Lind-Ritzville seniors ready to face the world
"Today, we're walking across the stage in wizard hats, holding diplomas that prove we endured through it all: the chaos, the cramming and the laughter and all the growing pains that came with high school," said salutatorian Temple Gefre.
Two by two, the 34 members of the Class of 2025 processed into the Gilson Gym on Saturday to the high school band's strains of "Pomp and Circumstance." As is LRHS custom, the procession was led by the junior class marshals, Zoe Galbreath and Beau Fode.
LRHS Principal Kevin Terris started by reading a list of accomplishments of members of the class of 2025. Some, like participating in Future Farmers of America or performing in the school band, were fairly general.
Others were very specific.
"If you finished in seventh place at the WIAA state track competition 200-meter run with a time of 22.79, please stand," Terris said.
The class had nine valedictorians, of whom five spoke at the ceremony. Camden Shaver took the podium first.
"I wasn't going to do a speech here today until one of my closest friends said to me, 'I've never seen a brown person on that stage in a long time,'" she said. "And as silly and bold as that sounds, it truly hit ... Whether your skin is brown, yellow or purple, whether your hair doesn't 'behave,' your background is different, or your identity or expression doesn't match what people expect, you are not too much. You are more than enough."
Emilia Klewin attended classes at Eastern Washington University and participated in ROTC there while finishing up at LRHS, an experience that brought some lessons home to her. Brody Boness' high school years were marked with adversity through major sports injuries, he said, which taught him the value of perseverance. Alyssa Williams discussed overcoming her competitive nature to learn that comparison is the killer of joy, and Addy Colbert spoke of learning not to be so eager for the next stage of life that you miss out on the current one.
The Class of 2025, collectively, was awarded more than $1 million in scholarships, School Counselor Kayla Walker said. Additionally, a few students were singled out for special recognition. Fredy Granados-Lopez and Liz Cruz earned the Washington State Seal of Biliteracy in Spanish. Granados-Lopez also received The Harry P. Hayes Award. The Honor Cup went to Claire Wellsandt.
The guest speaker was former Gonzaga basketball star Mike Nilson, who spoke about the importance of commitment. Final words before the diplomas were awarded came from senior Brix Curtis, chosen by his peers to deliver the closing address. Curtis was not an especially distinguished student or an impressive athlete, he said, but his class's achievements weren't about those things.
"The best part about my class is that at their core, they're all good, kind people and to me, that is what matters," he said. "As far back as I can remember, my class has always been in constant competition, not to be better than each other, but to better ourselves as a collective. We have nine valedictorians for a reason ... We all did these things not to impress ourselves, but because we were all surrounded by impressive people, people who lift each other up and show each other it's possible to do great things once again."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
2 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
‘A land that our ancestors walked': L.A. County tribe wins land back for the first time
On July 10, a church signed the deeds transferring a half-acre of land hosting a community center in the heart of San Gabriel — less than a mile down the road from the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel — to an Indigenous tribe's nonprofit. On paper, it was a relatively ordinary transaction (except maybe for the $0 price tag); however, for the San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians based in Los Angeles and Orange counties, it was anything but: For the first time in centuries, a piece of their ancestral territory belongs to them. 'There were books when my daughters were in grammar school and high school that stated we were extinct,' said Art Morales, an elder and historian in the tribe. To Morales, persevering through that long, painful history is what makes the agreement so significant: The tribe is 'basically on the map now.' The lot, previously owned by the Presbytery of San Gabriel — a unit of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), one of the largest Presbyterian denominations in the U.S. — hosts offices, a kitchen and a community space, as well as an outdoor patio and green space. Now, under the ownership of the tribe, led by the Gabrieleno Tongva Tribal Council, the space will host cultural ceremonies, government meetings, programming for tribal youth and a community food bank. Unlike tribes with federal recognition, the hundreds without it have no direct legal means to negotiate with the U.S. government for reservations. Instead, they often set up nonprofit organizations to acquire land through agreements with private organizations or states. In California, many tribes have found it difficult to secure federal recognition. They had to survive through three different occupying governments: Spain, Mexico and the U.S. The U.S. government negotiated numerous agreements with California tribes that it has repeatedly failed to uphold — often because the state got in the way. In the late 19th century, a federal effort to send surveyors throughout the state to create reservations for California mission tribes began in San Diego but lost steam by the time it reached Los Angeles. The result is that even to this day, tribes without land — including the San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians until this July — have had to find a venue (often local parks) and get all the proper permissions and permits any time they wanted to hold a public gathering. 'Everything is very labor-intensive on our part just so that we can actually engage in our culture,' said Kimberly Johnson, secretary for the tribe. 'This breaks that barrier, and folks know they can go at any time and be together. I think, right now, people need each other more than anything.' Long before the lot was a community center, it sat in Siban'gna. Siban'gna was a village of the First Peoples in the region. Nestled along the river, it was home to a few hundred individuals. Dome-shaped homes covered in tule, called ki, dotted the landscape. In 1771, Spanish priests tasked with establishing church footholds in the region decided to build what would become the San Gabriel Mission near the village. 'When the padres came through … they used the words 'a land of abundance.' They use words like 'water flowing' and 'food' and 'happiness,'' said Johnson. To execute the mission project, they exerted control of the Native communities and forced Indigenous people — many of whose descendants now refer to themselves as Gabrieleno, a term derived from the mission — into labor to construct and maintain the mission. After the United States took over in the 19th century, it began using a different method of control: Red-lining maps made it impossible for residents in low-rated areas to obtain mortgages and discouraged businesses from investing in the areas where Indigenous people lived. Indeed, the San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians' newly recovered land received the lowest possible rating at the time. In the assessment, the neighborhood was described as 'a menace to this whole section,' noting 'pressure is being exerted to confine the population and keep it from infiltrating into other districts.' Now, over 250 years after the Spanish first settled in current-day Los Angeles, the San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians — one of several Gabrieleno tribes acknowledged by the state — has finally gained a toehold back. 'To be able to connect to a land that our ancestors walked is very powerful,' said Johnson. 'The land that we lived on — and had a village on — that we worked on, we were then told, 'It's illegal for you to own that land.' So to see it come full circle back to us again, it's very healing.' When the Presbytery of San Gabriel began exploring options for the former community center site, Mona Recalde, who runs community outreach for the tribe and is deeply involved with the church, asked whether it would consider a land return. 'When Mona asked … for just about everybody in the Presbyterian, it was an instantaneous recognition of how much sense this made,' said Wendy Tajima, executive presbyter, or spiritual leader, of the church. For Tajima, it seemed like a way to make good on the promise of land acknowledgment — the church, instead of just paying lip service to past land grabs, could actually ameliorate some of the harm Christian institutions like the mission caused in the past. The tribe hopes other religious institutions (including the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel just down the street) will follow the presbytery's lead. The church and the tribe held a ceremony commemorating the agreement at the tribe's new Gabrieleno Tongva Tribal Center at Siban'gna on Aug. 2. As Presbyterian ceremonies gave way to the Gabrielenos', an emotional Tajima couldn't help but feel the tribe's deep-rooted connection to the land rekindling in real time. When the tribe 'started to burn the sage … that's when it hit me,' she said. 'This was a public witness of the first time that they could practice their traditions. They could be who they are and not have to ask anybody else.'
Washington Post
5 hours ago
- Washington Post
Tuna melt quesadillas are a fast, unexpected twist on a diner classic
Cheese and fish can be a controversial combination. I can see my friend's Italian grandmother shaking her head at me just for considering it. But there's proof that the two can team up deliciously: the tuna melt. Tuna salad served on an open-faced sandwich blanketed in melted cheese is a diner staple for a reason.
E&E News
a day ago
- E&E News
Endangered marsh bird needs $433M lifeline, feds say
Saving the eastern black rail from extinction could cost an estimated $433 million and take 60 years to accomplish, according to a draft species recovery plan now being circulated by the Fish and Wildlife Service. The estimated recovery cost for the small marsh bird listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act is markedly higher than for many other ESA-listed plants and animals. It's also subject to change. 'It should be noted that some costs for recovery actions are not determinable at this time, and therefore the total cost for recovery may ultimately be higher than this estimate,' the Fish and Wildlife Service stated, adding that 'although unlikely, costs may ultimately be lower.' Advertisement The eventual recovery price tag, according to the federal agency, will depend in part on whether the eastern black rail's populations can shift inland as climate change wreaks havoc on the birds' current coastal habitat.
