Glacier View School honors graduate

Students attending Glacier View School know that their education is unique, and their graduations are also unique, often more personal and heartfelt, as was the graduation ceremony on May 8 for senior Donovin Allen, the lone graduate for the Glacier View Class of 2025.

“Tonight’s graduation ceremony is extremely unique and I’m very proud and honored to be here celebrating the Class of 2025,” said Glacier View School (GVS) principal Wendy Taylor as she kicked off the ceremony, thanking the audience for coming out to support Allen.

“Tonight, we’re not just here to mark the endo of a school year. We’re here to celebrate the journey of one remarkable young man,” said Aaron Meeuwsen when he making his introduction of Allen. He remarked that Allen had put in the hard work needed to get where he is today, saying that he is driven, focused, and unapologetically himself.

“He’s got a passion for working hard, making money, driving loud, loud cars, and smelling good while doing it.” He added that Allen was also a good, caring friend who shows up and stands by the people he cares about.

Allen was also known at school for enjoying a good nap, Meeuwsen recalled, and he was gifted with energy drinks as he walked to the stage, Meeuwsen said, to help him, “at least make it through the ceremony,” before raising his own energy drink in toast to Allen. “For the hard work you’ve put in, the fun you’ve had along the way, and the adventure that lies ahead,” he saluted.

Keynote Speaker Beatrice Hitchcock said it was a privilege to speak during the graduation because to her, it meant that she had influenced Allen in some way. She noted that as high school gradations are being celebrated on a much larger scale, and that while Allen is the only graduate from the rural school this year, no matter the size of the graduation, they all have something in common. “Graduation ceremonies are liminal spaces for all involved, a threshold between what was and what will be.”

Hitchcock said that this time can run the gamut of emotions, from excitement to uncomfortable. “Graduations involve the emotions of pride and love and a sense of accomplishment, and they may include regret and sadness at all that is about to change.”

She then spoke about meaning, drawing from a book that Allen read for his high school English class called, “The Chosen,” by Chaim Potok. “A man must fill his life with meaning. Meaning is not automatically given to life.” She said that Allen has already made some meaning in his life, serving his faith, teaching Vacation Bible school classes, and building the free library case near the entrance to GVS with his grandfather. “Serving God and others are two fine ways to create meaning out of life, and a good start…I have no doubt you can achieve your goals.”

When it was time for Allen to take to the podium, he thanked his family, friends, and community that came out to celebrate his graduation.

“Today is the beginning of a new chapter in my life,” he said. He said that the past 13 years were spent learning, changing, and learning who he wants to be as an adult. “The challenges have been well worth it to try and set me up for the world awaiting me.”

He thanked his teachers for pushing him outside of his comfort zone and encouraging him to think outside the box, singling out one teacher, Ben Coale, who pushed him more than anyone and kept him trying and changed the way he saw the world. Coale, who passed away in January, 2022, and had taught middle and high school English and history at the school.

“He was a teacher that taught me the most, not just in the classroom, but even before and after hours…He opened my mind to see the world, not just in a small view.” He asked for people to never forget him or his legacy.

He thanked his parents for their support, even during rough times. “You will always be in my corner and help me accomplish whatever I want to do.”

He then thanked his friends for helping make school easy and fun, and hoped that with his graduating, they would not get bored. “No one will be here to you new lingo and random pop culture facts.”

“I survived high school, but this is not the end. I’m just at the starting point of a new adventure.”