After a senior year filled with challenges, 305 Franklin Community High School graduates are preparing to take on life after high school.
The graduates and their families faced one last test at the outdoor ceremony Saturday morning with high winds, cloudy skies and unseasonably cold temperatures.
“It has been a long path and a challenging year. Given what we have experienced in the last year, why not have it be 40 degrees and windy?” Principal Steve Ahaus said. “We’ve made it through a lot. We will make it through this.”
The graduates heard messages of congratulations and send-off from Ahaus, Assistant Superintendent Brooke Worland, Superintendent David Clendening, Mayor Steve Barnett and student speakers Belma Duheric and Lillian Lacy.
Ahaus, who watched the graduates grow up for six years as their middle school and then high school principal, hopes the students use the challenges they faced to propel them forward as they start their careers, head off to college or begin their military service.
Worland sent the students off with a simple request that they remember to be grateful for everyone who helped them get to this moment and continue to express gratitude throughout their lives.
“We are so proud of you. Thank you. Yes, thank you for all you have taught all of us,” Worland said. “Please know our love, our support and our encouragement go with you.”
Clendening shared a recorded message with the class as he was attending his own son’s college graduation on Saturday. He encouraged students to stay positive as they move on and to look ahead at the sunshine instead of down at their shadows.
Duheric, one of the student speakers who auditioned to speak to the class, said the pandemic has shown the class has character, discipline, a drive to succeed and fearlessness for unpredictability and the impossible. With these traits in mind, Duheric asked the class to keep embracing the unpredictable and impossible as they set goals and reach for their dreams.
“Class of 2021, whatever your goals are, I hope you are able to fulfill the inspirations and passions you strive for. May you become the person you envision through the risks, experiences and achievements you shall endure,” Duheric said.
Lacy said every challenge the graduates faced in the last 12 years is now a tool they can use to triumph over future obstacles.
“Even the worst of days can provide an opportunity to learn and grow,” Lacy said. “As Albus Dumbledore said ‘Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light.’”
