With a turn of tassels and a toss of caps, the Brown County High School Class of 2019 has officially graduated.
Students received their diplomas and started the next chapter in their lives during evening commencement on June 7 in the Larry C. Banks Memorial Gymnasium.
For the first time in five years, students were able to express themselves through their decorated graduation caps.
Some chose to write inspirational quotes, like, “She believed she could, so she did”; others referenced television shows like “Friends”; and a few decided to highlight where they were going after high school with the college’s logo.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Some students wore “Love More” pins on their gowns; others wore colored cords and stoles signifying their academic successes and honor societies.
The “Love More” pins were in memory of Abbott Garn, who passed away in a car accident in 2017. Garn attended Van Buren Elementary School with the Class of 2019. He was a sophomore at Columbus East High School at the time of the accident.
“He was the light in a dark room, the smile on a bad day,” said Skylar Fleischman, who served as master of ceremonies. “He would also be graduating and celebrating with all of us today.”
This year speeches were given by three graduates: Dasia Wilkerson, Macie Morris and Samuel Bowman.
In the past, the valedictorian and salutatorian would give speeches.
Starting with this graduating class, Brown County High School is no longer naming a valedictorian or salutatorian. Instead, students can earn the tiered honors of cum laude, magna cum laude or summa cum laude, as is done in college.
The high school’s choir performed “The Star Spangled Banner.” Graduates returned to the choir one last time to sing “The Road Home.”
The band performed “Pomp and Circumstance” as the graduates walked their procession.
In Wilkerson’s speech, “Where do we go from here?” she encouraged her classmates to be excited about graduating and not to be intimidated by “the real world” where financial responsibilities, like paying insurance and mortgages, loom.
“We are so, so lucky to be able to step into a world full of uncertainty, because uncertainty is opportunity, and opportunities are how we learn and how we grow,” she said.
“Be who you want to be. Do what you want to do. Become the best version of yourself and the rest will fall into place. The next step varies for each and every one of us. This is mine, this is yours, and this is our opportunity to thrive. Let’s take it.”
Morris’ speech focused on perseverance. She lost her father her freshman year and her mother seven months later during her sophomore year.
“It ultimately catapulted me into a deeper hole that made me ask, ‘Can I do this? Will I make it?’” she said.
“I often found myself jealous of the bright blue sky that held those souls so far out of my reach as I struggled to maintain good grades. I did my best to remind myself that I’m down here for a reason, which I discovered more and more throughout the years.”
Morris thanked teachers and her classmates for helping her get through the dark times and staying by her side. “Not one person hesitated to show me love, and I’ve learned that’s what this entire community is about: being there when people need it the most,” she said — “especially the times thinking I wouldn’t live to make it to this day to graduate, before I came to the realization that I had to wake up and make something of myself even if I thought I was too sad to do it.”
Bowman was ranked first in class. His speech focused on the amount of time students have spent in class to get to this point.
“Thirteen years ago each one of us came to kindergarten for the very first time. One hundred eighty days of school per year over those 13 years comes out to 2,340 total days,” he said.
Bowman also calculated how many hours students have spent in class: 16,380 hours per student.
“Today, on day 2,341, this chapter of our lives is finally coming to a close, and it’s a big deal. It’s the reason we’re all here today, to celebrate this great accomplishment and to celebrate the beginning of the rest of our lives,” he said.
Like in most senior speeches, Bowman said he wanted to share some words of wisdom from his grandfather with his classmates: Follow the Golden Rule.
“He (my grandfather) said if everyone in this world were to simply treat others the way they wanted to be treated, this world would not be full of pain and suffering you see rampant every day,” he said.
“What if everyone, all seven-plus-billion of us on this planet, were to take that simple advice? That’s my advice for 2019: Follow the Golden Rule and treat others the way you’d like to be treated.”
Before students were called up to collect their diploma, Principal Matt Stark stepped up to the microphone to present the Class of 2019. He returned as principal this school year after five years in Illinois.
“On a personal note, thank you to the Brown County School Board and to Dr. Hammack for giving me the opportunity to return, and to this senior class and this community for reminding me how special it is to be part of this great community,” he said.
One man in the crowd gave a loud response: “Welcome home.”
Just as soon as the students stepped up to get their diplomas, they were back to their seats. Superintendent Laura Hammack led them to turn their tassels before the blue caps went flying.
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Summa cum laude: Samuel Bowman, Chase Watson, Baelyn Koester, Zelton Kay, Jackson McPheeters, Isabelle Allen, Madison Bickley, Mekenzie Dunnuck, Wolfgang Davis, Madison Martin and Amber Reece
Senior speakers: Dasia Wilkerson, Macie Morris and Samuel Bowman
Master of ceremonies: Skylar Fleischman
141 graduates
17 technical honors diplomas
34 academic honors diplomas
11 summa cum laude honors
8 magna cum laude honors
4 cum laude honors
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