Fight for their values and recognize what they’ve accomplished — that’s what elected student speaker Gavin Hunt on Tuesday told 113 graduates of Kenai Central High School as they prepared to receive their diplomas.<\/p>\n
Tossing the microphone aside and shouting to the packed auditorium, Hunt told his peers that, together, they could change the world. Alone, their voices would be too quiet.<\/p>\n
“Fight as the generation who will stand tall,” he said. “I don’t care what it may be that you fight for, as long as it is something that you believe in.”<\/p>\n
Kenai’s students have outgrown the school and now are responsible for their own lives, he said. They’re supportive, caring and passionate. Each of them are special. To graduate, with or without accolades, scholarships or a plan for the future is “a feat that has been taken far too much for granted.”<\/p>\n
Hunt told his classmates to be bold, proud, and encouraging of one another. He told them to “live, laugh and love.” He called on them to dare to try something new, “being unique instead of normal.”<\/p>\n
“Forget what has been established and try new things, even if it’s something small,” he said. “If something isn’t changing, it is dying.”<\/p>\n
Hunt was among a series of speakers, including salutatorian Grace Kahn and valedictorians Oliver Boersma and Elliot Hanson, who encouraged the graduates to recognize their accomplishments and growth from four years at Kenai Central as they look ahead to diverse futures.<\/p>\n
Commencement speaker Matthew Cross, who teaches math at the school, told his students “nothing good ever comes from staying in our comfort zone.” He encouraged them to go out into the world and fail — and in doing so to learn more about themselves.<\/p>\n
What matters, he said, is learning and trying again.<\/p>\n
“By failing, you show that you’ve pushed yourselves,” he said. “You show that you’ve tried something new, something different, something you weren’t already an expert at. Without failure, you never know where the limit actually is, and you never know how far you truly could have gone.”<\/p>\n
Fortunately for the students of Kenai Central, Cross said that when they fail, they’ve got a supportive community to return to.<\/p>\n
“Kenai will always be here.”<\/p>\n
Cross’ words echoed an address delivered by Kenai’s Senior Class President Sarah Jane Baisden at the beginning of the ceremony. She told her peers that achievement means persevering through failure — be that a failure on a test, a homework assignment, in a relationship or getting a car between the lines in a parking lot. Each of Kenai’s graduates has succeeded, has failed, and will do both again.<\/p>\n
“You are not defined by who we were in high school,” Baisden said to her classmates. “You get to grow, to change, to start over as many times as you want. High school was just one version of you, not the end product.”<\/p>\n
Though she encouraged each of the gathered students to grow beyond the walls of Kenai Central, she also told them to remember what their successes, failures and “the things that made this class uniquely ours.” Kenai’s class of 2025 are athletes and artists; they’re brilliant and they’re confident. They know some “developed” slang.<\/p>\n
“Chat, we’re, like, graduating high school right now,” she said. <\/p>\n
Kenai Central 2025 graduates<\/strong><\/p>\n Grady Adams !<\/p>\n Cemre Akgul ^<\/p>\n Makenna Anthony \/!<\/p>\n Sarah Baisden #!<\/p>\n Kevin Baker<\/p>\n Tamia Barnes<\/p>\n Nathaniel Bastke !<\/p>\n Rhett Bilger<\/p>\n Lance Billings<\/p>\n Isla Blankenship<\/p>\n Oliver Boersma *<\/p>\n Aaliyah Bookey !<\/p>\n Samuel Brighton !<\/p>\n Daniel Burtram<\/p>\n Delen Byrd<\/p>\n Eliseo Castro<\/p>\n Hollan Chadwick<\/p>\n Alexander Collet<\/p>\n Elijah Cooper !<\/p>\n Tait Cooper !<\/p>\n Trapper Cottrell<\/p>\n Peyton Cowie<\/p>\n Fox Coyle !<\/p>\n Caitlyn Crapps !<\/p>\n Levi Crawford<\/p>\n Dain Douthit<\/p>\n Michelle Elizabeth Duffield<\/p>\n Devon Duniphin<\/p>\n Ryker Dykema<\/p>\n Alisia Elias<\/p>\n Dayne Focose<\/p>\n Raegan Fry<\/p>\n Christine Goering ^<\/p>\n Ximena Gonzalez<\/p>\n Jylann Green !<\/p>\n Carson Grimm<\/p>\n Kane Guest<\/p>\n Kaylauna Gump<\/p>\n Rohan Hansen<\/p>\n Elliot Hanson *<\/p>\n Benjamin Harris<\/p>\n Robert Hayes<\/p>\n Arianna Hensley !<\/p>\n Sierra Hershberger !<\/p>\n Flokarta Hoxha ^<\/p>\n Hayden Hughes<\/p>\n Gavin Hunt<\/p>\n Zane James<\/p>\n Gabriel Joanis<\/p>\n Makai Johansen<\/p>\n Jason Johnson !<\/p>\n Grace Kahn +#<\/p>\n Jacob Katzenberger !<\/p>\n Keira Kilgore-Ginnetti !<\/p>\n McKenzie Koliba !<\/p>\n Silvan Krieg ^<\/p>\n Matthew Krol<\/p>\n Cole Langham<\/p>\n Kaya Lanman !<\/p>\n Boyd Lehmberg<\/p>\n Caleb Litke<\/p>\n Kendal Loggins<\/p>\n Madison Malone<\/p>\n Avery Martin<\/p>\n Brandi Martin<\/p>\n Alexander Martinez<\/p>\n Jasmine Matthews<\/p>\n Audrey McDonald #!\/<\/p>\n Lola McEwen #!<\/p>\n Luke McGee<\/p>\n Enrique Mercado !<\/p>\n Avia Miller !<\/p>\n Ty Morris<\/p>\n Meriedi Morrison !<\/p>\n Lincoln Nelson<\/p>\n Rylee Novak<\/p>\n Kohyn Orlob<\/p>\n Ellee Pancoast<\/p>\n Alejandro Pangelinan<\/p>\n Kimberly Parker<\/p>\n Antonio Perez<\/p>\n Aidan Petla !<\/p>\n Josiah Revera<\/p>\n Benjamin Roberts #!<\/p>\n Lochlyn Roney<\/p>\n Keegan Roumell<\/p>\n Atlas Ruark<\/p>\n Luis Saravia<\/p>\n Aleaha Searl<\/p>\n Stella Selanoff !<\/p>\n Nikki Somers #!<\/p>\n Brooklyn Stewart<\/p>\n Seanna Swanson<\/p>\n Keanu Swearingen<\/p>\n Alexis Taylor<\/p>\n Mya Taylor !<\/p>\n Isabel Thomas<\/p>\n Austin Thompson<\/p>\n Isabella Tomrdle<\/p>\n Destin Trickel !<\/p>\n Tyler Van Sky<\/p>\n Sawyer Vann !<\/p>\n Alyssa Walker #!<\/p>\n Makenna White<\/p>\n Leif Wilshusen<\/p>\n Dakota Wisnewski !<\/p>\n Kate Wisnewski !<\/p>\n Marcus Wong !<\/p>\n Jalyn Yeoman<\/p>\n Jenna Yeoman<\/p>\n Key<\/p>\n Valedictorian — *<\/p>\n Salutatorian — +<\/p>\n National Honor Society — #<\/p>\n Honors Diploma — !<\/p>\n Service Cord — \/<\/p>\n Foreign Exchange — ^<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Kenai Central High School graduates 113. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":493,"featured_media":88685,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,811],"tags":[55,56,183],"class_list":["post-88684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-top-news","tag-kenai","tag-local-news","tag-schools"],"yoast_head":"\n