By Tim Arnett
WABASH,Indiana – Despite the fact that the 100th running of the Indy 500 was happening at the same time, the Honeywell Center’s Ford Theater was practically filled to capacity with friends and loved ones watching graduates walk across the stage to receive their diplomas at the 2016 Wabash High School Graduation Ceremony Sunday afternoon. The 90 members of Wabash High School’s Class of 2016 were made up of academic and sports stars, an Indianapolis Colts Cheerleader and one woman who simply worked her tail off in the last few months in order to graduate on Sunday.
After opening remarks by senior Darian Reynolds, Superintendent Jason Callahan took to the stage and, in his speech, likened the graduates to a book. He said that each student plays their own protagonist in their autobiography and that a new chapter in their life story began Sunday afternoon. Using the same analogy, he challenged the graduates to go out and become a best-seller in their lives.
Then the Wabash High School Combined Choirs under the direction of retiring music teacher Susan Keefer took to the stage to to perform two works entitled “The Message” and “Ocean and Stars.”
The former was so complex and occasionally dissonant that it is not the stuff one usually hears at graduation ceremonies. The latter piece was a more melodic and lyrical number and at the end of both, one was reminded how Keefer has been able to pull out such great performances from her students over the years.
This year, there were two Salutatorians: Adam Driscoll and Katherine McCauley. Driscoll gave a speech entitled “Roots” which likened the seniors to the roots of a tree which grows from a sapling into something amazing. McCauley gave a speech called “The Little Things in Life” which reminded those in attendance about the value of everyday acts of kindness. Valedictorian Skyler Hall gave a speech entitled “The Fear of Regret” which asked for the graduates to cast aside the things they rue as learning experiences to prepare for the future.
First-year Wabash High School Principal Kyle Wieland then admitted that he was the one who scheduled graduation at the same time as the big 500 race and chalked that decision up to a rookie mistake.
Colts Cheerleader Alexis R on how the ceremony went and her plans for the future.
Although Alexis R’s story is known all over the county, one senior’s story of overcoming odds to walk across the stage Sunday is less well known. Due in main part to a personal tragedy, Dharma Klug put her head down at the Alternative School and made up almost two years worth of classes since January. She proudly walked across the Ford Theater stage Sunday afternoon a graduate of Wabash High School.
