The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
by Dessa Rodeffer, Quill Owner/Publisher
Fifty graduates were promoted out of the 16th class of West Central High School Sunday on a rainy weekend, forcing the exercises from outside to inside with limitation of 10 guests per graduate.
Yet graduates were excited to be having an actual ceremony after last year's being canceled for any formal gathering due to COVID-19 pandemic. With many being vaccinated and cases fewer this spring, restrictions have been lifted for gatherings with masks and social distancing still being advised.
Two Student Council members gave the welcome, Sadie Lenz, Secretary, and Megan Schaley, Historian. Together they welcomed everyone and thanked parents, family and friends for their love and support and faculty and staff for their guidance and patience. Megan said, "High school has been an unforgettable journey that has prepared us for the future!"
The year has been very different but it makes the moment even more special. While wishing classmates the best, Sadie said the memories made together will last a lifetime and "I'm sure we will find even more success and prosperity in the years to come, she said as she offered a prayer for grace, hope, knowledge, skills, and asked that the insight they have learned from their education to be put to good use for the good of all mankind.
Sadie asked the heavenly Father to: "Inspire them to believe in the goodness of life even when faced with challenges and difficulties. As they commence with their lives, may they grow even more grateful and wise. Amen." she ended.
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(In April Sadie Lenz signed with Sauk Valley Community College today to continue her track and field career after high school as a Skyhawk! Her plans include becoming a Radiologic Technologist.
During Sadie's time in High School her favorite class was Mr. Hess's P.E.
Her advice to underclassmen is: "Don't stress so much, just have fun."
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(According to her Senior Spotlight, Madelynn Reed plans include attending SCC and going into their nursing program. She will also be playing softball. Her favorite class in school was yearbook with Mr. Muegge. Madelynn says the people that are in that class make it enjoyable, and being able to design our yearbook is something that isn't stressful like my other classes.
Her advice to underclassmen is "Be involved in as much as you can, and make as many memories as you can. These four years go by fast so don't take things for granted."
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After introductions of the board were made by Principal Jason Kirby, Senior Class President Johanna Sterett and Grant Sibley, Student Council President gave short addresses followed by the West Central Choir singing "No Day But Today".
After awards were made and recognition of top ten graduating seniors and student service achievement a Salutatorian presentation was made followed by the Valedictorian Halee Porter's address as follows:
As most of you may know I am Halee Porter, and I am West Central High Class of 2021 valedictorian. I am honored to be standing here today to speak to my classmates, our family and friends, and our amazing faculty at West Central High school.
These last 13 years of my classmates and I's education have been a blessing.
We have been taught and guided along our paths by some of the best people I have ever known. And so that's why I wanted to start out by thanking everyone for everything they have done for us along the way.
First off, thank you to the bus drivers for getting all of us to school safely and on time for most of our education.
Thank you to our elementary and middle school teachers for shaping our young minds and always giving us a safe place in school.
Thank you to the aides, cooks, counselors, and janitors for everything they do for this school.
Thank you to our families for helping us every step of the way.
And finally thank you to our high school teachers and faculty members.
Mr Kirby and Mr. Tucker, I wanted to thank you for everything you have done for me. Thank you for every good morning, every time you asked me how I was doing or if I was okay, for showing up for every school event and supporting all of us with such pride, and for just going above and beyond for this school and the students in it.
To our prized PE teachers, we all want to thank you for every four square game, and I personally want to thank you for every single joke you have made about my freshman year of high school.
Thank you to the best English teachers ever. Coach Arnold, Mrs. O, and Mr. Muegge.
Thank you to our class and student council sponsors for all of their time and money.
And thank you to Mrs. A for all the love, support, and guidance you have given me (And many of my classmates) these last four years. As much as I am ready for my next chapter in life, I can't help but feel sad at the thought of not seeing these amazing people every day.
I think it's safe to say that all of us will cherish the memories we have made here and the time we have spent together. In elementary school, I have some very fond memories of playing kickball, roller skating, attending AR Reading ice cream parties, and our field trips to Biztown and Nauvoo.
In middle school, we made even more memories playing four-square, attending the most awkward middle school dances, and going on a trip to Six Flags.
In high school, we accomplished some great things and had so much fun doing it.
Not to brag but as a class, we won powderpuff 4 years in a row, helped bring home a regional championship, had an undefeated season in football, put on several amazing plays, and won many academic awards, as well as many sport and fine arts competitions.
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Good afternoon, I am honored to stand before you, representing the class of 2021 as class president. I remember in elementary school getting my library card and seeing the year 2021 on it, and I always thought to myself, "that is so far away,"
But now here we are. Our senior year has been one like no other. Covid imposed several restrictions on our activities. Indoor sports had limited attendees, sports like football and volleyball were pushed back to the spring with a shortened season, and masks were required at every sporting event for both the players and the guests.
Choir and band went without their Christmas and Spring concerts, sadly. We were fortunate enough to have a pep band at our home football games, which really helped make it feel normal.
And the drama department was able to perform Rodger and Hammerstein's Cinderella. The CoronaVirus made us realize that we took a lot for granted these past few years of high school.
To administration, teachers, and faculty, we all owe you a huge thank you. You have guided and nurtured us from beginning to end. You all saw the potential we had in us and you helped shape us into the people we are today.
To the teachers specifically, we give you the biggest thank you. You all were there for us on the good days and the bad ones. Your effort and time you put in for us has not gone unnoticed. All those extra hours stayed after school to help struggling students, coming in on weekends to decorate for homecoming week, emails about school work at 10 o'clock at night, and your own money spent on decorations and rewards.
Thank you for providing snacks to kids who didn't have enough time to eat breakfast, for pushing the test back one more day to allow us more time to study.
For helping some of us in and out of windows to retrieve our shoes.
And thank you to the school for providing us with Chromebooks, which helped alleviate the strain that heavy book bags full of textbooks put on our backs, even though we haven't treated them as kindly as we should.
To parents, grandparents, and guardians, we owe you a thank you as well, without your constant reassurance and reminders, we wouldn't be where we are today.
Thank you for fighting through frustration to help with the Common Core homework that you didn't understand and aiding in projects that were started the night before they were due.
Thank you for reminding us to study for tests, do our homework, go to bed at a decent time, to help wake us up in the morning, and for every little thing in between. I want to personally thank my parents for their time, effort, and money they put into me over these past 13 years. I wouldn't be where I am without you.
Parents, whether this is your first child graduating or your last, we want to recognize and thank you today for all of your hard work, sleepless nights, and apologize for all of the stress we've caused you.
To my class, we have all watched each other grow up and change. Our grade has welcomed new students and said goodbye to some over these years. We've made memories and learned important lessons here that we'll remember forever.
I know you will all agree that some memories are better than others, but I wouldn't change them. I hope you all cherish the time we've spent here at West Central, together. It is still unbelievable to me that this is the end of ou journey together.
For some, it's a joyous feeling and for others it's a bittersweet one. We're turning the page to a new chapter in our lives.
Speaking for myself, I'm excited to see what happens next. I know it's cliche to say, but it's time for us to go our separate ways. I want to say thank you for making my time spent here worth it.
Here's to the best time of our lives so far and to the new adventures that lie ahead.
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To the Class of 2021, I am honored to be speaking as your Student Council President.
As they say, all good things must come to an end, and this is the end of a very good thing, but the beginning of a new chapter in all of our lives.
Many of us found ourselves throughout these long, but very short four years, and we have all grown together. I want to thank the teachers, and staff of West Central for being able to put up with us.
Thank you so much for the endless life lessons that you taught us, and the endless assignments that helped us grow as students. I think everyone can agree that we will all never forget the memories that were made in this school.
We saw each other everyday, and today is the last day we will all be together as one class. It is definitely going to be a little different going from seeing all of you five days a week to possibly never seeing some of you again.
Our class had a senior year that we never would have imagined. We walked into this school in August wearing masks, getting our temperatures checked, and being checked in by our parents every morning. We entered uncertain if we would be able to do all the things that make school fun like: Homecoming Week, Prom, Sports, Performances, Ceremonies, Lunch with our friends, and even Graduation. But here we are. Our class persevered through all of it. We stayed strong, and fought for what we wanted. I want to thank every single teacher that helped contribute to making our class have an amazing senior year with the circumstances we were in; you guys are awesome.
I always remembered in Elementary when we would sit in the hallway and watch all the "big kids" walk down the hall in their cap and gowns, I had no idea what was going on, but now we are those big kids in our cap and gowns. Our class was full of so much talent, we have classmates that are talented in art, music, athletics, academics, and so much more. There have been so many memories, and moments within these halls, like Coach telling us to cover our mouths when we yawn and playing scrabble in class every friday as freshmen, when we goofed off in class and got yelled at by a teacher, the four year dubs that we took in Powderpuff, all those Homecoming dress up days and dances, making tik toks in the cafeteria, playing four-square in PE, the snack drawer that Mama O always kept stocked full, looking forward to crispitos for lunch, the useless drama, Mr. Tucker's constant motivational speeches that we really appreciated, Prom, the student sections at almost every home game, the never-ending Kahoot games, all the tests that we said we would study for but never did, Mr. Kirby always cheering us up in the hallway, there are so many of these moments a lot of us will cherish forever, and these moments are what made high school so much fun.
I'm sure we all have someone we wish could have been here on this special day, someone who we loved, and miss, so, so much. For me, it is definitely my dad.
I wish he was here to witness this very special day, but I know even though he isn't here he is up there smiling, and so proud of me.
So whether it is a grandma, grandpa, parent, sibling, cousin, whoever it is, I want you to know that they are so proud of you. They are proud of the young men and women that we are becoming, and will become. I would like to give a special shout out to the parents of the Class of 2021. Thank you for being there for us when we needed it the most. Thank you for driving us to practices. Thank you for helping us with our homework. Thank you for coming to every concert and event. Thank you for supporting us, guiding us, challenging us, and teaching us so much. We love you.
So, to my fellow classmates, let us all remember the good that West Central gave us.
Let's all be grateful for what we were taught here, and the opportunities we were given. Let us all be proud, soon to be alumni, of West Central High School, because all good things must come to an end.
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Johanna Sterett's plans include going to Monmouth College or SCC for environmental sciences and studies. Her favorite class was her sophomore math class with Mr. Holloran. Her advice to underclassmen is "don't be afraid to participate in things or you'll regret it later on."
(Grant's plans after high school include attending Southeastern Community College for two years and pursuing in the Arts, Theater/Acting in particular.
He then would like, and hope to transfer to Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, IL, and get a more broader education in his degree!
His favorite classes in high school were choir and all of his history classes.
Grant's advice to underclassmen is "Enjoy every moment! Always stay involved, and don't let others tear you down!
"Be yourself no matter what people try to tell you.
"I always liked to stay involved while in high school, I always did a class pep rally performance, went to the dances, did fun extracurricular activities like the play, and student council!
"If you stay involved it will make your high school experience super fun, and enjoyable!
"Take lots of pictures and videos with your classmates so you have the best memories of the best four years of your life!")