their Baccalaureate ceremony. At this time, Erin Barker and Maddie Baldrick each gave a speech in memory of Michelle.
“Hi everyone, I’m Erin Barker, and I’m also graduating tomorrow. So, I’m going to start this off by saying that public speaking is not my forte and neither is writing speeches, but I’m going to try my best. I really wish I did not have a reason to be here tonight because I wish she could be here with us. I’m pretty sure most of us know the story of Michelle Chalk and that for many of us she should be graduating with us tomorrow morning. I imagine that she is still with us. That tomorrow she would be singing beautifully in the choir, have a gold tassel on her cap, and have dozens of cords to show her many accomplishments. But instead we must bring her with us another way by keeping her in our hearts and her memory alive. What Michelle was known for was her kindness and compassion towards others despite hard times, her ability to have faith in tough situations and persevere, her uplifting and contagious personality. I always admired the way she always lit up a room by her mere presence. Michelle worked hard everyday to be the best version of herself, and never let anything stop her. Everyone who knew her knew she was special, and everyone around her was touched in some way by her through her fifteen-years on this earth. And although she is now an angel in heaven I think there is a little piece of Michelle that lives on in each and everyone of us. I think as we continue on to this next chapter of our lives that we keep her with us as a reminder to be kind and caring no matter the circumstances, to work hard and be the best we can be, and to live free in our future lives. I hope we all continue to make her proud. So as we walk across the stage tomorrow I know Michelle will walk with us because she will always be part of the class of 2021. Thank you.” – Erin Barker, HHS Class of 2021
“My name is Maddie Baldrick and a member of the class of 2021. Along with this I was a close friend of Michelle Chalk who I met in the fifth grade in Ms. Huber’s classroom at Johnson Elementary. Today I would like to talk about Michelle’s impact on me personally and her impact on the community as a whole. One of my favorite memories with Michelle was riding our bikes through the city of Fort Thomas. One of our favorite hang out spots was the Twisty Grill which was located across from Highland’s High School. One day when we walked into the Twisty Grill there was a foreign exchange student who was sitting all by herself. Michelle looked at me and said, “Let’s sit with her.” From that day forward we sat with that girl at the Twisty Grill for the rest of the summer. Michelle was a very welcoming and inviting person and everyone around her knew that. August 1st is when we lost our sweet Michelle. Her death is sad, unfortunate, and very unexpected. However her spirit is deeply embedded in this community and she will not be forgotten. One way I see Michelle consistently is through our teachers, especially our advisory teachers. When school shutdown due to Covid, and we all went on NTI, our advisory teachers would reach out to us whether it was email our schology messaging us to make sure we were doing okay. Just like Michelle would. She would always check in on her friends to make sure they felt cared for and welcome. This is just one of many the ways that Michelle’s spirit lives in this community. As we all go our separate ways after graduation I personally would like to remind everyone to live free, because Michelle would want us to. Thank You” – Maddie Baldrick, HHS class of 2021
