Kenai Alternative High School Principal Loren Reese speaks during Kenai Alternative High School’s 2021 graduation ceremony on Tuesday, May 18, 2021 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai Alternative High School Principal Loren Reese speaks during Kenai Alternative High School’s 2021 graduation ceremony on Tuesday, May 18, 2021 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

‘Like having another family’

Kenai Alternative High School graduates 10

The entrance of the eight graduates who participated in Kenai Alternative High School’s 2021 graduation ceremony on Tuesday was heralded by an electric guitar rendition of “Pomp and Circumstance.” Flanked by clusters of family, friends and staff, Kenai Alternative’s eight participating graduates walked the length of the gym to chairs on either side of a podium loaded with blue and yellow flowers. Also in attendance were Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Assistant Superintendent of Instruction Dave Jones, KPBSD Finance Director Liz Hayes and members of the KPBSD Board of Education.

Principal Loren Reese said it is part of Kenai Alternative’s tradition to have student speakers at graduation instead of guest speakers. Graduates Jullian Miller and Alivia Howard spoke this year.

Miller said he has been attending Kenai Alt since 2017 and previously struggled with his attendance, but that support offered by school staff, particularly Reese, and his family made his graduation possible.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

“[Kenai] Alternative felt like a dream at first until you walk into this building and see just how real it is,” Miller said. “I couldn’t have done it without Mr. Reese, though. With all the chances he gave me and times he never gave up. I am eternally grateful, and I know my family is too. I couldn’t have done it without them either.”

Howard echoed thanks for staff and family in helping her graduate and said she wants “nothing but good fortune” for her fellow graduates.

“Now I can go out into the world and I know I can do anything and I will do anything I set my mind to without giving up in the process,” Howard said. “… There’s not a day that goes by where I’m not thankful for Mr. Reese for allowing me to be here today. The Kenai Alternative is like having another family.”

Graduate Brianna Mosiman was recognized for receiving a scholarship from the University of Alaska Anchorage, where she plans to attend college after graduation. In an interview prior to the ceremony, Mosiman said she hopes to study something relating to science, which she said is appealing because of how broad it is as a subject. Though the year had its challenges, she said, she enjoyed being able to work at her own pace and being able to spend more time outside.

Graduate Dru Wilson was presented with a Masonic Outstanding Student Award, which is awarded by the local Masonic Lodge and is based on academic achievement and good citizenship. Through the Kenai Elks Lodge, Kenai Alternative recognizes students of the month, which is an award based on attendance, classroom performance and citizenship. Students of the month recognized Tuesday included Jullian Miller, Aidan Gaedecke, Dru Wilson and Alivia Howard.

Reese said it is also part of Kenai Alternative High School’s tradition to honor students with non-academic awards. Among those given out on Tuesday were the “Betty Crocker Award,” the “Best Laugh Ever Award” and the “Great Debater Award.” Also honored were the four staff who are leaving Kenai Alternative this year: Gary Wertz, Meredith McCullough, Wade Marcuson and Vickie Roney.

In congratulating graduates, Reese encouraged them to always be kind to others and said how proud he was of them for their accomplishments.

“While this pandemic is taking much from this world, I believe it has also given us a great deal as well,” Reese said. “It has made us focus on what’s truly most important: family, friends, health and our community. All of a sudden, the little things in life, those things that we all took for granted, now have become also important.”

Along with their diplomas, graduates also received a yellow rose, which they were asked to present to someone in the room who made their graduation from Kenai Alternative High School possible. Some were given to family members while others were given to staff. Reese was given two of the eight roses.

Reach reporter Ashlyn O’Hara at ashlyn.ohara@peninsulaclarion.com.

In all, Kenai Alternative High School graduated 10 seniors, eight of whom chose to walk during Tuesday’s ceremony. Kenai Alternative’s 10 graduates are: Payton Boze, Katrina-Marii Alexi Conaway, Aidan Monroe Gaedecke, Alivia Grace Howard, Jullian Miller, Brianna Lynn Mosiman, Kaleb Mark Palmer, Dorothy Lucy Iris Rivers, Jeremy Ray Souders and Dru Anthony Wilson.

A photo of Brianna Mosiman plays during a slideshow during Kenai Alternative High School’s 2021 graduation ceremony on Tuesday, May 18, 2021 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

A photo of Brianna Mosiman plays during a slideshow during Kenai Alternative High School’s 2021 graduation ceremony on Tuesday, May 18, 2021 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Loren Reese helps adjust Alivia Howard’s microphone during Kenai Alternative High School’s 2021 graduation ceremony on Tuesday, May 18, 2021 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Loren Reese helps adjust Alivia Howard’s microphone during Kenai Alternative High School’s 2021 graduation ceremony on Tuesday, May 18, 2021 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai Alternative High School Principal Loren Reese (left) is given a yellow rose during Kenai Alternative High School’s 2021 graduation ceremony on Tuesday, May 18, 2021 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai Alternative High School Principal Loren Reese (left) is given a yellow rose during Kenai Alternative High School’s 2021 graduation ceremony on Tuesday, May 18, 2021 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Brianna Mosiman (center) leads Kenai Alternative High School Graduates in turning their graduation cap tassels during Kenai Alternative High School’s 2021 graduation ceremony on Tuesday, May 18, 2021 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Brianna Mosiman (center) leads Kenai Alternative High School Graduates in turning their graduation cap tassels during Kenai Alternative High School’s 2021 graduation ceremony on Tuesday, May 18, 2021 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai Alternative High School Principal Loren Reese bumps elbows with graduates during their 2021 graduation ceremony on Tuesday, May 18, 2021 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai Alternative High School Principal Loren Reese bumps elbows with graduates during their 2021 graduation ceremony on Tuesday, May 18, 2021 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

More in News

tease
‘All the kids are grand champions’

Kenai Peninsula 4-H shows off at Agriculture Expo

Soldotna City Council member Jordan Chilson and Soldotna Mayor Paul Whitney grill hot dogs at the Progress Days Block Party at Parker Park in Soldotna, Alaska, on Saturday, July 26, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Progress Days block party keeps celebration going

Vendors, food trucks, carnival games and contests entertained hundreds

Children take candy from a resident of Heritage Place during the 68th Annual Soldotna Progress Days Parade in Soldotna, Alaska, on Saturday, July 26, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
‘It feels so hometown’

68th Annual Soldotna Progress Days parade brings festivity to city streets

Kachemak Bay is seen from the Homer Spit in March 2019. (Homer News file photo)
Toxin associated with amnesic shellfish poisoning not detected in Kachemak Bay mussels

The test result does not indicate whether the toxin is present in other species in the food web.

Superintendent Clayton Holland speaks during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, July 7, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Federal education funding to be released after monthlong delay

The missing funds could have led to further cuts to programming and staff on top of deep cuts made by the KPBSD Board of Education this year.

An angler holds up a dolly varden for a photograph on Wednesday, July 16. (Photo courtesy of Koby Etzwiler)
Anchor River opens up to Dollies, non-King salmon fishing

Steelhead and rainbow trout are still off limits and should not be removed from the water.

A photo provided by NTSB shows a single-engine Piper PA-18-150 Super Cub, that crashed shortly after takeoff in a mountainous area of southwestern Alaska, Sept. 12, 2023. The plane was weighed down by too much moose meat and faced drag from a set of antlers mounted on its right wing strut, federal investigators said on Tuesday.
Crash that killed husband of former congresswoman was overloaded with moose meat and antlers, NTSB says

The plane, a single-engine Piper PA-18-150 Super Cub, crashed shortly after takeoff in a mountainous area of southwestern Alaska on Sept. 12, 2023.

Armor rock from Sand Point is offloaded from a barge in the Kenai River in Kenai, Alaska, part of ongoing construction efforts for the Kenai River Bluff Stabilization Project on Wednesday, July 23, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Work continues on Kenai Bluff stabilization project

The wall has already taken shape over a broad swath of the affected area.

An aerial photo over Grewingk Glacier and Glacier Spit from May 2021 shows a mesodinium rubrum bloom to the left as contrasted with the normal ocean water of Kachemak Bay near Homer. (Photo courtesy of Stephanie Greer/Beryl Air)
KBNERR warns of potential harmful algal bloom in Kachemak Bay

Pseudo-nitzchia has been detected at bloom levels in Kachemak Bay since July 4.

Most Read

You're browsing in private mode.
Please sign in or subscribe to continue reading articles in this mode.

Peninsula Clarion relies on subscription revenue to provide local content for our readers.

Subscribe

Already a subscriber? Please sign in