Graduation, May 16
The 148th CHS graduation ceremony was held Sunday at the CHS gymnasium. A large crowd gathered to see the seniors off. Superintendent Destry Brown introduced the board of education members and administrative staff, and CHS principal Jerrod Steffens also recognized the many guidance counselors and educators who were part of each student’s journey.
The Colors were presented by the CHS JROTC, and the National Anthem sung by students MaKayla Garber, Lillian Manuel, and Kyleigh Vanderburg. The honor graduates were recognized by CHS counselor Jamie McCoy.
Cum Laude (3.5 – 3.75 GPA): Matthew Balke, Jasemine Branscombe, Brady Carr, Timothy Elliott, Tia Fannon, Gretchen Harrelson, Morgan Hendrich, Melissa Jackson, Camryn Kemper, Tyler Lawson, Hayley Martinez, Chantelle Miller, Matthew Schockey, Bryanne Smith, RubyRose Summa, Hannah Verhalen, Samuel Winkler, and Sarah Woirhaye
Magna Cum Laude: (3.76 – 3.999 GPA): Maddyson Allard, Victor Chapa, Isaiah Conway, Jessica Crowder, Carter Dye-Mason, Madison Goucher, Lydia Harrison, Mason Huff, Olivia Keily, Alexa Kirk, Tyler Lutjen, Hannah Mallory, Jace Olson, and Imanol Ramirez.
Summa Cum Laude: Alana Alexander, Emma Gover, Hannah Harrelson, Katie Mitchell, and Mackenzie Russell
CHS Counselor McCoy then recognized the students who had enlisted or had plans on enlisting in the military.
The first of two student speeches was given by Katie Mitchell. Mitchell plans on attending the University of Missouri and pursuing a degree in business. She talked about the favorite memories of students from the past four years and distilled lessons from them. She recalled the class failing to correctly yell their “battle cry” rally at a pep assembly, getting their driver’s licenses and learning to explore, and doing things that bound them together as a class: “It is okay to make mistakes,” was lesson one, the second lesson was to “listen and explore,” and the third lesson was to “live in the moment.”
Lydia Harrison gave the second student speech: she plans on attending UCM and pursuing a career in nursing. Harrison told her classmates that the door to CHS was closing, but the door to the rest of their lives was opening. She spoke about the impact of last year’s difficulties on the class and how they not only went through a pandemic but excelled during those difficult times. “Our class will go down in history,” she said. She encouraged the students to think about how their experiences will impact them: what would they do with them? “We are a family,” she concluded. “Once a Cardinal, always a Cardinal.”
The guest speaker, chosen by the students, was Loren Luther – a math faculty teacher at CHS. He told the students he had two pieces of advice he had learned while attending college and deciding what he was going to major in. Or, as he put it: “How I used to be a slacker in college.” He described struggling in classes until he happened across a math lab which incidentally got him on a path to teaching – something he loves. “It is never too late to change,” was his first bit of advice. He talked about changing majors frequently before settling on education and mathematics. “If you need to reinvent yourself, you can,” he said. His second piece of advice was that failure was not the end. He told the students that their failures can often be opportunities and for them to not be afraid to fail: “It is possible to do everything right and still lose,” he told them.
Following Mr. Luther’s speech, CHS Senior Emma Gover gave the courtesy instructions for those gathered (when to hold applause, etc.) and Principal Jerrod Steffens certified that all 137 Seniors were eligible for graduation. The presentation of the diplomas concluded the ceremony which ended at about 3:15 p.m.
