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May 23, 2009

CHS seniors ready

Comanche High School seniors discuss their ‘legacy’

Derrick Miller

COMANCHE — Principal Steve Dunham couldn’t help but comment on Comanche High School’s Class of 2009 and the personalities the members of the class possess.

Dunham said many of those students, who graduated Friday, were intelligent and always interesting to converse with. He also made a prediction to see some of the students either on the silver screen or making news on CNN.

“Somebody in this class will make it big,” Dunham said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we see several of them later on.”

Of this outgoing (both in personalities and in graduating status) class, six students spoke. Five of them were valedictorians and the other was the class salutatorian.

These students spoke about the word “legacy” by speaking specifically about a letter of the word.

Megan Treece was the first of the students to talk and for the letter “L,” she spoke about life.

“Life for many people has many different meanings,” Treece said. “No matter the span of years, life is short.”

She told the students to make something of their lives, be willing to take on challenges.

“It’s definitely will not be easy,” Treece said. “For all that it is and all that it is not, life is an opportunity.

“Life itself can be our biggest legacy.”

The next student to speak was Courtney Branch, who chose the word “eager” for the letter “E.”

“We embarked upon a journey that got us here,” Branch said. “That time’s here. We’re finished with high school.

“Even though I’m anxious for this change, I’m eager to continue doing well in school.”

While being eager can be a good thing, Branch said, it can also be over done.

“Don’t be too eager to move on that you don’t enjoy the moment you’re in,” Branch said. “Don’t lose that eagerness.

“Go eagerly forward and conquer.”

Justin Griffith was the third student to speak. With the letter “G” he chose the word “go.”

Griffith said everyone is always on the go, whether heading to school, work, home or somewhere else. With high school coming to an end, it was time for the students to go on to do something else, he said.

“We have to ask ourselves, where do we go?” Griffith said.

For the letter “A,” Alex McCord chose the word “aspire.” McCord said it’s important for the students to set objectives and to strive to achieve them.

“As we move on, we need to aspire to set goals,” she said. “Your journey is not over.”

The final valedictorian to talk was James Morgan, who chose the word “control” for the letter “C.”

Morgan said “control” is not usually a word used to inspire people, but commencement signifies the students taking control of their own lives and destinies.

“We will have the ability to control how successful we are,” he said. “We all have the potential to do something good for the world.

“We will always be the Class of 2009.”

This year’s salutatorian, Kayla Giroir, was given the letter “Y.” While all the valedictorians may have revealed the word the chose to represent their letter, Giroir decided to wait for the end of her speech.

Instead, she talked about how it has taken her family, friends and members of the community to help the students find the success they achieved by graduating.

“The Class of 2009 is unlike any other,” Giroir said. “And for my letter, ‘Y,’ I chose ‘Yah, we did it.’”

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