The seniors at Dugway High School took center stage one final time at the new school’s auditorium during its graduation ceremony Wednesday afternoon.
The 16 graduates were the first class to graduate from the new $19 million Dugway High School building, which opened in January and houses students from kindergarten through 12th grade.
While the new building lent a modern feel to the proceedings, the graduation ceremony took the traditional tack of looking to the past. Former Dugway High School Principal Robin Nielson, who retired in 2015 and was the guest speaker for the ceremony, took note of the new surroundings.
“This building is absolutely gorgeous and it is a credit to Dugway High School, Dugway Proving Ground and the Tooele County School District,” she said.
Due to her recent departure from the school, Nielson was very familiar with the class of 2016. She said the seniors were defined by their participation, talkative nature and sense of humor at the remote high school.
“One thing, class of 2016, your high school experience has been very unique,” Nielson said. “You’ve been through a high school where you know everybody by name … You’ll never again be in a place where people love and take care of you like you have at Dugway.”
Cynthia Kimler, the class valedictorian, agreed the class had a reputation for terrorizing teachers with their talking but were tight-knit, with half of the class staying together since fifth grade.
“So, my fellow graduates, even though this might seem like the end, it’s really just the beginning,” she said. “The beginning to becoming the people we strive to be, to achieve the things we truly believe in and to show everyone that we can do anything and everything.”
Salutatorian Kassidy Christensen thanked all of the teachers, faculty, students and families that helped and supported the senior class through their high school years. She cautioned her classmates that they hadn’t arrived yet, however.
“Class of 2016, I’m not going to say we’ve made it, because we have many challenges coming our way,” Christensen said. “But I know whatever we set our mind to we can do, and be successful in, especially with such good roots to hold us down.”
Following the awarding of diplomas, there was a video presentation that showed pictures of each of the graduates from their youngest days through graduation. Graduates were also given flowers that they presented to family members in the crowd that helped and encouraged them along the way.