Thurston High School

By RYLEIGH NORGROVE Ryleigh@Chronicle1909.com

On a drizzly Saturday a ernoon, the urston High School Colts donned red and black “epic umbrellas” to fend o the rain. No ma er the weather, students were all smiles as the graduates took the stage.

Drew Benne is one of urston’s valedictorians, to her, the whole ceremony felt “bi ersweet.” “When I think of urston High, I think about iendship. I would go to the football games or spend me with my iends here. It’s a lot of really good memories here,” Benne said.

e ceremony took place at the new urston Athle cs Stadium, with family members and iends lling the stands. And unlike the last two years of zoom school, “real pants were involved.” e pair likened the urston High Class of ’22 to Odysseus on his grand adventure across the Aegean Sea. ey were admi edly surprised they were chosen to speak at commencement, they said. “ e uth of the ma er is that we were tough on you. But so is high school. In plain fact, as we heard om your ASB and class presidents and vice presidents today, the last four years have been an odyssey for you, and your last normal year was with us,” Peirson said.

“Now be honest, raise your hand if you ever turned your camera on!” eshman English teachers Robin Erickson and Erica Peirson said, while giving the keynote address – only a few hands went up.

Like Odysseus, the urston High School seniors underwent “lotus moments” while resis ng the urge to binge-watch Ne lix during class, fought o “the one-eyed cyclops” zoom camera and eventually, “sailed home” to campus for senior year.

“You've endured a long and arduous journey to get to this moment,” said Erickson. “When we studied the Odyssey together, we worked to answer the ques on of whether the champion is a heroic person or not? In the end you are each the hero of your own story. ere will never be another class like you. You are resilient, courageous, resourceful, smart. And although it took Odysseus 10 years to get back home a er his journey. You need to know that this house is your house. We are so honored to call you our heroes.”

Valedictorians

Madison Balcom

Drew Bennett

Auron Cramer

Rylee Custer

Kathrin Dorman

Kobe Edwards

Chaya Highfill

Kellen Humphries

James Lovdokken

Allison Westover

Liam Woodward

Salutatorian

Luke Foshay

Micah McGillivray

Kaitlyn Moorhead