St. Joseph graduating class ready for new 'firsts'

Friday, May. 30, 2014

OGDEN — On May 23, the 58th annual Saint Joseph Catholic High school Graduation Ceremony took place.

As the sound of “Pomp and Circumstance” by Edward Elgar reverberated, 42 students of the graduating Class of 2014 gathered with their family, friends and loved ones at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Ogden for a ceremony filled with anecdotes, best wishes, remembrances, success stories and a lot of joy.

The keynote address was by Corbin Johnson, the school’s environmental science teacher, who gave five suggestions to the students that narrated moments he lived with them.

“Life doesn’t always go as planned,” said Johnson as he remembered his first day as a teacher at the school. “When it doesn’t, you must choose how to react to it; cherish life all the time; recognize the life and love of others. I hope and pray that life will bless you. Congratulations, thank you, good luck and God bless,” said Johnson at the end as the students cheered him.

Then Alexandria DeGrauw gave her salutatory greetings.

Saying she was very proud to be part of the Class of 2014, DeGrauw based her remarks on a list of some of the challenges that the class went through.

“We were told that in 2000 the world was going to end. … then we were told that in 2012, according to the Mayans, the world was to end … and yet here we are all today. … We have faced many challenges in the past years but we overcame them. … Thanks to our family, friends and teachers, we were able to  get back and try again. … We cannot thank enough each of them for all the love and care that they have for us.”

A vocal presentation by the duet of graduating senior Bailey Kelso and faculty member Jennifer Hughes, accompanied by Russell Richnis on the piano and Marianne Asmus on the violin, followed the salutatory greetings. Kelso and Hughes’ interpretation of “The Prayer” by David Foster was so powerful that it brought tears to some of the attendees’ eyes.

The Recognition of Lifers, the reading of the diploma text, the presentation of the candidates and the conferral of the diplomas, presented to the students by the Most Reverend John C. Wester, Bishop of Salt Lake City, Sister Catherine Kamphaus CSC, Superintendent of Catholic Schools and Joanna Wheelton and Patrick Lambert, President and Principal of the school, respectively, followed the performance.

The valedictorian address was given by Rachel Sutherland, who referred to the many “lasts” that the Class of 2014 had embraced.

“The last time you go to a theater class, the last time you put on your uniform. … The walking through the halls of the schools as high school students,” said Sutherland. “But there were also many first times: … the first time you got a cell phone and the first time you dropped your cell phone, the first time that our parents gave us the keys to the car, the very first time that we met our principal. … Your first and last, beginnings and endings, have all been part of our first chapter. We are advancing to a new moment of our lives. … We have many firsts ahead, the first day of college…,” said Sutherland, then concluded her speech with a Winston Churchill quote: “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

The Rite of Changing Tassel was led by Nicholas Palmer, Senior Class president.

The St. Joseph Class of 2014 was awarded a total of $2.6 million in scholarships. All of them plan to attend college; in addition to in-state universities, the graduates will attend out-of-state institutions such as Kettering University, Loyola Marymount University, Gonzaga University, the University of Michigan, Boise State Honors College, Linfield College, Carleton College, St. Leo University, Michigan Tech University, Colorado School of Mines, and the Academy of Art in Colorado Mountain.