Houston Jr./Sr. High kicks off Mat-Su's graduation week

Monday night kicked off a busy week of high school graduations at the Menard Sports Complex with the Houston Junior-Senior High School Class of 2022.

A total of 72 graduating seniors dressed in black and red made their way to the ceremony with first a stop at a green screen in which they could take a few seconds to pose-some serious, some silly, all smiles-before taking part in the ceremony that would mark the end of one journey and the beginning of a new one, which seemed to be a recurring theme throughout the ceremony.

After a stirring rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” by graduating senior LaKell Lee, Principal Ben Howard took a moment to welcome everyone and congratulate the graduates before turning the proceedings over to Master of Ceremony Vanessa Pacheco.

Salutatorian Gracelynn Bettineski addressed the students by admitting she’d never heard of a Salutatorian until she was informed that she was it and would have to give a speech.

“You all survived fires and earthquakes, and this year we could have a normal, uneventful year. It’s good to have silence after all that chaos,” she noted.

“In life, you’re always jumping to the next thing. You always want something to end, and waiting for the next something, never really stopping in the moment and reflecting on where we are. We never know that these are the good times until years later when we look back and wish we were here again,” Bettineski said before telling her fellow graduates to follow your starts, do your dreams, and ending with a famous Jim Carrey line from “The Truman Show:” “In case I don’t see you, good afternoon, good evening, and good night.”

Valedictorian Madalynn La Fay also spoke of new adventures waiting ahead for the graduates, “Let today be the first of many new beginnings because today is the day that we can say we did it.”

La Fay took note of the struggles her graduating class had to go through, especially the 2018 earthquake and the COVID-19 pandemic that changed learning.

“All of these events have impacted our communities and more around the world, the Class of ’22 has to be one of the most promising classes there is,” she said, leaving the students with one final message: “Never give up. Lack of courage and motivation only leads to failure when you let it defeat you.”

Keynote speaker Heather Fortune, HJSH Class Advisor and CTE Teacher, also remarked the resiliency of the graduating class, making light of learning through COVID wear the students were probably still at home, days into their pajamas, and the welcome return to in-person learning.

“If there’s one thing the 4-seat class did for us, it created time. Time to have important conversations, time to talk about options and the future, time to get to know you, really get to know you.” Fortune also noted that many are already members of the community already, holding down jobs, paying bills, some living on their own, and she takes pride in that the staff have done what the could to prepare the graduating class for a smoother transition into adulthood.

Fortune also presented a message to the students that the community-teachers, administrators, parents, friends, neighbors known and unmet-would want to pass on: “There is merit in doing something good. There is merit in doing something right. That can be the righteous sort of right…or doing the right thing at the right moment,” she said. “If you stick to doing what you know is right, the rest will fall in line.” She also encouraged the graduates to not squander their talents, wherever they lie, and to keep the unspoken promises they have made to themselves to do good.

The students took time to recognize and thank the staff for their support through the years, and as a show of their gratitude and token of thanks, students were able to present roses to those people who helped them reach this milestone.

Perhaps best summing up what lies ahead for the Class of 2022 Houston Hawks came from Salutatorian Gracelyn Bettineski: “What comes next after graduation is something I’ve been told is great. For some of us, its higher education, others a job. That jump is a scary one-what lies on the other side is unknown, but you have to trust that the other side will be there,” said Bettineski.