Chi-Hi grads tackle future
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By ROD STETZER rod.stetzer@lee.net
Thursday, June 7, 2007 9:27 AM CDT
Jon Cahill was worried about things going right at Wednesday’s graduation at Chippewa Falls Senior High School.
In practice, the graduation line of over 340 students got a bit mixed up.
But the Chi-Hi graduating senior didn’t have to worry. The send-off for the Class of 2007 went quite well.
Before they officially could call themselves graduates, student council President Brady Nyhus urged them to take control of their future.
“The question is not who’s going to let me. The question is who is going to stop me,” he said.
Principal James Sauter lauded the graduates for their pursuit of excellence and passion for learning. “This is a time to celebrate,” he said.
Assistant Principal James Martell kidded the senior class that there had been too much celebrating.
Martell said as the person in charge of senior attendance: “I feel I have been chasing this group of seniors around during the month of May.”
He joked that one student asked him why he was in school on “Principal Skip Day.”
Martell turned serious to honor 48 students for academic achievement. Eleven of them had perfect 4.0 grade point averages, including the four co-valedictorians: Aarron M. Barkley, Alexandria E. Korb, Alexander M. Rasmus and Elizabeth Salm.
Barkley, Korb and Salm offered advice to the seniors.
“Don’t be afraid to dream big, because that’s how great things are accomplished,” Barkley said.
“Keep your eyes peeled for opportunities because they are all around you,” said Korb.
Salm urged the seniors not to let their fears become handicaps, but instead strive to overcome them.
The graduation ceremony honored three people with the Distinguished Alumni award. They included Barbara Nystrom Rolland of the Class of 1947, the late Harrison Siddons of the class of 1948 and Gerald Jacobson of the Class of 1971.
Nystrom Rolland taught at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Siddons was an engineer on NASA’s moon-landing Apollo program. And Jacobson is president of the Northwestern Bank.
Plaques of their achievements will be displayed on a wall with other distinguished alumni.
“The wall is a source of pride we can all share in,” said William Bejin, a principal who is retiring after working 19 years for the school district.
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