As rain poured down outside, the Class of 2012 graduated Friday, June 8, in a cozy ceremony in the Main Gymnasium.
Their motto, “Dream as if you’ll live forever; live as if you’ll die today,” was the pervading theme from the beginning, as valedictorians Tyler Fosback, Tiffany Miller and Kristen Tolle embellished on the quotation from James Dean.
“It starts out optimistic but then gets a little morbid,” Fosback said, noting that Dean himself “lived out his quote, nearly to the letter.
“He is not-so-living proof that the advice is good but shouldn’t be taken too far.”
Miller said she wasn’t familiar with Dean, so she had to do some research to learn about his cultural influence as a rebellious movie star.
“He left us with sayings we quote today,” she said. “In his six-year career, he accomplished all of this; which goes to show you should enjoy and appreciate who and what you have now. Everything is temporary. We may not be able to control everything that happens, so we need to make the most of every moment and enjoy the little things in life.”
Tolle urged her 155 fellow graduates to remember how they made it to commencement: “motivation, hard work and the friends and relationships we’ve made.
“Even though a door is closing in our lives, new windows are opening. Opportunities await us around every corner; we just have to reach out for them. Life is short so take every opportunity you can.”
Salutatorian Kyle Winslow reminded his classmates that the ceremony was bigger than they were.
“I hate to break it to you, but this isn’t about you tonight; this is for all the hours, days, months and years that those people behind you have spent getting you to where you are now,” he said. “Yes, it was you that put in the actual work at school but let’s face it – it couldn’t have been done without them, and this is for them to see that they were successful in their job of getting you here, so well done, parents.”
Keynote speaker Melissa Klumph spoke about overcoming difficulties in life, noting that, as a math teacher, “I spend my days drawing pyramids and saying things like ‘Pythagoreas.’ I don’t write speeches.”
She said she spent two weeks trying to decide what to say and trying to remember who spoke at her own graduation.
“I have no idea,” she said.
She told the graduates they should share good times, but when difficulties arise in their lives, they need to rely on their friends and family.
“Call your teachers when you’ve gotten the job of your dreams,” she said. “Call when you can’t do it alone.”
She also urged the seniors to “go outside your comfort zone.
“It’s uncomfortable to do new things that you don’t feel good at. Do something you don’t think you can do. “
Her third piece of advice was to “simply try” and to be resilient.
“Try a new approach. Try looking at something from a different perspective.
“And when you start a new job and screw everything up, get out of bed and try again.
“The people I want you to be are the ones who get up and try again.”
Principal Pat Stineff, who is retiring after this school year, presented a veteran’s diploma to Duane Davis, who did not graduate with his high school class because he served in the U.S. Army from 1979 to 1982.
Then, as Stineff and School Board President Jason Redick handed out diplomas to the younger graduates, many of them placed medals sporting Angry Bird likenesses, a favorite of the principal, around her neck.
The ceremony lasted just an hour and, before the gymnasium had a chance to heat up, Scottie Stockman and Lorenzo Virgen made the closing remarks.
“Live, laugh and love may be generic meanings to most, but when we are old and wrinkled, we won’t be looking back at all of the trophies we won, the medals or the awards,” Virgen said.
“We will be looking back on the memories we shared with our friends, families and various loved ones.”