001thank you [Music] is [Music] so [Music] you can sit for now okay and then you'll stand in a minute we can sit for now yes ladies and gentlemen good morning prior to the beginning of our ceremonies i would ask that everyone please turn off all of your electronic devices please honor our graduates and their families and help maintain the dignity of this occasion by refraining from unnecessary distracting noise so all can enjoy the ceremony thank you would everyone please now stand as a class of 2021 enters the gym and remains standing for the pledge of allegiance and the national anthem mr maupin you may begin uh [Music] i [Music] hmm [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] please remain standing as molly pumphrey secretary for the class of 2021 will
002lead us in the pledge of allegiance i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all heroin can be seated for the prelude and processional thank you mr maupin and band mrs simpson and chorus for your valuable contributions to today's activities now for our welcome to be presented by senior class president mr ben bossback ben is the son of aaron and kimberly boss back mr mrs bosbach would you now please stand ben plans to attend the summit school of ministry in lancaster bible college to study christian ministry ladies and gentlemen mr ben bossbach all right promise to make this short and sweet today try to keep it funny so hopefully we can accomplish that
003this morning good morning graduates families community and faculty members welcome to the greensburg community high school commencement ceremony for the class of 2021. i'm very thankful for the opportunity to welcome you all this morning graduates we are officially here um a day that some of us have dread while others could not be more excited although today is bittersweet i cannot begin to express my gratitude and my joy for all of you as we embark on this new chapter in our lives with a high school experience unlike any other we have overcome a plethora of obstacles and challenges whether it was the unrest of society political division or coven 19 we have persevered and pushed to the finish line after all the contact tracing social distancing and mask wearing not only have we persisted through the
004global pandemic we never have to hear mr peter say again this is your daily reminder to wear your mask over your mouth and your nose please wash and or sanitize your hands frequently that is something to be thankful for amen amen yeah amen to that one all jokes aside class of 2021 we have stayed the course and we've overcome these challenges i don't believe it was by accident that we were the class to pick up the pieces of last year to go through the treacherous season that we did i believe it had purpose and i believe that we were created for these times and as a result we have been forged for future success we have shown we can overcome obstacles together and we should be confident to do so through the remainder of our
005lives i was told by ms bata that today my job was to brag on you all and tell you how amazing you are and i knew that would be easy considering how amazing this class has been over the past four years after all we are the best class to ever walk through these hallowed halls yet this was only made possible by the school employees who got up early every morning and poured into our lives they woke up early they helped us succeed inside and outside of the classroom with that being said can we all please give a big round of applause to all of our current and former greensburg staff employees whether you are a cafeteria assistant a custodial staff member maintenance member teacher coach or administrator our success is only possible by you pouring
006into our lives i may forget y equals mx plus b in a few years or i may forget to use the squirrel rand blank the tree to find a preposition in english class but i speak for all of the seniors in here when i say that the lessons you taught us about life mean more to us than any argumentative essay outline you could give us or any calculus lesson you could teach us on behalf of the class of 2021 thank you to our teachers and our coaches next i would like to thank the families in this room if you look around you can tell we are surrounded by all of those who love us the families that support us without you all and your outpouring of love and support for this class we wouldn't be
007here today your guidance and love has helped prepare us for our futures and helped us get through these high school these past four years of high school thank you for all of the early morning wake up calls for the drives to dollar general at 9 pm to pick up poster board when science fair was due the next day the rides to school and simply the wisdom on how to be a high school student thank you for everything that you do all of our families thank you very much big round of applause for them now it's your turn let the bragging commence whether it was in the classroom on the athletic field on the stage or in school clubs the class of 2021 has had plenty of success as proof this year we have totaled over
0083.3 million dollars in scholarship money we have won or been a part of 16 ihsaa titles and hopefully soon to be 17 by the end of the night when the girls softball team plays for the semi-state championship we have over 20 all-conference athletes and we have broken numerous school records and track and swimming also inside our school walls we have had numerous clubs and organizations be pillars of activism and volunteerism in our community whether it was the fca club's diligent service to their coaches and teachers at the coaches breakfast junior optimists volunteer work for the cheer fund national honor society's kindness cards for those in nursing homes or sad's first annual community 5k race our class you all have worked diligently to mobilize your peers and encourage positive change in the lives of others throughout
009our community and throughout our school all of our success is too long to list however these few are excellent examples of the quality of students in this class i am beyond proud to be a part of this class and i am honored to be able to say that i am your classmate as i close i would like to close with just a little bit of sappiness just because miss batta told me not to first i want to encourage you all from this point forward to never take a day for granted i know that's really innovative and you've probably never heard it before but if there's anything that we have learned over the past year and a half it's that nothing is guaranteed we aren't guaranteed to go to regionals after we win the sectional championship
010in basketball we aren't guaranteed to come back to school after spring break we aren't guaranteed another prom or even another opportunity to wake in the morning so when allowed to be thankful and realize that every opportunity you have each day is another opportunity to mobilize positive change in the lives of other people class of 2021 you are unlike any class this class is beautiful in every way and you all are designed for incredible things i am beyond proud to have been a part of this class and be and be called your classmate i look forward to being a part of the next chapter with you all i love you all i'm very proud of you thank you and congratulations thank you ben nice start to our commencement ceremony for our choral number this morning our
011gchs choir will present their rendition of the i will remember you medley that was arranged by roger emerson [Music] so i will remember you will you remember [Music] oh i hope you dance [Music] peace though i never felt like this before yes i swear [Music] though i never felt like this before yes i swear [Music] is my eyes thank you gchs choir for a beautiful song before we dive into the rest of the commencement agenda can we please acknowledge our student athletes that will compete later today first in track we will have brenner hannah from the class of 2021 and emery jackson competing at the state's highest stage in track and field this afternoon let's all wish them good luck [Applause] secondly our softball team will compete at semi-state today starting at one led by
012these members of the class of taylor cooney molina wilkinson emma deweese and liz pavey our pirate softball team looks to advance and make it to state let's also give them a round of applause [Applause] as building principal it is my honor to welcome each of you to the graduation of the class of 2021 and the 150th commencement of greensburg community high school before we move too far let's take a moment to reflect on this benchmark 150 years of graduating classes from greensburg high school the first graduating class was in 1871. here are some notable items from that year first there was no pandemic i repeat there was no pandemic not in 1871. however the first major league i use air quotes baseball game was played between fort wayne and cleveland the hoosiers won by the
013way ulysses s grant was the president of the united states jesse james was active as a bank robber stealing 15 thousand dollars from a bank in iowa our final point of reference is the great fire fire of chicago unfortunately it killed 200 people and destroyed over four square miles while causing 222 million dollars in damage and that's 1871 standards so that doesn't take into account inflation even though we're 150 years in the future we can all still draw parallels between now and then accidents happen strong leadership is available innovators excel we find pastimes students also graduate from high school to celebrate this i'd like to read the two names that were graduates from the year 1871. annie myers and ida stout graduates greensburg high school 1871. please help me give a round of applause to
014celebrate our heritage and the class of 2021 that represents 150 years let's move on to celebrate the class of 2021. as ben referenced in his opening speech members of this class have received awards in excess of 3.3 million dollars this is the eighth year that our awards have eclipsed the three million dollar mark when breaking down the sources of the money scholarships grants and awards from post-secondary institutions were responsible for over two million nine hundred thousand dollars the remaining balance over four hundred forty six thousand dollars was awarded from trust funds established in the school corporations and local community organizations on behalf of the class of 2021 and greensburg community high school i will speak for all of us in this gym and personally thank and acknowledge all the local groups foundations and organizations from
015our generous community for their continuing support of the students of greensburg let's give them all round of applause [Applause] we have multiple awards and achievements from the class of 2021 that i'd like to acknowledge at this time the first group to be acknowledged have maintained a 3.8 3.0 gpa or better over the past four years in a demanding curriculum for core 40 with an academic honors diploma technical honors diploma or a combination of both an academic and technical honors diploma many of these students achieve this milestone while participating in various extracurricular activities volunteering athletics organizations community service and other jobs and commitments outside of school these students can be identified by their gold cords with these students please stand and remain standing as i call your names will the audience please hold your applause until
016i finish the list those receiving an academic honors diploma toby brogan sarah cook erica galk hannah hassler christian hensley adam custer emily rosales garrett shriner lane sparks and kaylin spears congratulations academic honors recipients those receiving a technical honors diploma whalen case emily heath claudia sims and molina wilkerson congratulations technical honors diploma recipients those receiving both an academic and technical honors diploma shane abel nathaniel bailey ben bossback brooklyn bennett isabella bauer sam bauer peyton katrin olivia colson taylor cooney emma dewees hilary ernstus maria fogg brenner hannah gabby haviland ryan henderson elizabeth hyatt damon emel haley keppel rachel koontz cassie cramer tanay kramer kay lynn lowe katie mccling hannah messer nathaniel navarra maggie olds sage o'mara shannon pake elizabeth pavey molly pumphrey blaine red megan reisman ariana sia sarah springmeier brett stringer isaac tebby anna west and
017emma wilmer congratulations academic and technical honors diploma great job [Applause] those that received an ivy tech community college indiana college core will now be recognized this distinction was formerly known as the transfer general education corps what does this mean you ask due to their commitment to this endeavor and meeting the particulars of this technical certification these individuals are guaranteed 30 dual credits to transfer as one full year of his or her college education depending on the student's individual choices in post-secondary opportunities this could average to a saving of 32 thousand dollars per individual these students can be identified by their green and white courts with these 28 individuals please stand and remain standing nathaniel bailey benjamin bossback brooklyn bennett peyton katrin olivia colson taylor cooney emma dewees maria fogg brenner hannah gabby havilland christian hensley
018damon emel adam custer rachel koontz tanay kramer kay lynn low katie mclean maggie olds shannon pake molly pumphrey blaine redd megan reisman ariana sia kaylin spears sarah springmeier brett stringer anna west and emma wilmer congratulations indiana college core [Applause] good job good job we have recently been informed of the rewarding of the governor's work ethics certificate from the indiana department of workforce development these 21 individuals have demonstrated evidence of academic and work ethic competencies they have earned a certificate to use in future endeavors with the following 21 individuals please now stand katie bean mackenzie carter waylon case olivia colson sarah cook maria fogg erica galk christian hensley elizabeth hyatt damon emmel tinay kramer katie mclean hannah messer kyra moore blaine redd megan reisman emily rosales sarah springmeier brett stringer ariana sia and emma wilmer congratulations
019governor's work ethic certificate good job at this time i would like for the members of the national honor society to stand these members are identified by the gold tassels on their mortar boards would you all please now stand together i'm not reading the names just please rise congratulations national honor society very good thank you we will now recognize the recipients of the ffa with honors distinction these individuals are wearing royal blue cords with those individuals please now stand ffa with honors distinction good job ffa with honors the final two students we will recognize at this time are wearing the red white and blue ribbon with the medallion over the robes kenneth friend is slated for service in the u.s marines and is prepared to leave later this month kenneth thank you for your service tristan
020white is also a graduate of the class of 2021 and is and is currently in the u.s army he is already serving on active duty let's also give him a round of applause we all thank both of you as you begin your service for our country congratulations to the class of 2021 and all students for their achievement and service we will now hear the commencement address of our valedictorians first and then our salutatorian our first valedictorian to speak is miss taylor cooney taylor is the daughter of gene and misty cooney mr mrs cooney would you now please stand to be recognized taylor has had an impressive career here at gchs she's been a member of junior optimist club national honor society champions together not to mention all of our athletic accomplishments in the fall she
021plans to attend grace college and study exercise science now taking the stage miss taylor cooney [Applause] good morning usually when i'm in this gym i'm playing basketball or volleyball which i'd much rather be doing but i was told i have to give a speech so here i am setting goals and finding motivation to achieve those goals has been extremely important to me ever since elementary i always wanted to do my best then in junior high i set a goal to have at least five a pluses not just a's but a pluses my family is a big reason why i have been able to work so hard it's easier to give it your all when you have someone in your corner encouraging you to succeed my family has always been in my corner and supports me
022in everything i do without their support and encouragement i wouldn't be where i am today in school sports and life they are here today and they will be at my softball semi-state game right after graduation one particular family member who has given me extra motivation is my sister kiera who is also a valedictorian if it wasn't for her i might not have cared so much about keeping my 4.0 because if i would have lost it i would have never heard the end of it and she would have been able to say she is smarter than me which is definitely not the case kiera however still has a perfect gpa college after two years so she is really making it hard on me to keep the smarts battle going they will probably always be the question
023of who is smarter between the two of us but i do have more common sense than she does so at least i know i beat her at that i think our smarts and sas are the only things we have in common because our personalities and interests are almost complete opposites so grades are the only thing i can compete with her on and this continually pushes me to do my best i have to win but if she keeps her perfect grades i think this is something i could lose maybe we will just have to see how long the competition will last although it may not be a rivalry between you and your sibling or a desire to compete and win it is important to find what motivates you and encourages you to succeed if you are
024motivated it will become easier to set goals and achieve those goals so a big thank you to my competitive self antiquiera for being my motivation and making me have to give this speech thank you [Applause] thank you miss cooney our next valedictorian that we will hear from is miss gabby haviland gabby is the daughter of matt and mandy havilland would each of gabby's parents please now stand gabby has made us all proud during her time at gchs she participated in student council sad club champions together and also received her cna certification she also plans to attend the university of cincinnati and study biology please welcome miss gabby haviland good morning life is like being stranded in the middle of the ocean and trying to make it to land the ocean is an unpredictable and seemingly
025scary place the ocean is scary by itself but now imagine being thrown into the middle of it just like we are being thrown into life right now there's a lot of pressure to stay afloat just like how i put a lot of pressure on myself so i could be one of the six valedictorians standing before you today i'm sure that most of you have seen me stress out and lose my mind before tests and i cannot even count the number of times i've literally broken out in hives from the stress of ap chem ap stats swank and holland's dreadful essays and calculus high school was extremely overwhelming just like how the ocean could threaten to overwhelm you by swimming but luckily high school has taught us to swim high school has helped prepare us for
026the world we are about to step into we have all spent so many years together and we have all formed so many friendships with one another but now we are all swimming in different directions right now we have reached a major checkpoint we have reached the shore of an island but that is not the end of the journey even though we are at this island we will all face different struggles and challenges moving forward luckily when we get back into the ocean and start swimming again we all have our lifeboats that will help us get through our lifeboats are our friends family and mentors that are sitting around us and also up in the bleachers my lifelines have been my mom and dad and other family members i'm so thankful to have gone through high
027school with the support of these people they have repeatedly pushed me out of my comfort zone like when i was too nervous to join golf shout out to mr mize for helping me to improve my horrendous golf swing without them i probably would have never been involved with anything if there's one thing that high school has taught me it is that you cannot let fear stop you from doing the things that you want in the beginning i was scared to jump in but looking back i can see how far we've all come even though these past four years may have been the most stressful of my life i unfortunately still have 12 more years of schooling to go without we're when you're in the middle of the ocean it is hard to tell what the
028final destination is but i hope that all of us sitting here today have some idea of where we want our final destination to be but don't let that destination scare you remember you always have the option to jump back in and start swimming to somewhere new no matter what shore you end up on i wish you good luck in all that you do and when we face the struggles to come i want you to remember to just keep swimming [Applause] thank you gabby it is now time to acknowledge and hear from miss tanay kramer today is the daughter of rick and lisa cramer mr mrs kramer would you now please stand to be recognized today's career here at gchs is quite impressive her activities and accomplishments include light and sound crew sad club and was
029nominated as an indiana rising star while holding many jobs and maintaining several volunteer opportunities in the fall tanay plans to study accounting at ball state university ladies and gentlemen miss tanay kramer good morning as mr peters introduced me my name is tanay kramer although many of you may know me as tania tanaya tiny tinny tanai tin can flippy along with many other names i would like to reiterate the previously mentioned thank yous along with a thank you to my family friends and to god when i was in fourth grade i got my first and only b i got a 94 in social studies and at st mary's that was a b-plus yeah tough school when i brought home my report card my parents sat me down and they had a very long talk with me
030they told me they knew i was capable of much more i needed to develop a better work ethic from then on i've never earned a beyond a report card many times i found myself looking for the silver lining in all of this what was i getting out of this besides stress and anxiety i never planned to earn all a's it just kind of happened because i was afraid of disappointing my parents so you can thank them for having to listen to another speech today it often felt like i was doing the work for more than one person especially having worked at least one job for all four years of high school and two jobs for almost two years however standing up here today speaking with seven other highly intelligent motivated individuals i have found the
031silver lining i'm able to share my advice and knowledge with not only with my classmates but also with my community i'm so proud of everyone here and for once i can say i'm proud of myself as well what i'm saying is things don't always go as you plan but you have to look for the silver lining even if you don't see it right away our class has been through so much together we went from seeing jerseys down the hall on game day to blinking an eye and now we're here in the gym about to throw our caps in the air we started freshman year hearing mr karezia say what's up when we walked into his classroom we went to geometry where mrs batta dreading having the magnificent seven in class sophomore year we walked into
032chemistry having just sat with our entire class out on the ramp trying to finish our labs we walked into senora taylor's classroom where everyone groaned after hearing it's spanish-only notebook time to this she would reply shh it'll hear you then on to mr messer my ap world history teacher who taught me about the amount of potassium in a banana which energy drinks are the worst and that magic is real junior year brought mr holland and getting four out of tens on our first essays it brought mr pratt where we all started out failing our verbal quizzes to this he said it was the best of times it was the worst of times senior year brought me der mais where our work ethics went down the drain it brought mrs swank where our writing and analyzing
033abilities were tested to the max and it brought mrs marath where econ challenged whether or not some would even graduate while these classes seemed extremely stressful in the moment they gave me lessons i'll never forget working so hard in these classes led me to networking and building close relationships with not only my classmates but also my teachers i'm standing here today with one year of college completed and almost a full ride you may not see the silver lining of trying hard in school but there will be a day when all of that hard work pays off although our class will never be known as the covid class that title belongs to the class of 2020. we still had a few minor bumps along the way we didn't get normal football or basketball game cheer blocks
034a senior trip graduation walk throughs at the elementary or junior high or pep rallies however there were some new occurrences this year for example we had a two-hour delay for a fugitive on the loose this meant extra time to sleep and a little bit more time to study for our calculus test so fugitive if you're here today i personally thank you we got an early dismissal for a water main break while almost everything was shut down for a little while i learned that energy drinks keep me going just as well as coffee does we had a two hour delay for snow in april although i hate snow besides on christmas it was a nice chance to sleep in and relax and finally for once we had a nice sunny day for prom while the past
035year has been full of unexpected turns of events there's been a silver lining for all of it another lesson i've learned is to accept people as they are no matter where they come from because everyone deserves a chance i pray everyone leaves here with an open mind and a kind heart things may blow up in your face but let that push you forward life is short live it anger is bad let go of it love is rare so hold on to it fear is a mind killer so face it and finally memories are sweet cherish them don't take for granted the lessons you've learned and the people you've encountered always look on the bright side because everything happens for a reason when you get where you're going don't forget to turn around and help the
036next one in line today i conclude my speech with one final question and if you know the answer i'd like for you to please shout it out class of 2021 last of the prime in the words of one of our wisest teachers if quizzes are quizzicals what are tests thank you and congratulations [Music] thank you miss kramer our next address will be a joint speech between two valedictorians these two are katie mclean and sarah springmeier let's first acknowledge them individually katie is the daughter of dan and robin mclean can we please have mr mrs mclean please now stand katie will be leaving a very strong legacy at gchs she was a four-year member of our swim team where she was a captain and served in our sad and junior optimist clubs katie will be attending
037purdue university to major in kinesiology please help me acknowledge miss katie mclean [Music] miss sarah springmeier will also be speaking now as a fellow valedictorian sarah is the daughter of dave and renee springmeier can we please now have mr mrs springmeier please now stand sarah has been incredibly involved the last four years miss springmeyer served as member of our junior optimist and sag clubs a volunteer for the bread of life and had a very successful career on our swim team sarah plans to major in accounting to indiana university purdue university columbus please help me welcome to the stage miss sarah springmeier and katie mclean [Music] good morning everyone this is actually one of several speeches you will heard today and for that we apologize for any redundancy but then high school was certainly filled with
038redundancy from mr peter's daily reminder to wear your mask over mouth and nose to mr holland's never-ending desire to bring tears to the eyes of unexpecting juniors nothing ever seemed to change but guess what we're moving on from the redundancies of high school as soon as we make it across this stage today hopefully without tripping we can all gladly say goodbye to monthly fire drills one-way socially distanced yet crowded hallways and mrs bata's redundant senior citizen emails however these redundancies have not gone without value thankfully we have been able to learn from them whether we realize it or not fortunately for you today we will share some of the unique lessons we have learned and missed the monotonous repetitions of high school ones that we can hopefully carry with us into our next chapter of
039life lesson one know how to do basic algebra or as mr mize would say don't let algebra be the hard part of calculus if i had a dollar for every time i heard that phrase this year i don't think i would have needed to apply for any scholarships he was not wrong yet most of us still did exactly what he told us not to lesson two in chemistry class more is always better or as mr davis would say minus one more though not everyone will be headed into more dreaded chemistry classes and we are quite thankful for that it is important to understand that doing the bare minimum and sometimes even slightly more than that will not always lead to success all those one sentence dodging the question yet still trying to seem like you
040knew what you were doing answers probably won't cut it in the future mr davis as much as we hate to admit it you might have been on to something lesson three appreciate the last crispito day crispitos are an experience like no other unfortunately we will no longer be able to enjoy crespitos every tenth school day crespito days however it will not be forgotten and will surely be missed as some of us enter our college years of ramen noodles on a daily basis the last of crespito days came too quickly just as the end of senior year did and should have been savored more than what they were please learn from our mistakes lesson four accept the fact that things are changing coronavirus threw a real curveball at us but in some ways i think it
041did us a small favor we learned to survive through stressful times and adapt to strange situations quickly although we hope that everything returns to normal soon i think it's a good thing that we all now understand how quickly things can change especially as we approach one of the biggest changes in our lives we can now accept our entrance into adulthood and the changes that come with it knowing that hey at least it won't be as bad as that one time everyone was out of toilet paper lesson five find lessons within the repetitions and redundancies of life though the redundancies may seem never ending in the moment clearly they come to an end we are now there in the end we made it and are finally able to enter a new chapter in our lives where
042big changes present themselves only to become redundancies once more soon enough those monthly house payments piles of clothes need to be laundered and hours spent at walmart each week will become all too redundant luckily for us we now know to not let even redundancies like those go unappreciated the path to the future has been scary stressful and at times monotonous but in the end we will all be thankful for this moment and the lessons learned from the never-ending repetitions of life thank you thank you to both katie and sarah our final valedictorian to speak is miss ariana sia ariana is the daughter of ranielle and mariadocia would mr mississia please now stand [Music] [Applause] ariana has been an outstanding student during her time at gchs she has been a four-year member of student council and
043our swim team served in fca national honor society and as secretary of junior optimist club ariana will attend indiana university and study exercise science next school year please help me welcome miss ariana sia i have a fear of goldfish and i'm not referring to the delicious snack but to the boring little fish that some keep as pets i once had three goldfish but they all tragically died of poisoning you see during my family's move to our current house in the fifth grade my dad moved my fish to a vase for easy transport however he didn't know that the vase water contained bleach apparently you can add a small amount of bleach to water in order to keep your flowers fresh which is exactly what my mom did a few minutes prior my three goldfish died
044pretty much instantly it was tragic and traumatizing thus my fear of goldfish originated through my short-lived time as a fish owner i realized a valuable lesson that i would like to share with you all my first goldfish that i ingeniously named goldie was your classic plain jane goldie was the type of goldfish to aimlessly swim back and forth sometimes he hit the side of the fishbowl and sometimes he swam upwards but most of the time he just swam in a circle that was all he ever knew and he was perfectly comfortable doing so my second goldfish was named roxy i named her for no reason other than i thought the name was pretty cool roxy was the type of fish that never left the decorative little fish house in the fish tank she was snug
045and secure in the shelter of her home and in the shade of her kelp plants my third and final goldfish was named spike spike was the equivalent of an adrenaline junkie i remember one day i was cleaning the tank over the sink in order to clean it i had to take each goldfish out one at a time and transfer them to a smaller container well when it was spike's turn for transfer he jumped out of the net and right into the garbage disposal i forgot to put the splash guard in place because i had just done the dishes i thought he was a goner yet i found spike miraculously flopping around right next to the blades don't worry the garbage disposal wasn't on and he was completely fine when i put him back into his
046tank spike may have not been harmed but my ego sure was was i really that bad of a fish owner that he wanted to escape well it turns out that my fish just needed a bigger tank surely after that traumatizing experience i went to good old walmart and upgraded them from a 5 gallon tank to a 10 gallon tank although he almost gave me a few heart attacks my favorite goldfish was always and will always be spike i realized that spike made the most out of his life because he knew that there was more out there than a 5 gallon fish tank he took the risk of possibly dying and was rewarded with a tank twice the size of his old one unlike spike life in the fish tank was all goldie and roxy knew
047they never saw the insides of a kitchen sink or felt the coldness of hardwood floors or felt the exhilaration of tank jumping they were too comfortable in their environment and missed out on these experiences spike wasn't confined to the walls of his fish tank and lived the most eventful life a fish could live he spent some of his life being uncomfortable in a small tank but his uncomfortability resulted in something bigger and better my fellow graduates do not be stuck in the confines of your fish tank the tank may seem snug and secure but always remember that growth does not flourish and comfortability it is better to be bold and fail than to never grow at all as albert einstein once said a ship is always safe at shore but that is not what it
048is built for life after high school may seem scary and uncertain but just know that you are swimming you are growing and you are alive be confident in the path that you are taking as your doubts about your future will only poison you just like it did my fish so if you were to leave here with anything let it be this sail your ship make those jumps and maybe just maybe goldfish aren't so bad after all thank you [Applause] thank you miss sia now we will hear from our salutatorian the salutatorian for the class of 2021 is miss kaylin lowe kay lynn is the daughter of mark and don lowe mr mrs lowe would you now please stand [Music] kay lynn participated in several activities including junior optimist club national honor society a four-year member
049of student council and co-president of fellowship of christian athletes among many other activities kaylin plans to attend marietta college in the pre-positions assistant program ladies and gentlemen miss kaylin lowe morning everyone i am standing up here today speaking after all of these amazing peers and friends because i lost my 4.0 gpa now in the bible god says that the first shall be last so i guess that means i'm technically one step ahead of y'all i know what many of you are probably thinking you're salutatorian i think you've done pretty well for yourself and you should be thankful don't get me wrong i am extremely grateful but let me tell you you would not have wanted to be a fly on the wall in my makeshift classroom that is my dining room as i finished up
050my junior year with a 3.99 gpa in the midst of copin i was devastated and felt like a failure i knew i was capable of getting an a in that class there were several days okay weeks okay maybe a couple of months where i was angry frustrated and disappointed in myself because of my obsession with my grades and achieving perfect academic and athletic excellence i began to overlook the importance of shaping my character as an individual i was becoming more concerned with my achievements and appearance than how i was making an impact on others however over the last year i have been reminded of a very valuable lesson in my 18 years of life i have had more close family members pass away than i would expect before i turned 50. my great-grandpa two of
051my great-grandmas my grandpa of lung cancer my other grandpa of esophageal cancer and my 18 year old cousin in a car accident thinking back to the events of their funerals not a single person in attendance talked about their gpa what positions they played on the quarter field how many gold stars they had on their name tag or how long it took them to get a diploma however everyone in attendance reminisced on how their character heart for others and willingness to serve had made a memorable impact on their own lives sure in five years we'll still remember how one of the shyest guys in our class was hypnotized and ran around a barn dancing and twirling a ribbon or how a girl gave herself a busted lip with her own tennis racket in gym class however
052in 30 or 40 years we'll remember the teachers and peers who encouraged us to chase our dreams and helped us along the way my mom has always taught me that the way we respond to situations shows our character so i encourage you to ask yourself how am i living throughout our four years of high school we have all been looking for the light at the end of the tunnel but as i stand here in the light on graduation day i can honestly say that the journey has been the most important part after all we are the seniors of 2021 we are the ones who picked up our bags and returned for another school year another sports season and another school lunch amidst an ever-changing world after pushing through late nights disappointments sorrows and even a
053worldwide pandemic we persevered and strived to make the best of every situation that came our way as we embark on our future endeavors i encourage us all to take the time to think about how we want to be remembered and what impact we want to leave behind our journey has made us who we are so far but we can determine who we continue to be so go out into the world chase your dreams reach your goals don't fear failure but be terrified of regret thank you great speeches by everybody thank you it is now time to affirm our graduates superintendent hunter and members of the school board of trustees i present to you the class of 2021 as building principal i certify those whose names are printed on the roster and those whose names will
054be read have successfully completed their individual education programs and have met all the requirements of the greensburg community school corporation in the state of indiana they are entitled to receive the appropriate documents declaring them as graduates of greensburg community high school thank you mr peters congratulations class of 2021 as superintendent of greensburg schools i accept these students on behalf of the school board of trustees and through the power granted by the state of indiana i present them to mr mark walter president of greensburg school board for the awarding of diplomas thank you and may your future be filled with success we will now present our diplomas to the class of 2021. school board president mr mark walter will hand out the diplomas and ms nicole battis senior class sponsor will announce the name of the
055graduates benjamin andrew bossbach kalyn marie lowe molly margaret humphrey brett stephen stringer taylor lynn cooney gabrielle renee havilland tanay jerica cramer catherine elizabeth mclean ariana jewel sia sarah joanne springmeier nathan riker shane nicholas abel aaliyah nicole anderson austin l.d anderson oh nathaniel ian bailey catherine isabel beam braden jeffrey bisell brooklyn elizabeth bennett kylie zendria rebecca billingsley joshua clay blankenship keegan alexander boner isabella ray bauer samuel alan bauer josie may bowling josh allen bradley [Applause] hannah suzanne brandenburg [Applause] evan robert bray toby ryan brogan that's my cousin okay benjamin michael brown destiny l d birchette [Applause] colton wayne burnham bradley austin bush marissa kane mackenzie g carter waylon j case peyton katrin [Applause] corey christopher collins jeremiah e collins [Applause] olivia marie colson sarah marie cook [Music] [Applause] corbin eric cordray [Applause] madison elizabeth creech so
056kendall bennett cascaded timothy james day emma marie deweys adam michael dixon brady nicholas domingo garrett adam domingo elizabeth michelle duff abigail morgan duncan hillary rose ernst [Applause] zoe ferris maria suzanne fogg cade douglas foster zachary paul friends meyer kenneth wayne friend [Music] me so tim lee friend erica nicole gauck christopher raul granados brady michael victor hahn adam joseph hamilton aidan hammack [Applause] brenner catherine hannah [Applause] whitney marie hannah hannah lee hassler nicholas clifford heath ryan thomas henderson christian matthew hensley ryan wyatt delane higginbotham heavenly star howard elizabeth rachel hyatt damon tyler emmel [Applause] quinlan faith johnston ava jones chandler rhys jones hayley sue keppel garrett knoll adam samuel custer rachel renee coons cassandra sophia cramer jackson edward cramer [Music] jacob anthony krieger liam justin crisman [Applause] mckenzie don lewis so tori james cole linville [Applause]
057robert n lorenz trenton a lynette [Applause] kiefer seth mccullough [Applause] robert mcfarland hannah lynn messer [Applause] olivia mackenzie miller caleb mitchell kyra moore draven murphy nathaniel patrick navarra alyssa fay noel [Applause] maggie lynn olds jersey danielle oliver sage anthony o'mara brooklyn rain owens [Applause] shannon dawn pake elizabeth carol ann pavey nariah m ragsdale [Applause] blaine thomas red [Music] [Applause] megan joanne riceman madeline louise ray [Applause] addison m roblero emily ruby rosales gregory lewis rosale samuel k rozelle michael harrison ruble [Applause] austin schiff so garrett michael shriner noah lee schweinhart [Applause] kaden anthony seidner [Music] [Applause] claudia paige sims lane ryan sparks kalyn nisa spears [Applause] jamie sullivan isaiah joseph sweet camion taylor isaac s tebby ivan telez [Music] hope tibbetts gage august tyndall asiana jade where so joshua sandoval dakota john wessler anna june west
058molina wilkerson emma christine wilmer devin yale winkler jalen lorenz woods ellis james workman [Applause] jalen wright alexa mabel yorn kyla gene zapfi [Applause] [Music] kaden matthew redelman let's do this congratulations class of 2021. [Applause] as we close today i'm going to share some concluding thoughts the class model for the class of 2021 is from a tim mcgraw song chase your dreams but always know the road that will lead you home again how fitting is this quote in my opinion this was very well done by the class of 2021. let's start with chasing your dreams feel confident as previous speakers had shared feel confident in chasing your dreams take stock that you are prepared to chase your dreams no matter your journey necessary for success your foundation and knowledge built here set you up for future
059challenges our schools have played an important role in this successful schools start with great leaders and it definitely takes a team effort with the key contributions of many first seated up on the stage with me our school board serves their role with purpose fidelity and the utmost professionalism all for the benefit of students of greensburg community schools our board members include mark walter shannon mccloud gail roof christy norton amy wickens jeff dugan and mark bauer they empower our employees to work hard and take on the challenge at hand their strong leadership extends to the district level office including our superintendent mr tom hunter and tammy williams our curriculum director please join me in acknowledging our district leadership and the impact it has on the students of greensburg [Music] the thought of chasing your dreams clearly
060applies to our teachers they build relationships use healthy accountability and challenge you to high levels of thinking and achievement their role in the development and refinement of your goals is the driving force in their purpose and intent every single day i would like to acknowledge the high school teachers sitting on the floor with us it is great to return to this tradition having them on the floor celebrating with us is one of those things that we should not take for granted this is a culmination today your career is a culmination of all teachers of greensburg community schools for this reason can we have all teachers no matter the grade level kindergarten through 12th grade please stand so we can share our gratitude at this time all teachers please stand [Music] [Applause] we have two of
061our high school teachers that are retiring at the end of this school year as i said at our honor day program both of these individuals are true examples of what it means to be master teachers first let's honor greg schneider retiring after 30 years in the teaching profession congratulations greg and then also deb sellers 36 years of teaching congratulations [Applause] both of you will be missed the class motto goes on to say always know the road that leads you home again just like school your parents family loved ones and friends are all part of your home your parents especially have provided a safety net for you while you take risks learn about yourself and discover your talents these key people in your life are at home and love and support you unconditionally as you take
062the road that leads you home again please remember them love them back and never take them for granted as a matter of fact class of 2021 right now we should show them some appreciation can all the parents of our graduates please now stand class of 2021 let's give them a round of applause now as we conclude i encourage the class of 2021 to take on the world work hard and chase your dreams when it comes to building positive relationships or achieving your goals i'd like to remind you now of your class song don't settle for anything because baby there ain't no mountain high enough class of 2021 i should have sang there but i'm not a singer class of 2021 congratulations on all your accomplishments and good luck to you in the next chapter of
063your life as we conclude the ceremony here in just a minute please remain seated i ask that guests remain seated as the class exits the gymnasium mr bosback please now return to the stage to lead your class in the turning of the tassels seniors would you please now stand all righty ladies and gentlemen there we go start with that one ladies and gentlemen turn your tassels from the right side to your left side these things are a pain there you go good work you can leave in the class after i read this one okay ladies and gentlemen i proudly present to you the greensboro community high school graduates of the year 2021 great job lost the cap [Applause] [Music] [Applause] i cast a crew hey it'll pop up