Leaving laughing
Graduation ceremonies are filled with humor

By Bill Donovan
Staff Writer

GALLUP — The seniors of Gallup High School said good-bye to their school Friday with a mixture of respect for their teachers and a touch of humor.

A total of 385 seniors at the school were given diplomas during ceremonies at the Red Rock Park arena attended by almost 5,000 people.

The theme of the ceremonies seemed to center around honoring the teachers who have led them for the past 12 years and brought them into adulthood.

The guest speaker was a popular high school English teacher, Kory Kline, who never went to high school graduation services of his own because he was expelled in the first semester of his junior year.

He told the graduates that he was an angry teenager, blaming parents and teachers for his problems until one night when it dawned on him that the only one head to blame for his troubles was himself.

At that point, he said he vowed to change his life around and joined the armed services planning to make a career of it. A little more than seven years later, however, he received a medical discharge and decided when he came back to the states that he would become, to the surprise of his family and those who knew him as a teenager, that he would go back to school and become a teacher.

This theme of respect for teachers was carried through with several seniors honoring teachers they thought had made a difference for them.

For example, Rhiannon Schuman chose to honor Jeff Taylor.

"With his expertise, enthusiasm and direction, I have grown to appreciate power tools and the expression of art through metal," he said.

Walker Sroges, the school's valedictorian, carried out the theme with humor, talking about all the second chances teachers in the school system have given students throughout their careers.

"They robbed us of our greatest pleasure ignorance," he said.

But it was also a time of fond and sad memories.

Students talked during the ceremonies of some of the events that they will carry with them for the rest of their lives.

During their freshman year, they noted that they had to deal with everything from the 9-11 tragedies and the introduction of clear backpacks to increased lockdown drills and Snowball - the dance.

By their sophomore year, things got a little better and the memories of that year ranged from the cross country girls taking the state title to a trip to Disneyland and "the Wal-Mart Bandits."

Their junior year once again saw the cross country girls take the state title and the school winning their homecoming dance and fond memories about "guy cheerleaders" and "blowing up stuff in Mr. Stewart's class."

And the last year - well, there was a third consecutive title by the girl's country team and not winning the homecoming game and, of course, breathalyzers at the homecoming dance.

The graduation services went smoothly under clouds that threatened to bring rain to the outdoor ceremonies but never did.

The arena was packed and although seniors were given tickets to limit the number of people they could bring, ticket takers did not restrict attendees only to ticket holders and allowed everyone to attend.