Avery Auton’s commencement speech to her fellow graduating students at Franklin Community High School will mark the conclusion of a long journey from a quiet, eighth-grader to someone who doesn’t shy away from leadership roles.
“I was the shyest person you would ever meet,” Auton said.
That was something she wanted to change in high school. Beginning in her freshman year, she worked to get involved in as many clubs and other extra-curricular activities that she could, including Business Professionals of America and the Riley Dance Marathon, which she ended up leading by her senior year.
Auton, Ella Pheifer and Alexander Watkins were the three seniors selected as speakers for the graduation ceremony on Friday night. Emma Beavins, the student council president, will speak as well. All three will speak to their graduating class of more than 300 students.
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Unlike the traditional method of having the valedictorian and salutatorian give speeches to their classmates at commencement, Franklin lets seniors try out, with three selected to give a short speech along with the class president, principal Steve Ahaus said. Franklin stopped recognizing valedictorians and salutatorians in 2013, opting to instead honor students by their GPA.
“You want the graduating class to be part of the program. It is their time and they’ve worked hard to that point. Having the voice of their peers heard is an important part of that program,” Ahaus said.
When writing their speeches, a common theme was change — both accepting how their lives will change in college and recognizing how their lives have already been shaped and the teachers, relatives and friends who helped them along the way.
That means looking back at the impact they’ve had on their classmates and accepting that they need to move on and let the incoming seniors have their chance to leave their mark on the school, Beavins said.
For Auton and Pheifer, speaking at their graduation ceremony would have been outside their comfort zone at the start of high school, but was also a challenge they wanted to take on to grow personally, and share an encouraging message with their classmates.
Auton said the reaction from her friends when they found out she was chosen to speak was complete surprise. Their running joke had been, “I didn’t think Avery had a voice in eighth grade,” she said.
For Pheifer, trying out to speak at graduation was something she did on a whim.
“This is not typical of me,” she said. “But I figured, ‘Why not try it?”
Early this spring, Watkins had to give a speech for the National Honor Society, which helped him prepare for talking to his classmates at commencement, he said.
In preparing his speech, he thought about how his life will be changing as an adult in college, and how even minor changes, such as having a new doctor to see for checkups, can be disconcerting, he said.
Auton, Beavins and Pheifer are all currently taking their required speech class. Some of the lessons they’re learning include being confident in their message, keeping eye contact across the audience and being expressive and not robotic, they said.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Emma Beavins” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Name: Emma Beavins
Age: 18
Parents: Jill and Joel Beavins
Residence: Franklin
College: Butler University
Major: English and Political Science
[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Alexander Watkins” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Name: Alexander Watkins
Age: 18
Parents: Anita and Michael Watkins
Residence: Franklin
College: Purdue University
Major: Actuarial science
[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Avery Auton” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Name: Avery Auton
Age: 18
Parents: Scott and Rhonda Auton
Residence: Franklin
College: Franklin College
Major: business management and political science
[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Ella Pheifer” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Name: Ella Pheifer
Age: 18
Parents: Kristi and James Pheifer
Residence: Center Grove area
College: Purdue University
Major: Food science
[sc:pullout-text-end]
