Both of the speakers at Franklin Community High School’s upcoming graduation ceremony decided they had something to say.
Matt Denton wants to bid his friends, teachers and peers adieu all at once and to tell them that risk taking in life has its rewards. Sonya Mettura wants to uplift a graduation class of about 350 students after several years of tragedy and to look back on what high school meant.
They both wrote speeches and auditioned to become the graduation speakers at Franklin Community High School’s commencement ceremony next week. Among the nine who sought to be student speakers, Denton and Mettura were selected by a panel of teachers and administrators.Â
Other county high schools allow the valedictorian and salutatorian the chance to deliver speeches at their commencement exercises.
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Franklin Community High School has not named valedictorians and salutatorians, which is the designations given to the top two students in a graduation class, since 2013. Instead, they honor students who have reached a high GPA. Franklin students who earned GPAs of 3.67 or above are recognized during the graduation ceremony.
Allowing for all students to have a chance to speak enriches the graduation by allowing others besides the top GPA earners a chance to say something, Denton said.
"With this method, people who want to stand up can give it a shot," he said.
Mettura believes she was chosen because she animated her speech and made it interesting. Denton had done public speaking before, he said.
Seniors who wanted to make a graduation speech were asked to write the speech and audition. Denton decided in the final minutes of the school day on the day of the speech auditions that he wanted to try to be a speaker at graduation. So, while others were in the hallway rehearsing their speech, he wrote his speech and minutes later, delivered it to the panel.
He knew he wanted to tells his peers to concentrate on the future and that now is the time in their lives to take risks when deciding what they wanted to do. And after four years of high school, participating in the science academic team, Spanish and National Honor Societies and in Business Professionals of America, he wanted to say goodbye to all of his peers at once, Denton said.
"I feel very strongly about risk taking and I want to make the most of my time wherever I am at," he said. "That risk taking is essential in the next stage of our lives."
Mettura decided that after four years at the high school singing in choir and as co-president of the school’s magazine, that giving the speech at graduation would be the perfect end to high school, she said.
"Doing something special is an appropriate way to end things," Mettura said. "People won’t remember what you did in in fifth period math class, but they’ll remember you speaking at graduation."
She also decided that she wants to uplift her classmates after tragedies in their class included the death of some of their peers. She is sprinkling humor in her speech.
"Our class has been through so much," she said "It has been really, really hard with sudden tragedies."
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Franklin Community High School graduation
Where: Franklin Community High School, 2600 Cumberland Drive.
When: 10 a.m. June 1
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Name: Sonya Mettura
School: Franklin Community High School graduation speaker
College: IUPUI
Major: Social work
Extracurricular activities: Choir, co-president of the school magazine, drama club.
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Name: Matt Denton
School: Franklin Community High School, graduation speaker
College: Indiana University
Major: Criminal justice and psychology
Extracurricular activities: Science academic team, Spanish Honor Society, National Honor Society, Business Professionals of America
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