June 4, 2015 VOLUME 120 | ISSUE 18 | 75¢
ElbertCountyNews.net E L B E R T C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
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Grads bid farewell to Elizabeth High 158 seniors honored as rain mostly stays away By Rick Gustafson
Special to Colorado Community Media Though low clouds threatened rain throughout most of the ceremony, only a brief sprinkle fell on the 158 seniors graduating from Elizabeth High School and the friends and family who filled the football stands to honor their accomplishment. During the May 23 ceremony, faculty praised the Class of 2015 for its dedication and academic achievements, including $3.1 million in college scholarships, honors grade point averages, and members admitted to the National Honor Society, Thespians and Tri-M Music Honor Society. In his welcoming remarks to the graduates and families, Rod Blunck, acting principal of Elizabeth High School, spoke of the future, but also of remembrance, encouraging his students to remember where they had come from, to remember the people who supported them along the way. Elizabeth continues on Page 5
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Hats fly after Elizabeth High School’s commencement ceremony May 23. Photo by Rick Gustafson
Kiowa Class of 2015 saluted for talents 25 seniors hear advice at commencement rite By Rick Gustafson
ELBERT COUNTY NEWS (USPS 171-100)
OFFICE: 9137 S. Ridgeline Blvd., Suite 210 Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 PHONE: 303-566-4100 A legal newspaper of general circulation in Elizabeth, Colorado, the Elbert County News is published weekly on Thursday by Colorado Community Media, 9137 S. Ridgeline Blvd., Suite 210, Highlands Ranch, CO 80129. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT ELIZABETH, COLORADO and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address change to: 9137 S. Ridgeline Blvd., Suite 210 Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 DEADLINES: Display: Thurs. 11 a.m. Legals: Thurs. 11 a.m. Classifieds: Mon. 10 a.m.
PL E ASE RECYCLE T HI S C OPY
Special to Colorado Community Media Put graduating high school seniors together for a commencement ceremony and there is bound to be some advice offered before it is over. For the 25 graduates in the Kiowa High School Class of 2015, the advice included challenges, motivation and humor. Superintendent Jason Westfall hit on all three veins in his opening remarks. “The question you should be asking yourself right now is not, ‘Who’s going to let me?’ Rather the question is, ‘Who’s going to stop me?’” Westfall said. “Challenge the orthodoxy. Just because something has been done a certain way for eons doesn’t mean it’s the right way of getting it done. And third, this one’s from my mother: Remember when you are out in the world, you are searching for your soulmate, not your cellmate. Finally, the best helping hand you’ll ever receive is right at the end of your own arm.” Commencement speaker Donnie Gabehart reiterated Westfall’s challenges by telling the students to never say never, and he reinforced the notion that a single person can make a difference.
The Kiowa High School Class of 2015 prepares to enter the next phase of their lives during the commencement ceremony at the school’s gym May 24. Photo by Rick Gustafson Gabehart illustrated his point by citing his own election as the mayor of Kiowa, an election decided by a single vote, his own. Both the valedictorian and salutatorian used their speeches to recognize the special talents and
diversity of their classmates. Valedictorian Jessi Dodge acknowledged her fellow graduates by taking them and the assembled family and friends on an imaginary class trip to the South Pacific. In Dodge’s account of their
fictional trip, the class becomes stranded on a tropical island, but in their predicament, they thrive, using their individual talents to prosper until their eventual Kiowa continues on Page 5