As the sun sets in the distance, the class of 2025 celebrates the end of their time in high school. This year’s ceremony started at 6:30 pm instead of 10 am as it was in years past.
History teacher Jeffrey Weiland really enjoyed the ceremony and thought this year was one of the best ones.
“The weather was really good, I felt like we had good speakers, the kids were enthusiastic, so I thought it was good,” Wieland said. “It was kind of what you hoped for on graduation day. I think a lot of the parents were happy with it. I think we’ve kind of figured it out now. We’ve kind of figured out the system and how to make it work.
Senior Shawn Njoroge agrees, thinking the time of the ceremony this year was perfect.
“I thought the ceremony was really good,” Njoroge said. “I specifically liked [Engineering teacher Brian] Hagstrom’s speech. I felt like him saying he grew up with us. That was really inspiring. And I just really liked everything about the ceremony. I thought having an evening ceremony would be a problem, but honestly, it was great, because right now the sun is setting and so is our journey.”
Many of the graduates felt emotional at the end of their high school career, such as senior Ayden Brown, who feels sad that it’s over but is excited for the future.
“It feels crazy, I thought this moment would take so much longer to come up than it did,” Brown said. “It kind of just snuck up on me. But I’m extremely happy to get to move on with my life and get to go to The University of Kansas and just really get my life started.”
Wieland’s daughter Maggie Wieland graduated this year and he was able to read her name, which was a special moment for him.
“To be able to read your own kid’s name and graduation really is an honor and the second time I’ve been able to do that, I think it’s wonderful,” Wieland said. “I also like reading in general because you see the kids and how excited they are when they’re coming up, ramp or coming up the stairs. So, I really enjoy it.”
