By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News

A graduating class of 11 students didn’t stop the auditorium at Green River High School from filling to capacity on Thursday, May 21, as community members gathered to celebrate the GRHS class of 2026.

Opening the ceremony was Juan Gutierrez, who gave thanks to his teachers and classmates at Green River High,” Thank you for your support and guidance along the way, as we move forward into the next chapter of our lives. Let’s continue to work hard, believing in ourselves and chasing our dreams.”

The next speaker in line was Co-Valedictorian Allie Parsons, who encouraged her classmates to stand out: “When I started high school, I was anxious about everything. I didn’t want to go through things by myself. I didn’t want to dress up if my friends weren’t, and I didn’t want to do anything that seemed different. Basically, I didn’t want to stand out. But I learned that no one actually cares that much about what you’re doing most of the time. Everyone is also worried about whether they will look stupid, doing some of those things. The biggest takeaway from this lesson, and I’ve told my friends this, is just do it.”

She continued,” Go to the game by yourself. Cheer loud, dress up for the spirit days. High school is a lot more fun when you tell yourself that no one is paying that much attention to you. Taylor Swift said, ‘Just be yourself, there is no one better.'”

Following Parsons, Co-Valedictorian Byron Roundy addressed the attendees. “This event is a culmination of all of our achievements that we have gained during school, whether we have worked hard or just coasted. Over these years, we have gone through and helped make us who we are.”

Roundy added,” As we look towards the future. I hope we all keep striving for our goals, working hard and remembering where we started. Thank you all again for all that you have done for us.”

Next, graduates heard from class advisor and educator Kimberly Keener. 

“When you first walked into my classroom, you were wide-eyed, energetic and significantly shorter. Over the last few years, we’ve been through a lot together. You’ve survived standardized tests that felt like they were written in ancient hieroglyphics. All the dances were just a few helped and cleaned up. And of course, the terrifying moment for the high school Wi-Fi went down for at least 20 minutes. I watched you grow from teenagers who couldn’t find their own lockers or remember the combinations into adults who, well, you still can’t find your own lockers or remember your combinations, but at least you have GPS now,” she joked.

During her speech, Keener encouraged the graduates to look ahead to the future,” People say high school’s the best time of your life. I’m here to tell you, I really hope that’s not true. If your peak happens at 17 while wearing a polyester gown and a square hat, we’ve all got problems. Life gets much better once you don’t have to ask permission to use the bathroom … Class of 2026, please, for the love of everything holy, go out there and make us proud. And please stop emailing me at 2 a.m. asking to improve your grade at midterm so you can play sports.”

Following a brief slideshow presentation, graduates heard from Royd Hatt, Emery County School District President and father of late educator and Green River Mayor Renn Hatt. He quoted from a commencement speech Renn Hatt delivered to the class of 2018.

“The first part of working towards anything is to make a decision. In ‘The Bell Jar,’ Sylvia Plath describes a narrator who cannot make a decision. She envisions her life, like a great tree, stretching out before her. And each single fruit is a potential future. One is a happy home, children with smiles, and a smiling husband. Another is a famous poet, and another is a brilliant professor. I know there is a great editor. Another is meeting a million interesting people. And yet, she sits in the river of the tree and starves to death for fear of losing any one of them by reaching out to any one of them. She does not make a decision, so the fruit falls to the ground, wrinkles and goes black one by one. Make a decision now! Notice that word, make a decision, that does not mean you make the decision. You are young, and you can make many, many mistakes.”

He continued,” There is no designated path that you can’t change along the way. The important thing is that you work toward whatever decision you make in a way that is powerful and skilled. Martin Luther King said, when speaking about work, if a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets, even as Michelangelo painted or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that the hosts of Heaven and Earth will pause to say,’ Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job.’ No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance, and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”

Rounding out the evening’s speakers, Principal Kayce May-Riches presented the graduating class with camp chairs. She explained the grander meaning behind the gift,” A camp chair may not look like much, but it does tell a story. At first glance, a camp chair is folded up tight, compact, and uncertain. Kind of, like many of you when you first walked into Green River High School. You were trying to figure out who you were, where you fit, and what life might look like. Some of you came in quiet. Some of you came in loud. Some of you carry confidence and some of you had struggles that nobody else could see. But over the past six years, you’ve unfolded. You’ve stretched into new experiences, new friendships, new challenges, and new opportunities. You learn things about yourself you never expected.”

The principal further elaborated,” Camp chairs are rarely found in perfect places. They sit in dirt, sand, mud, rocks and uneven ground. Life won’t always hand you comfort or certainty, but you do not need perfect conditions to build a meaningful life. You need resilience, heart and courage to keep showing up. Class of 2026, tonight we celebrate what you’ve become.”

Castle Country Radio would like to congratulate the Green River High class of 2026 and wish them good luck on their next adventures.