Family and friends gathered at the SLVHS Baseball field on June 12, to watch as teachers and graduating seniors began the procession.
“We are very proud of our graduating class of 2015 we have watched them on the track, on the stage, in the classroom, on the fields all year, and we are very hopeful for their future,” said SLVUSD Superintendent Dr. Laurie Bruton.
Graduating Senior, Brian Dombroske lead the crowd with the Flag Salute and Marie Schoepp gloriously sang “The Star Spangled Banner.”
After, Principal Karen van Putten gave a warm welcome to family, friends, and faculty.
“I have great confidence that the class of 2015 has the foundations for a strong beginning,” Putten said.
Assistant Principal Keri Billings, expressed her hopes and thanks to the 61st graduating class of 159 seniors.
“Seniors, on this crystal clear blue sky day, look out at this vast sea of family and friends celebrating you, let us all savor this once in a life time moment,” Billings said. “Congratulations to each and everyone of you on this, your high school graduation day.”
The Masters of Ceremony Bailey Lotz and Jocelyn Jones, introduced SLVHS Counselor Leslie Burns who gave the class introduction.
“Because of what you have shared with me over the past three years, I have incredible faith in our future, you give me hope for all of us,” she said, “you are wonderful human beings who have much to offer the world we live in.”
SLVHS Biology and AP Biology Teach Ned Hearn was the graduation speaker, who used snow sports terms like blue square, green circle, and black diamond, to explain the student’s progression through elementary, middle, and high school.
Senior Dan Jeffrey gave the senior address for the SLVHS class of 2015.
“By failing you can step back and reevaluate yourself, you can see things in ways you have never seen them before, failure by all means is the most effective method of self discovery and its accessible to all of us,” Jeffrey explained. “So lets all go out into the world, lets take on what’s thrown at us, and lets fail together.”
The Bat Rays, a student band composed of Ryland Denny, William English, Angela Fry, Maura Giliberti, Dan Guarente, and Liam McKay, performed “Waiting” by Green Day and “Closing Time” by Semisonic as the crowd clapped along.
Together, the three Valedictorians Connor Lydon, Addison Ritchie, and Jurgen Prambs, gave a collective valedictorian address and afterwards, Superintendent Dr. Laurie Bruton, School Board President George Wylie, Putten, and Billings presented the diplomas to the 2015 SLVHS graduates.
SLVHS graduating senior Mikaela Slade, said that she plans to attend Whitman College in Walla Walla Washington in the fall.
“I am going through a three, three program,” Slade said. “So I will be attending Whitman for three years and then transferring to Columbia where I will be attending the next three years to get my J.D. in Law.”
Valedictorian Connor Lydon, thanked all his teachers and the administration staff who helped him to prepare for college.
“I am extremely excited to be graduating, high school was a great chapter in my life and I am really looking forward to the next chapter, which will be obviously university and then graduate school, and I think there are a lot of great things to come and a lot of great things to look forward to,” he said.
Lydon will be attending UC Berkeley and plans to study economics.
“Its been a wonderful year for all our kids, we have a wonderful group this year, and we are launching them off to wherever they are going out of here and we wish them the best of luck and only success and happiness,” said SLVUSD Board President George Wylie.
