001[Music] [Applause] good evening and welcome to the 2018 graduation commencement program for Brown County High School at this time please stand for the playing of our National Anthem [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] and now will you please join me in the saying of the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance thank you and now please welcome our first speaker Jessica Taylor good evening we arrived here four short years ago and now it's already time to leave where did the time go it seems just like yesterday we were navigating the student Kern in the halls fighting with the combination our locks and of course always looking up to the upperclassmen but now we are the ones being looked up to today we sit here ready to graduate but we did not get here all by ourselves and we
002can't forget everything and everyone that got us here today how do we measure the time that we've sent spent here in the beginning we measure day by day as we struggled with just the challenges of being a high schooler but eventually we came to measure of more by the memories made with friends laughter in the hallways and lessons learned in the classroom high school became more about the moments we created the time that went by we went from the freaked out freshmen to the sophisticated sophomore when we thought we had it all figured out by junior year we were ready to take over a seniors and we couldn't wait to be on top but here we are in what seems like only minutes since the beginning of the year getting ready to embark on new
003adventures and let this year's juniors take our place we all made memories here some of which we will take with us and carry for the rest of our lives I think a memory that we all share is how we all came together for one night we all looked forward to from probably paying too much for a dress and flowers spending hours getting ready or 10 minutes for some guys taking countless pictures with your date and dancing the night away with our friends the memories we made that night are priceless no matter how bad your feet hurt at the end of the night for me my favorite memory will be for years spent on the golf team creating bonds with my teammates and expanding the program we started with four people and ended up with ten
004girls placing third in a conference we never would have even imagined placing in I know many of you here today see a similar memory of your own Sport Club or favorite class and while the sports and the classes here I've ended the memories from this place never well before we leave we must thank the people who got us here today to my grandparents who shared their energy well time with me supporting me in every new activity or sport I decided to try I appreciate everything you've done for me in these past 18 years I'm sure my classmates wouldn't say the same about their support systems no matter what it looks like to our teachers who's so unselfish to share their time talent and support with us we know it is your job to do it
005but what you did for us went beyond your call of duty not only did you take your time to go over the assignments and materials with us and in some cases more than once when we weren't paying attention but you also continuously demand excellence from us whether we wanted to give it to you or not you set the bar high and challenged us to live up to it and I hope we did to our parents family members thank you for supporting us in more ways than we can count you supported us at our sport academic or musical events your jobs to school packed our lunches and watched us make memories with the people we surrounded ourselves with you were by our sides watching us walk our first steps years ago and now you are here
006watching us walk the first steps of a new journey all on our own you gave us your time and energy investing in our future day-in day-out the things you have done for us are truly incredible and we are so grateful even if we don't say it enough class of 2018 we began as hi where you began high school as children but we're leaving as adults we've completed a basic education that we will use as a platform to launch us into the future where you all have different paths but no matter where we go we will all encounter success we will all face challenges my hope first is that when we meet those challenges we keep our heads high and our hearts wide open taking everything we learn inside the walls of Brown County High School
007and applying it in real life my hope is that you try to excel at everything that you strive for excellence and everything you do big or small try not to forget that while you may not see them every day we have many people supporting us waiting to see what we have in us in what will G congratulations to all of us for gain and accomplishing something so meaningful don't forget that memories made here don't forget that feeling you got when you were stepping on the stage of the field for the first and the last time don't forget the memories made here in the student section at games or the love and support you received from everyone around you carry it with you wherever you may go the future is truly in our hands so whatever
008you do wherever you go what may we always be friends when we meet again Congrats 2018 [Applause] thanks so much Jessica next is our salutatorian and my good friend Sally Garland so here we all are another year in another graduation only this time it's our turn to leave after 13 years we finally get a move on to the next step in our lives and continue the metamorphosis into independent adults after summer some will continue being students and others will go right into the workforce others still will be taking a gap year or an even different path all of us however are no longer high school students this change in our lives is coinciding with historic event after historic event unprecedented elections and new laws throughout the past year and a half have rocked the foundations
009of many communities and their clock backs have been equally memorable the me - and time's up movements the fight for net neutrality LGBTQ solidarity at the Olympics and the softening of relations between North and South Korea among other events are all great examples of how people have come together and taken a stand for what they believe in I'm not gonna stand here and give a long drawn-out speech about how good how great our school was you've each got your own opinions and me talking about my own will not probably change that moreover now that we're officially done with high school I think that we're all ready to take our exits as soon as possible I will however leave you with my hope that everyone continues their lives away from Brown County High School with compassion
010and an eye to the future at this time the BCH gchs choir will perform in my life [Music] I'll change [Music] [Applause] [Music] and now we have our last student speaker our valedictorian the incomparable a Bolivar [Applause] we hear a lot this time of year about the future and moving forward as seniors we're told almost everyday what our soon start adult lives are going to look like our relatives need no prompts to repeat the stories from their days as young adults our recently graduated friends love to foreshadow all the amazing adventures that await us beyond these halls our own imaginations invent thousands of scenarios in an attempt to prepare ourselves becoming months years and decades with all these stories predictions and suggestions floating around however it's easy to lose sight of something very important they
011and you don't have a clue about what's coming next that one story that your aunt told you about her first full-time job your experience might be the exact opposite the millions of complaints about dorm life that college freshman bent about you and your roommate might have the best year ever now friends and family I'm not saying we don't want to hear your stories we really do I'm simply saying that we must keep in mind not to take them as inevitable truth when we do walk out these doors today our lives are our own we will heed your anecdotes and your warnings but our paths are yet unknown Michael Dell the founder of Dell computers once said as you start this journey the first thing you should do is throw away your store-bought map and begin
012to draw your own having said that it is not so simple to truly forge your own path it is easy to follow in the well-marked footsteps of those who came before you it is easy to get swept up in the current and do exactly what every graduate around you is doing what is hard is taking this opportunity that is given to you and doing something great this I believe is what brown county high school and brown county's community have prepared us for be CHS students are no strangers to real-life hard work there are no outsiders to trying new things setting new trends they are no cowards to walk down difficult roads I see this back to very clearly as I look across your faces today the class of 2018 wasn't one to send the sidelines
013we were a force to be reckoned with many a time did I see this very group of students refused to sit idly by while policies were being created and decisions were being decided yes this often put us in hot water but in the end our class spoke up for what we believed in and what we wanted to see in our school we took every opportunity presented to us and we made our own when none were available looking back our class has always been a one of a kind group the class of 2018 sent so many students to regional state national and international competitions that it would be impossible to keep track we build clubs and organizations that from the ground up that will long outlive us after we graduate we are proud of who we
014are did not settle for Brown County good we embrace dr. hammocks new motto we are Brown County so friends take that with you remember the amazing things that we did in this building and beyond these walls do not listen to another person's stories just thinking that they are your destiny you create your own destiny just like we did here be a leader set trends make a difference it's easy to think that we have finished this race but we are far from it as Winston Churchill said now this is not the end it is not even the beginning of the end but it is perhaps the end of the beginning so go on from this beginning and make our community proud it has been an honor to know you for the past four years and I
015cannot wait to see what maps you draw and what trails you play jazz plays in the future thank you [Applause] nice job Abe now for the presentation of the class by our principal Shane Killinger [Applause] good evening and I would like to say what an honor it is to be part of this graduation today and I would say Abe I agree with everything you said and now I can cut my speech even shorter at this time I'd like to recognize five groups of people in one individual the first group I'd like to recognize as any veterans any current military personnel are widows of veterans that are in the audience today at this time would you please stand so we can recognize you [Applause] [Music] we have several students in our senior class entering are planning
016on entering into the military after high school if you are one of these will you please stand [Applause] I would also like to thank parents relatives friends educators anyone in this audience that helped make this happen today for the graduates that are on this stage we'd like to thank you at this time I would like to observe a moment of silence in remembrance of Gabby Stewart who was in this graduating class we lost Gabby two years ago and her presence is missed so if we could have a bonus silence thank you the next part of the speech is we have three new honors this year we have kumoi de Magnum kumoi de and suma kumoi de and I'm going to go over what they had to do in order to achieve this and I'll also
017have them stand after I read the qualifications the Coolatta is our third highest academic recognition you had to complete 47 credits of high school you had to earn a core 40 core 40 academic honors or technical honors and your GPA had to be between a 3.67 or a 3.7 for if you earned that please stand [Applause] our second award is the Magnum ku mulatto you had to complete 48 credits earn a honors diploma or a technical honors diploma and your GPA had to be a 3.75 or 3.99 if that is you please stand [Applause] the last one is our highest award it's the summa wada they had to complete 48 credits earn either in Indiana academic honors or a technical honors and their GPA had to be a 4.0 or higher please stand [Applause] the
018last group I want to talk about is the class of 2018 I want to say thank you for a high school career that is outstanding and filled with many accomplishments it's been an honor to be part of your journey most of us started in seventh grade six years ago in for my Nashville Bears you started in second grade together I will miss all of you next fall don't be strangers come visit and give me updates I cannot wait to see the amazing things this class does thank you it is my pleasure to present the class of 2018 to our school board trustees superintendent dr. Laura hammock and the Brown County community mr. Hutchins if you would please come forward and announce this class Abraham James Oliver [Applause] Soleil charisma garland Jessica rose Taylor grace and
019Jackson [Applause] Rachel Elizabeth Abrams Madeline Ashley Joe Allen Brandon David Bailey [Applause] bethenny Elizabeth Barn Grover Rachael Ray Basir Caleb Joseph best honest Asia ivory bethards [Applause] Aaron Morgan Billings Samuel Reid Blackledge [Applause] [Music] Jared Taylor bond Graham Evan breast er [Applause] Tyler Jacob brown autumn Anna Janine Bryant lauren marie berker Justin Matthew burns Kaitlyn Ali's butcher Evelyn Alize Butler [Music] [Applause] [Music] Jacob Allen bird Karina race taunting Kegel Landon Eliot Cambridge Alexander Michael Carney [Applause] Ronald L visit car Terry Allen car Caleb Anthony Thomas Casa de Meghan Moyer Casa de may toss it chai is it Courtney Nicole quarter [Music] [Applause] [Music] Vivian Christine Crimmins McKenzie Brooke Cumberland [Applause] [Music] Caitlyn Marie Danford Keegan Timothy Daniels Dakota Allen Dinsmore Jordan alan dolfe alyson.morgan Rose drew [Applause] Matthew Wendell Duncan [Applause] faith Alexandria EB Jaden
020Taylor or Koli [Applause] JC may Ferguson [Music] [Applause] logan matthew Fitz Adriana Jade Fonseca Alexander bitten Ford Jacob Patrick garden Marissa aleem Marie Gonzalez Tanner Clark gray [Music] Kyla and Halcomb Candace JoEllen Hardin Michaela Don Harden [Applause] Colton James Harper Caitlyn Renee harsh [Music] [Applause] Caleb Steven Hayes Seth Michael honey [Applause] John Curtis Higgins [Applause] brennon Alexander Hobbs [Applause] Dakota Montana Hobson Heather Elizabeth Hobson Samantha Renee Horning Emma Renee Hoskins Noah Addison Hostetler Hannah Kaylee Huber Jacob Ryan Hunter Sean David Hyatt [Music] Jazmin Alexandria inning jameelah Hashanah Joffrey Katherine Camille Johnson [Applause] Gracie Michelle Kaufmann Isaiah Adam Kefauver [Applause] Canada Lane help [Applause] Caleb Joel King Griffin Daniel Quaker medicine Paige clay V Casey Murray kleindorf her Katara Lin Krebbs [Applause] Sara Madison Kuzma Zachary Michael Kuzma [Applause] Bailey Cole the Bears Jonathan Tyler Lambert
021Jacob Adam Landry Jared Christopher Landry grace Nicole Lee Olivia and Lee William Walker leggins [Applause] Christopher Thomas Leslie Colton Alexander Louis Taylor Nicole Lovgren [Applause] [Music] Savannah Brooke lemons Garrett Allen Lucas [Music] [Applause] Isaiah read Luna break Bryce Andrew Malin Sierra and Nicole Mangum [Music] Avery Michael Martinez Seth Carlton Matlock [Applause] Kathleen Rose McCann Dakota Alan Meese halli Brielle Miller Logan Butler Miller [Applause] Elizabeth May more Levi's Dale Mullins [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Thomas Arthur Neil Christopher Tyree ayan Nichols [Music] Mikaela sky Osburn Caleb Michael Perry [Applause] [Music] faith Nicole Perry kara angel pain Sydney Renee pain [Music] Kaitlyn may Pearson emmalin Dale Platt samantha marie pod [Music] Emma Elaine Quackenbush [Applause] Stephanie Alexis Don Quillin Robert Jackson Reeves Lane Scott right Tristan Alan Richards [Applause] [Music] danielle nicole Rigdon Elijah avance rouse Jasmine Nicole Ruttman
022Wesley William Ryan [Applause] Ben Ivan Rygel Ezra James Scully Laura and shekel Zachary Todd Shepard Marissa Haley shuffle Lauren Nicole Silva Penny Lane Simmons [Music] [Applause] Ryan Russell sweets Amy Lee Ann Smith [Music] Mikaela Marie Smith Vincent Michael Smith Caitlin Michelle spires Kyle Anthony spires [Applause] Isabella Rose Stamper [Music] Sarah hope stole [Music] [Applause] [Music] Tristan Thomas Strunk [Music] grant Joseph city Devin Levi Thompson Lea marie tucker Veera Janelle Wagler Benjamin Tyler Wildmon [Applause] jaelyn Brooke will P Wyatt Steven Wyman [Applause] karissa Renee Sybil Bauer [Music] Savannah Michelle edge Shane Logan Goodwin [Music] Tayler Micaiah Jade Roberts [Applause] Jacob Tyler Johnson John cutter Clinton Callahan [Applause] [Music] [Applause] and finally before we all get out of here and throw our hats and all that please welcome our superintendent Laura hammock [Music] so class of 2018
023it has been an absolute joy and honor to watch you experience the very special moments that have made up your senior year I hope that you were able to make memories that are lasting and memories for which you will eternally hold dear please know that the board and I wish each of you great success and sincere happiness in your days ahead I'd like to take a moment to thank your parents your grandparents and any other caregivers for the opportunity to allow us Brown County Schools to work with your sons and daughters over the duration of their experience in our school district seniors for many of you we've had the honor of serving you since kindergarten and that is a gift for which we eternally treasure parents you've done an extraordinary job and your students genuinely
024mean the world to us we have a very important person to thank before we're done this evening for many of our seniors for many of you it's been a long time since you haven't known any other principal other than mr. Shayne Killinger class of 2018 you are very special as your class is mr. Killinger / class serving as principal of Brown County High School thankfully mr. Killinger is not leaving Brown County Schools but we're simply transferring his talents north to spur naka Elementary School would you all please join me in thanking mr. Killinger for his incredible service to [Applause] seniors you have the benefit of living in the greatest nation in the world and we have full confidence that you will be outstanding citizens who continue to advance this great nation into the future I
025was genuinely touched by your senior class motto that you chose a quotation by Eleanor Roosevelt and the motto read you have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with the best you have to give we have the utmost confidence that you will do just that and please don't forget that as you go up into the world and meet it with the best that you have to give that brown Connie will always be your home and we will always be here for you we are so proud of you and we hope that you will always be proud to say that you graduated from Brown County High School and with that it's time to make it official so I'd like to invite Sol a garden garland sorry sweetheart grace Jackson
026a valla and Jessica Taylor to the front graduates I'd asked for you to stand at this time [Music] graduates it is my honor to confer your graduation upon you at this time please turn your tassel it's time to celebrate [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]