HOPE — Cheers, smiles and camera flashes marked the celebration of Hauser graduates who received their diplomas.
They had reason to celebrate.
“This class has excelled, persisted (and) endured,” Principal David Wintin said Friday night, as he welcomed family and friends of the graduates to the ceremony in the high school’s gym.
For the 69 graduates, commencement was not only a time to remember the memories they have made together, but to celebrate their achievements and look ahead to the future.
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Salutatorian Joseph Walter Sweet shared a story about Hauser’s boys basketball sectional championship win during his junior year. He recalled feeling discouraged that he had not received playing time, and therefore had not contributed to the team’s win.
A coach then took Sweet aside to remind him that the encouragement he gave his teammates, however small it seemed to him, had helped the team achieve victory.
Sweet then encouraged his classmates to learn, as he had then, to not underestimate the impact of their actions, however small they may seem.
“Going forward from high school, we will face uncertainty,” he said. “We may find ourselves feeling as if we are only a single drop in the ocean that is the real world, seemingly irrelevant in the grand scheme. But God has a plan for us.”
His faith in the abilities of his fellow graduates comes from firsthand experience, Sweet said.
“Over these past four years I’ve had the privilege to know my classmates. It is these interactions that give me confidence in what the future holds,” he said. “Each person is unique and has the capability to make an impact. We all offer a new talent, fresh perspective and unlimited possibilities. By graduating we have proven that we have a desire to succeed.”
More than 75 percent of the graduates that Sweet addressed plan to pursue higher education, join the armed forces or begin apprenticeship in the coming months.
Some will do so with the help of the $826,000 the class earned in scholarships to put toward furthering their education during the next four years.
The graduates’ commendable qualities, Wintin said, are not only professional or financial.
“I also want to recognize this group for their charity,” Wintin said, sharing that upon graduation the class had approximately $1,000 left in their fundraising treasury.
As a gift to the school corporation, they chose to donate the remaining funds to a Hope elementary program that provides meals to children in need.
But before they were earning scholarships or considering careers, valedictorian Sydney Rose Schoen said, the class was preoccupied gossiping with the pop culture trends and controversies that occurred during their times as Jets.
The graduates laughed as Schoen remembered the release of the Xbox 360 when they first began school at Hope Elementary in 2005, Mariah Carey topping the charts and the dress color debate that dominated their social media feeds as freshmen.
Life in the classroom had its own challenges as well, Schoen joked, like “being forced to play the recorder.”
Memories like those, Schoen said, are what she hopes her classmates take with them as their time as Jets comes to a close.
“Saying goodbye is bittersweet, and the good times become memories. We say goodbye to the friends we’ve seen since Day 1 in kindergarten. We say goodbye to all the teachers, mentors, and coaches that have inspired us and encouraged us along the way,” she said. “As we open this new chapter and turn the page, it’s important that we hold onto all these memories.”
Before the graduates turned their tassels from right to left, class president Jacob Aaron Johnson reminded them that as they enter the next stage of their lives, they will always have a home in Hauser.
“Though we will all be far apart, we all share a home in Hope, Indiana, that welcomes us with open arms. Though we will meet new people and do great things, we have made friends and memories that will stay with us forever,” he said. “So go out, and do whatever it is you do best, and remember, you will always be a Hauser Jet.”
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Graduates: 69
Valedictorian: Sydney Rose Schoen
Salutatorian: Joseph Walter Sweet
Class President: Jacob Aaron Johnson
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