As the teacher who can tear up teaching Beowulf, I don't know how I'll make it through this sad occasion without crying. I want to ask you to pray for me that I'll have the strength to say what I want to share with you about Blake Moore. When Mr. Norton was planning this service, I knew what Blake would say to me if he could be here today. He'd say, " Now, Mrs. Hart, you need to say something-- you're the drama teacher &
 you need to be a good example." And so, Blake, wherever you are - I'm doing this for you.
Teachers endeavor to teach students a number of things, but teachers also learn a great deal from students. I learned three important lessons from Blake Moore, and if you knew him, you learned them, too. First of all, I learned that a bright-eyed smile can help make anybody's day better. He had one- didn't he? Can't you just see it? Whether you meet him in the hall, or at break, or coming into class, that smile exemplified his enthusiasm for life and brightened up his corner of the world. 
Secondly, I learned that kindness is never out of style. Blake Moore was a kind person- even when people were not always kind to him. His friend Kelly told me a story last night at the funeral home. He said that Blake's step brother, Darryl, had been in the hospital and had come home Tuesday. Darryl usually slept in the room with his brother Kris, but Blake decided that Darryl would rest better in a bed by himself so he decided to give up his bed. When Darryl came home, Blake had prepared it with pillows all around so Darryl would be comfortable. Many of you could share a story of Blake Moore's kindness.
 Thirdly, Blake taught me that everybody- everybody- matters. If I asked you to stand if you considered yourself Blake Moore's friend, probably at least eighty-five percent of you would stand because Blake wanted to be friends with everybody. He could fit in with the soccer team people or the volleyball team, or the drama club. He was good to the rich and the poor, to the smart and the strugging, to the popular and, or the rejected, a lesson that we could all learn from.
In most  teacher's classes, a test is given at least once a week, but for the lessons Blake taught, the test is everyday- every period. Did we learn well? If we can remember that a bright-eyed smile can cheer up a room, that kindness is never out of style, and that everybody matters, then that young man that we say goodbye to today can live forever in our actions and in our memories. I do believe that his spirit lives on and that you can take comfort in the fact that although he is not physically here, he does exist.
In the spring I always give my drama students a choice of three poems to memorize and many of them memorize the poem that I am going to close with. I believe they choose it because it is comforting to think that our loved ones don't leave they just change. I like to think that Blake would have chosen this poem, and so I want you to listen as though Blake were saying these words to comfort us.
By:  Mrs. Kay Hart,Drama Teacher

DO NOT STAND AT MY GRAVE AND WEEP
Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow;
I am the diamond glints on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain;
I am the gentle autumn's rain.

When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft star that shines at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.

I didn't know Blake for very long. I met him in the spring on the soccer field, on the enemy team. He was always trying to get me to transfer to Scotts Hill just for the soccer team. Always with a big smile on his face, he would come up to me with the latest scheme to get me to come. I finally came this year and I really enjoyed knowing him. He seemed like a great person, an optimist who always had a joke or a smile handy. I had one class with him, French. One day we were looking at common French names and we decided to call him "THEO", which means "divine Gift". He was always wanting for a general happier mood. I came and I was glad I knew some people, Blake was one. I was thinking that I had come to a place where people actually seemed to want me, and where Blake would stop nagging me to come. But my acquaintance with him was short lived since not a month after attending this school he died. I didn't know him for as long as most, but I got to see Blake for who he was. He was a person with a good heart and a matching soul, a true friend, and a person who will be sorely missed.--Stephen Steigal

With life comes death and with death comes life
And time goes on, never mind our strife
There should be exceptions when it seems there's a mistake
This poem is about such a person-Our everlasting friend, Blake.

"If tears could build a staircase and memories a lane,
I'd climb right up to heaven, and bring you home again."

Oh "Theo" don't you know,
We'd do it again and again
If it brought you back from Heaven,
And we could begin, forgetting "the end."

As if nothing happened
As though you were never gone,
We'd pick up where we left off,
And together, we'd journey on.

But your fate was not this,
And we can do nothing to change,
Can't go back in time,
Can not relinquish all this pain.

We'll try to go on
Though it'll never be the same
We'll always miss you
And forever cherish your name.

You're in Heaven now
And forever you will be
But what will never leave us,
Shall be your memory.

We'll cherish the time we spent together
Whether it was long or short
You're gone forever, never to return
Your ship has left his port.

Give us strength to carry on
Help us remember you
Though we're worlds apart
And your mortal life is though

I pray for you in heaven
That you had not a single regret
And we that you left, we that remain
Promise never to forget.

WE BROKE A RULE,
WE PRAYED IN SCHOOL,
AND WE DID IT ALL FOR YOU!.

WE LOVE AND MISS YOU, BLAKE

~*IN LOVING MEMORY OF NATHANIEL BLAKE MOORE*~
A.K.A. "THEO" : "AIN'T IT MASCULINE?!"- BLAKE MOORE

FAREWELL, MY FRIEND
STEPHEN A. SIEGL
SEPTEMBER 2,2004

"A DEDICATION TO BLAKE MOORE"

September 1st was a tragic day,
Many of us lost a dear friend.
He was a great son, brother, and friend all in one,
And greatly loved until his untimely end.

He shall never be forgotten,
He shall live on in our hearts.
Although he was taken from us,
Though love we shall never be apart.

We all feel much anguish,
Over the events of that gloomy day.
Through pain and love we are brought together,
For he influenced us all in his own way.

We are not meant to question God's motives,
But when I think of that day I cry,
"Why couldn't he walk away like so many others,
Why did he have to die?"

We all wish we could change the past,
We all wish this wasn't meant to be.
He's gone to a better place though,
And I know someday again he'll shake hands with me.

I cry because Blake is gone,
But I cry also for the rest of you.
Blake knew that Heaven would be his home,
I pray the rest of you do too.

Everyone please help his family,
Please lift them up in your prayers.
Do all that you can for them,
But most of all let them know you care.
R.I.P. Blake
BY: CODY WOOD