Ark Valley News - Grads urged to find happiness

Adam Merriman straightens Haley Boyd's cap as Kalyn Morrissey watches before the May 10 Valley Center High School Class of 2015 commencement in Koch Arena at Wichita State University.

Grads urged to find happiness
By Chris Strunk
Last Updated: May 21, 2015

With a bit of advice and inspiration from SpongeBob SquarePants and Michael P. Scott from "The Office," the Valley Center High School Class of 2015 left the gym floor at Charles Koch Arena as graduates May 10, shaking hands, hugging classmates and moving on.

"I am going to miss all of my friends, who are like everyone," Kaylee Love, class president, told The News. "Everyone's so nice. I'm just going to miss having fun with everybody and supporting them."

A total of 189 seniors were listed in the commencement program.

The high school concert band played the processional, and Caleb Claussen, student body president, led the pledge of allegiance.

Graduate Evan Balthazor sang the "Star-Spangled Banner."

Principal Jamie Lewis welcomed the audience and wished happy Mother's Day to all the moms in attendance.

He thanked family and friends of graduates as well as the Valley Center school staff and board of education for helping this year's graduates.

"It is through varied levels of support that we experience success," Lewis said.

Love said it will be hard to say good-bye to her classmates.

"It's not the places that we went," she said. "It's the people we went there with."

Love introduced valedictorians and salutatorians.

Valedictorians were Trevor Schul, Cole Klinkhammer, Kayla Barton, Audrey Ricks, Maija Gierhart, Alessandra Garvey and Samantha Orr. Salutatorians were Myles Carter, Wesley Crow and Cheyanne McHenry.

Schul, Orr and Klinkhammer delivered the commencement address.

Schul encouraged graduates to take time this summer to enjoy the present before the busyness of college begins.

"Just don't spend all your time living in the future," he said.

Schul added that the Class of 2015 will not miss the Michelle Obama cafeteria food.

Orr wished her classmates well in their future endeavors.

"The truest form of success is happiness," she said. "Be happy, Class of 2015."

Klinkhammer encouraged the class to set goals and have the self-discipline to achieve them.

"Now it's time to start our own something," he said.

In a video, all of the valedictorians and salutatorians spoke about finding good advice from unexpected places, such as Dory in "Finding Nemo," Paul Blart from the movie "Paul Blart: Mall Cop," Yoda from "Star Wars" and Michael P. Scott from "The Office."

"Michael teaches us that you should never be afraid to speak up, even if you have no idea what you are saying," Garvey said.

Other sources of inspiration were Kanye West, Christopher Robin and Eyeore, and The Lorax.

"You're braver than you believe and stronger than you seem and smarter than you think," Ricks said, drawing inspiration from Christopher Robin of "Winnie the Pooh."

Carter quoted the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants twice.

"If you believe in yourself and with a tiny pinch of magic, all your dreams can come true," Carter said.

"I think Myles is a pretty big fan of SpongeBob," Lewis said when the video ended.

Graduate Laramie Unruh sang "These are Days," while graduate Dustin Johnston accompanied her on the guitar.

After watching the senior slideshow, which featured baby pictures and senior pictures of each student, the diplomas were presented.

Lewis said the class had two National Merit finalists, nearly 1,000 concurrent college credit hours valued at about $245,000 and $350,000 worth of scholarships for next school year.

Graduates Brittany-Jo Curry and Corbin Oliverson led the alma mater before the seniors tossed their caps into the air.