Editor’s note: This story has been changed to add the missing name of KCHS graduate Riley Michael Weber to the graduate list.
The 108 members of the Kenai Central High School Class of 2015 graduated on Monday during a ceremony in their school’s auditorium. The ceremony featured musical performances from the school’s band and choir, speeches from the class valedictorians, class speaker Jacob Dye, and KCHS language arts and French teacher Meredith McCullough, and a slideshow by the yearbook team.
McCullough, known at the school as Mrs. Mac, described giving the commencement address as “probably the most difficult thing I’ve ever done in my life.” She said she had a special connection to the 2015 graduates because her first year as a teacher at KCHS was the class’s freshman year. McCullough contrasted the informality of classroom speaking with the heavy expectations of a graduation speech delivered on stage, comparing it to the difference between life as a high-schooler and life as an adult.
“Adults make things complicated,” McCullough said. “Our lives are patterns, our beliefs are set. We are who we are, and like the mountains that caught the sun’s light this morning, we can be weathered, but only true forces of nature will ever change us.”
Consequently, McCullough opted to turn and face the graduates behind her on stage while sharing her remarks in more of a classroom teaching style.
“I believe that the greatest thing I have left to teach to all of you comes down to three simple words: ‘Be good people,’” McCullough said. “That’s it. That’s all I’ve got.”
Student speaker Jacob Dye was a senior nominated and elected by his classmates to give a speech. In an interview after the ceremony he said that he wrote eight drafts of his speech and six alternative speeches before deciding on the one he gave Monday evening.
“It’s not unrealistic to think that maybe I will never get to see some of you ever again,” Dye said to his fellow students during the ceremony. “For four years, we’ve been high school students. For longer, we’ve been other kinds of students. It’s been quite a journey, which, until now, we’ve made together. I’m glad I got to make this journey alongside all of you, and as this one comes to a close, the next one begins. And who knows? Maybe starting a new journey may not be so hard. Or maybe it’s already begun.”
Dye also spoke of a difference between the high school and post-high school environments.
“And so now we’re off,” Dye said. “But where are we going? Until now, for all our school years, we’ve been on a pretty much predetermined path. You finished third grade? There’s a seat for you in fourth grade, with your name on it… Finish middle school? Onward to that big, scary high school across the field. But now there’s nothing set in stone, no definitive answer. We actually have to, like, make decisions and try to survive in the real world.”
Dye plans to study at University of Alaska Anchorage, for a bachelor’s degree in medical science, along with his KCHS classmate and future UAA roommate Trey Feagin-Walden.
Senior class president Christopher Campos said he wants to earn money with a summer job, then study graphic design at UAA, and “then hopefully start a whole new life in the Lower 48.”
Kyle Foree plans to join the National Guard before attending a college, possibly in Kansas, where he hopes to play football.
“It’s a great feeling to be done with it,” Foree said of his high school career. “It took a long time, but I’m glad to move on to better things.”
Class of 2015
Amanda Brook Anglebrandt
# Ian Roy Ashley
Victoria Rose Askin
Jamie Renee Bagley
Jace Cole Baker
Hannah Danielle Barcus
Charlene Ruth Benson
*# Alexandria Joyce Bergholtz
Savannah Lee Bilyeu
Raphaella Anneliesa Bucho
Allison Marie Bushnell
Edwin Marcos Y Calix
Christopher Dylan Campos
Taylor Alexandra Carlson
Dylan Jay Carter
Celestina Victoria Castro
Skylair Lee Childress
Alexander Lee Chipman
Sydney Taylor Clark
Travis Richard Cooper
# Erin Kathryn Cox
Brittney M. Cramer
Trisha E. Danielson
Becky Jo Dragseth
JeNeal Robin DuPerron
*# Jacob Colby Dye
Meagan Rose Easley
Kimberly Ann Eide-Segura
Maggie Jean Elder
John Edwin Engen
Jake Ryan Eubank
Daniel Aaron Evans
Jonathan David Evans
# Mackenzie Rose Evenson
Trey Jordan Feagin-Walden
Denali Jean Fitt
Kyle William Foree’
Tyler John Frates
Ryan Zane Glenzel
Sierra Renee Hall
Kylie Elizabeth Hanson
Kiana Louise Harding
Katelyn Elizabeth Rose Hemphill
Alyssa Rae Herr
Bailey Lance Holt
Kyle Chance Hunter
Nathan Kanoa Kaaihue
Margaret Grace Kautz
Taylor Cheyenne Kenney
Lilly Jean Kincheloe
Megan Shanelle Kissee
*# Alyeska June Krull
Svetlana Leona Landt Ortega
Hoolahou Micah-Terukina
Lankford
Victoria Mariah Link
Ashley Laura Maxson
Ryley Andrew McAtee
Joseph Austin McKee
Shayna Marie McKinley
Tyler James Montague-Rogers
Sherrie E. Murray
Leah Alexandra Nacca
# Wren Racer Norwood
Hannah Camilla Nusbaum
*# Kirsten A Nyquist
Kendrick Michael O’Rourke
*# Allie Parker Ostrander
Joshua Alexander Peck
Heidi Behrens Perkins
Skyler Rane Petrey
Kendra Raquel Pisa
Joshua Posey-Schave
Mariah Rose Prosterman
Thomas Keith Randall
Andrea Erin Reilly
Colton West Richardson
Amanda Elizabeth Ritchie
Andrea Evelisse Rivera
Chelsea Rose Roberts
*# Jeremy Brian Ruggiero
Brittnee Angel Ruybal
Nathaniel Ray Saavedra
Beverly Dawn Schindler
Mariah N Schloeman
Jairra Sue Seidl-Carlstrom
Tommy Gabriel Sheppard
Nicholas Benjamin Siebert
Charles Jeffrey Simons
Gunner James Smith
Kathleen Pearl Smith
Makai-Lynn Keli Smith
*# Brandon Jeremy Sorhus
Dakota Sorrels
Mary Kathleen Stuller
Denise Melissa Taylor
*Jonah Michael Theisen
Jordan Robert Theisen
*Dezmond Song Ticknor
Jonathan Gregory Torkelson
Kinsley Marie Trahan
Danielle Leigh Updike
Nyqolle Lynne Van De Grift
Mathew E Vandermartin
Brandon Craig Waara
Amber Marie Walter
Riley Michael Weber
#Kyla Kailani Whannell
Rebecca Shae Willard
Tanner M Wortham
Timothy Zoda
* — Honor Graduate
# — National Honor Society
Reach Ben Boettger at ben.boettger@peninsulaclarion.com.
