Graduation Home-Town Style: Class of 2021 Gets Pirate Send-Off

By NICK YAMASHITA

The Progress

The Moapa Valley High School Class of 2021 was all smiles on Wednesday, May 26, as they said their farewell to the community and their classmates and celebrated the end of their high school careers and the beginning of their new adventures as adults.

For the second year in a row, the graduation ceremonies were unable to be held on campus at the school. Though the Clark County School District did give clearance for in-person ceremonies to be held, there were still rigid health restrictions in place to hold such ceremonies.
So one again the community stepped in to plan a ceremony that could bring all of the graduates together safely.

The graduation festivities started off at 6:00 pm on Lewis Ave. near downtown Overton. More than 100 vehicles lined up in two rows along the street for a processional to honor the graduates.

With police escorts all along the way, the processional commenced north along the main street in downtown. It veered north up Cooper St. to Airport Rd.. Community members gathered along the side of the road to shout out congratulations and to celebrate each graduate as they went by.

The procession ended up passing in front of the high school. There a large number of teachers and school staff were gathered to wave at the students in their passing vehicles.

The lineup then ended at the Logandale Sports Complex just south of Heyer St. where each vehicle was directed into a parking spot.

A commencement ceremony, sponsored and planned by the Moapa Valley Community Education Advisory Board (MVCEAB) began at about 8:00 pm after everyone had arrived.
More than 300 vehicles full of family and friends were in attendance to be part of the celebration and show their support.

“This is a beautiful sight to behold,” stated MVCEAB President Wendy Mulcock as she began the program. “We are so honored to get to be part of this very important, monumental evening in the lives of the Class of 2021. We truly live in a community that, when united in a cause, can accomplish anything.”

The graduates assembled together as the MVHS Band played the theme song from Pirates of the Caribbean. They took their seats at the foot of the stage.

MVHS senior class president Emilie Lyon welcomed the attendees and the MVHS Choir performed the National Anthem. An invocation was then given by 2021 graduate Kyla Bradshaw.

Student Body President Kyra Larsen recognized the top ten academic achievers in the class which included Anson Call, Garrett Clove, Ashley James, Gabriel Leavitt, Micaela Leavitt, An nabel Lounsbury, Emilie Lyon, Hannah Mayo, Trevor Nelson and Aspen Osmond.

Class Salutatorian Angela Ruth Werner then gave a speech.
“This will be a year for the history books,” Werner said. “We will be remembered as the senior class that endured COVID-19. We have learned to be adaptable, flexible, resilient, and we know how to get anything done, even against all odds. We are the next generation and we are ready for whatever this world will throw at us.”

Valedictorian Kayli Thompson was next to give her address.
“Success has always been measured by the correlation between what someone is doing and what they want to become,” Thompson said.

Thompson acknowledged that there was a lot of room for fear in the current world and its events.
“It is okay to be scared,” she said. It is natural to feel apprehension about change because as humans we are wired to resists change. When you let that fear get in the way of you chasing your dreams, therein lies the problem. Instead, focus on your goals and your dreams. Figure out what moves you, what drives you, what fascinates you more than anything else in the world. Then you are halfway there.”

The keynote speaker for the evening was Biar Atem of Las Vegas. Atem is one of the original 30,000 “Lost Boys of Sudan” during the 1990s. As a 7-year-old boy, he endured horrific ordeals, leaving his home and country to avoid forced conscription into the military in a brutal civil war.
“I fled from my home with nothing but the clothes on my back,” Atem said.

Atem was one of thousands of young children who travelled barefoot more than 1,000 miles across Sudan into Ethiopia to enter a refugee camp there. Later, he was forced to leave that camp and walk to another camp in Kenya.

Atem eventually received sanctuary in the United States and was brought to Las Vegas. Since then he has put himself through college and become a successful businessman.

Atem told the graduates to be grateful for their blessings and their opportunities.
“There are so many opportunities here for you,” he said. “If you don’t succeed in America, you’re not going to make it elsewhere. There is not another country that can give you so many opportunities. That is something that we take for granted here. So before you complain about not getting the newest cell phone or the newest computer, you have got to count your blessings.”

MVHS principal Hal Mortensen gave some remarks as he presented the graduating class of 2021.
“If you can just take one work with you tonight, I hope it would be Perseverance,” said Mortensen. Persevere means that you are going to do whatever you have to do in spite of all the challenges, in spite of all the obstacles that may come in your way.”

“You guys have persevered,” Mortensen added. “You have made it through tough challenges and you made the best of them.”

In attendance to accept the graduating class of 2021 was CCSD Trustee Katie Williams. Williams also congratulated the class for persevering through the unexpected challenges of the pandemic.

“I just want to say that life is hard and it is very uncomfortable in a lot of ways,” Williams said. “But when you feel uncomfortable, there is probably growth and change coming. So just keep walkikng forward.”

Each graduate’s name was called and each, in turn, crossed the stage and accepted their diplomas.

Senior student council officers then led the class in the ceremonial turning of the tassles. Then the MVHS Band played the school fight song. At the end of the song, the graduates tossed their caps in the air in celebration as a fireworks display concluded the program.

Graduates and families lingered on the lit baseball fields afterward socializing and taking photos with friends and family.

Members of the graduating class expressed excitement and appreciation for the days activities.

“I am just glad to be graduating,” said graduate Kody Burris.

“It has been one of the best days.” said graduate Cameron Reese.

Many of the graduates then adjourned to a home in Logandale where community members had planned an all-night senior party. The party went on until 4 am giving the kids one last time to celebrate together as a class.

Mulcock expressed appreciation for the community effort that made the day’s festivities special for the kids.

“Parents, community, and even students – they all really came out and worked together to show each other love and to really make it the graduates’ day,” said Mulcock. “It truly was all about them.”