“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind” is a popular quote from Dr. Seuss often used at commencement ceremonies. This year, the sixth graduating class from Big Picture High School will use the quote as students receive their diplomas.
According to the Colorado Department of Education, the four-year high school graduation rate for the class of 2016 was 78.9 percent, a 1.6 percentage point jump from the previous year. Graduation statistics for current seniors are not available.
Over the next three weeks, several hundred students and their families will celebrate a slew of graduations in La Plata County.
Next up after Fort Lewis College, whose students graduated April 29, Southwest Colorado Community College will celebrate its 105 graduates at 10 a.m. Sunday at the Community Concert Hall at FLC.
The keynote speaker will be Dr. Tony Zeiss, former president of Pueblo Community College and executive director of the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. A nurse pinning ceremony will follow at 1 p.m. to laud SWCCC’s 26 nursing students.
Bayfield High School will graduate 82 students at 2 p.m. May 21 at their high school. Class sponsor and math department chairman Jeff Misener will speak.
The Durango Adult Education Center will graduate about 22 students at 6 p.m. May 25 at the Durango Public Library. Travis Johansen, distribution manager for the Herald and Durango Adult Education Center graduate will speak.
“We always try and get a GED graduate as the speaker,” High School Equivalency Program Manager Stephanie Moran said. “They go on to do great things.”
Durango High School and Animas High School share a May 26 commencement date. Sixty-five AHS students will graduate at 4 p.m. at the Community Concert Hall at FLC. Their speakers will be Lori Fisher, a humanities teacher, and Kyle Edmondson, a math teacher.
DHS will celebrate 265 graduates on its football field at 7 p.m. Former FLC men’s basketball coach Bob Hofman will be the keynote speaker.
Ignacio High School will graduate 48 students at 10 a.m. May 27 at the high school football field. The keynote speaker will be Jordan Larsen, a math teacher at IHS and head coach for the Bobcat wrestling team.
Big Picture High School students are the last to graduate, with a ceremony at 5:30 p.m. June 1. About 20 students are expected to accept their diplomas at Rotary Park. Hallie Whitney, a teacher on special assignment, will speak at the ceremony.
mrupani@durangoherald.com
