Peabody-Burns grads sign off with cats, snapdragons
Staff writer
Faculty, friends, parents, and (surprise, surprise) students escaped the sun in an air-conditioned gym during Peabody-Burns high school’s graduation ceremony Saturday.
The seniors were just 17 in number, but their supporters were plentiful.
Official Warrior colors of blue and white adorned the gym; the high school band serenaded the class with “Pomp and Circumstance” as class members filed in.
“It may not be a popular thing to say, but this has been a challenging year,” Principal Beth Janssen said in her opening address. “Some of you have had academic struggles; some of you have had personal struggles.”
Janssen praised the student’s fortitude in the face of adversity and wished them well in their future careers.
Babies cried sporadically, and some were escorted out into a hallway over the course of proceedings.
Senior Nicole Cademartori’s cat, which she cradled throughout the ceremony, behaved admirably in contrast, though it didn’t take kindly to a journalist’s attempt to pet it.
The cat donned its own bright-pink graduation cap.
Salutatorian Madelynn Blythe spoke about the existential in remarks to her classmates.
“To live is to be willing to die over and over again,” Blythe said.
She advocated for taking control over one’s life and being willing to progress and adapt long into the future.
“Don’t let these years be the best four years of your life,” Blythe said.
Valedictorian Cade Gossen spoke afterward. He thanked God as well as school nurse April Wedel for letting him “chill whenever” in the nurse’s office.
Gossen touched on the closeness of the graduating class while also speaking about the need for ambition.
He quoted Protestant clergyman and author Norman Vincent Peale: “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”
Seniors passed out bouquets of snapdragons, the class flower, to their parents and friends before school Superintendent Antoinette Root spoke.
Root told students to remember what their loved ones had done for them and not to leave them behind.
“I hope there is excitement as well as some caution,” she said.
Afterward, she officially graduated the class of 2025.