Washtucna awards three diplomas

Friends and family members for the three graduates from Washtucna High School gathered together in the school gymnasium on Saturday, May 31, to celebrate and recognize the achievements of the students.

The trio of male graduates being presented with diplomas during the ceremony were Levi Allen, Bo Rice and Madison Mabie.

Allen received a certificate for Outstanding Academic Effort in CWP.

Allen’s awards included: Elmer B. Lee Memorial Friendship Award, Outstanding History Government Award, Washtucna High School Citizenship Award, Senior Agricultural Education Student Excellence Award, Senior FFA Student Excellence Award, ASB Officer Presidential Excellence Award, FFA Officer Presidential Award, Washington State FFA Degree, Washington State Food Science and Technology Award, Washington State Agronomy Award, Washington State Soil Judging Award, Livestock Judging Award and Tractor Driving Award.

For scholarship, Allen received the Marie Snyder Scholarship, $1,000; Washtucna School District Alumni Scholarship; $500; and Washtucna-Benge Scholarship Trust, $4,000.

Rice’s awards included: Excellence Award in Weight Training, ASB Officer Presidential Excellence Award, FFA Officer Vice Presidential Award, Washington State FFA Degree, Washington State Soil Judging Award and Livestock Judging Award.

While in high school, Mabie’s activities included football and FFA.

During the graduation ceremony, Washtucna School District Principal Brent Seedall presented Byron and Karyn Allen the Appreciation Award from the Washtucna FFA Chapter.

Mike Dorman, teacher at the Washtucna School District, served as the guest speaker for the ceremony. As the senior class CWP advisor, Dorman has worked with the students throughout the past year during first period of the day.

Allen introduced Dorman to the podium, the same podium Dorman stood behind to teach classes at the school with the same dry erase markers.

As a joke, Allen presented Dorman with a box of chalk to use as a replacement for the markers.

Dorman’s guest speech is as follows:

“You guys are sitting there thinking ‘So Dorman you have a speech for us? Why don’t you start cranking it out circus boy … Let’s get on to the diploma part of this graduation.’ Well you don’t get those diplomas until I finish my speech; I think this a beautiful thing. Get comfortable boys … it’s going to be awhile here. By the way Levi, you’re here … What? No field trip today? Wait, ain’t nobody got time for that.

“I would actually like to thank the seniors this year for allowing me this opportunity to share with them on their graduation day. Considering the fact that you spent everyday during first period with me, it’s a privilege to know that you didn’t quite get tired of seeing me standing behind this podium of mine. I’m happy to do this one more time before you leave Washtucna as a student for the last time.

“Before you do I would like to take one last look back at some of the memories you made while you were here: Recall that I asked you to fill out a graduation survey in my class a few weeks ago that required you to share some of your memories as well as offer some advice to the students here that will follow you in graduation from Washtucna someday. Now is the time for me to share with everyone what you shared with me on that day in class.”

Allen’s favorite thing about going to school in Washtucna was being the dictator of all the clubs. The memory he will always remember, after joking he wasn’t there enough to make memories, was struggling through Mrs. Kraft’s Spanish class with Sawyer.

The advice Allen left for students at Washtucna is it is only 180 days, so get your business together and do your work. Laziness doesn’t get you a career.

Mabie’s favorite thing about going to school in Washtucna was the small town community and Dorman’s CWP class. Mabie liked being able to know almost everyone and the CWP class was always good for political debates and fun.

The memory Mabie is always going to remember is playing football for the first time with a great team and coaches. He fit in perfectly with the team and even had the opportunity to play varsity.

The advice Mabie left for students is to not finish high school without a plan.

Rice’s favorite thing about going to school in Washtucna was the fun talks with Jeff Nelson and Dorman, and them making him laugh so hard he cried. The memory he always will remember is playing football his senior year. Even though he injured himself during a game, it was his personal best season.

The advice he leaves for students in Washtucna is to get your work done. Do not wait for the last second because it gets worse when you do that.

“Good memories and good advice,” Dorman continued. “Bo I don’t recall you crying though, I thought you had allergies or something, you hear that underclassmen and elementary kids? I guess I’m funny after all. And Madison you might have won one or two debates, maybe… Nah, I doubt it.

“We did have some pretty good debates and we did share quite a few stories in CWP class. It’s a relationship that I appreciate with every senior class that I have had here since I started teaching at Washtucna. This class is no different. Good times!

“We have talked about the past and the memories; I want to now discuss briefly your future. This is a future that each one of you has prepared for, for a long time. After today you will be free to go on your own, but I would like to offer you some advice as you head out.

“There are two important words that I want to discuss with you today. One word is response, the other is react. I was at a coach’s dinner in Colfax a few weeks ago and a football coach was speaking about these two words. Here is the jest of what he said:

“Response is a positive word; react can be a negative word. Let me share with you three examples of the difference between these two words.

“First example: You have a big day tomorrow and you go to bed the night before and you set the alarm… The alarm goes off the next morning. Your reaction might be to hit the snooze button a few times, but that could be negative, it could mean you are not ready to embrace the day, the journey ahead of you. A response to the alarm would be to turn it off and get up and get ready to lead a hardworking, productive life full of happiness.

“Second example: You’re not feeling well and you go to the doctor and the doctor gives you medication. If you have a reaction to the medication, then things could not be well and you might be worse off. That’s bad. If your body responds to the medication then the medication is effective and you begin to feel better. That’s good.

“Third example: You are working for the Secret Service protecting the President of the United States. The situation is that you hear shots fired, if you react to the situation you might duck and cover or hit the floor, well guess what that is bad, the president could be injured because you reacted wrong! You should instead respond to the situation. Go to the president; respond by protecting him from the shots and doing your job. That is good. Guess what, you are a national hero!

“The moral of my stories is that you guys have a choice to make. Life after high school is going to be filled with challenges, issues, problems, stress, responsibilities, all kinds of wild, crazy and even scary things. I encourage you to develop the courage and the work ethic to respond to life’s challenges rather than simply react.

“I believe in you guys, I know you have the characteristics, the tools and the morals to respond. This is the end of your time here in Washtucna High School, but it’s just the beginning of your adult lives. Go through life ready to respond and please remember that we here at the school are always going to be here for you. We are excited for your future and we want you to have wonderful life after high school.

“By the way: take luck Levi, Bo and Madison. Take care of the luck you might have.

“Once more I will say that I am grateful to get to share with you today, I am very proud of you fellas, now go out there and respond for Mr. Dorman. I’ll be thinking of you and I’ll keep you in my prayers.

“God bless you … Thank you.”

The ceremony concluded with the presentation of diplomas from Seedall and Washtucna Board Chairman Wayne Johnstone.

The three boys tossed their caps into the crowd before walking off the stage to the applause of those in attendance.