Graduation for the 80+ seniors was last Sunday in the LHS Auditorium.
Speakers were Kiley Findley, Class President, Seth Huffhines, Class Valedictorian, and Jill Kujawa, Class Salutatorian.
Kiley Findley
"Thanks for being here today. I'm sure there are plenty of other places that you could be right now, somewhere where you can wear comfortable clothes and no one around you is crying. It's an important event in our lives that marks 13 years of not killing each other. Lawson is a great school. Though we may not be the smartest, and we may not be the most athletic, we're better than Lathrop which is all that really matters. Here at Lawson, I've learned a lot. Some of it I'll remember forever and the rest of it I'll forget as soon as I leave the gym. Some of the more irrelevant of those things are as follows:
1. A Chiasmus is a reversal in the order of words in two otherwise parallel phrases, such as "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." Sentences like this are useless in everyday speech. No one would ever say, "I ask not what I can do to get a better grade in your class but how your class can help me to get a better grade."
2. Sodium of Na is the lightest element with an atomic symbol that doesn't reflect its name. This is one statistic you will never need to know. Ever. Not even if you're a scientist. It's the definition of pointless.
3. Former President George H. Bush hates broccoli. You're welcome for enlightening you with that piece of information. I'm sure you all know your favorite president's favorite vegetable.
4. The distance formula or: D= the square root of the quantity (x2-x1) + (y2-y1). I have a news flash for you mathematicians out there. There's this awesome new invention called google maps. You can enter two points and it tells you the distance without you having to do any work.
There are many other things I've learned here that have helped. Most never came from a text book, or a lesson plan. Things like: bribery works with almost any teacher. You should always wear sunscreen. Changing your underwear daily is a necessity. And you should choose friends that make you happy and know the difference between jokingly ticked off and I'm-about-to-punch-something-and-it-might-be-you.
Thanks for your time. Be grateful that this is the last time you have to listen to me speak in public. Congratulations class of 2011. We didn't kill each other.
Jill Kujawa
First of all, I'd like to thank all of the teachers for putting up with us these past four years and for parents for putting up with us the past 18 years. I'm sure it hasn't been easy.
Looking back on my time at Lawson High School, I realized that we've learned a lot of things, but the most important thing we learned is the true identify of ourselves. Our character and integrity says more about us than anything else we will do in life.
From Southwest Elementary to high school, we were constantly reminded of the importance of character - the trading card program, Cardinals building character - there's many examples of this. As long as we did our best, with honor and integrity, everything will be fine. In the classroom, sports, arts, and numerous other activities, we were told that as long as we gave it our best effort, followed the rules of fair play and conducted ourselves with integrity, we should be proud of ourselves - and that still stands true for life after high school.
Lawson is well known for its student character. Several times we have been complimented by sports referees, officials from academic competitions, and teachers from other schools for how we conduct ourselves at school events.
Sorry teachers, but specifics may be forgotten.Does anyone really remember much about world history? About the periodic table? About meter in poems?
What we will remember is this: that if we have an honest effort, act with integrity and continue our high moral character, we can achieve anything we want in life.
While today is a day to celebrate, don't make this be your greatest accomplishment in life. There are other things out there waiting for us. Thank you.
Seth Huffhines
Howdy graduates! It's a great honor and a privilege that I've been given the opportunity to address you today. I would like to thank the parents, friends, teachers, administrators and other members of the community that have taken time out of their weekend to attend today's graduation ceremony. I especially want to thank my family traveling up from Texas and California to celebrate this special occasion with me. Don't worry folks, I asked them to check their guns at the door.
We are so blessed to live in this small town community of Lawson. There are three things that I have learned about living and going to school in a small town - a genuine care for others, pride for community, and a passion for learning. The community CARES. When I think about Lawson, the first thing that comes to my mind is how we reached out to help families in need . . . we care. I never will forget how we came together to raise money and encourage the families of Mr. Pat Penning, Kenna Bradley, and Kris Snoble. That's what Lawson is all about.
When I think about small community pride, I'm reminded of Friday night football, jammed packed crowds, BBQ smoke crawling over the field, Mr. Morrow's resounding, "Everybody up for the kickoff" and Pennsylvania Street overflowing with parents and grandparents waiting to see their kids come down the street on their homecoming floats. We were proud of our Lady Cardinal basketball team this year when we invaded Excelsior Springs' gymnasium in warrior face paint, crazy hats and Lee Cureton, you looked sporty in those Lady Bird shorts.
When I think about our schools, I think about teachers who care and put pride in the job they do. I'm proud of our school district and the value that this community places on student achievement. We have been blessed with a quality education that has prepared us to excel in life and contribute to something bigger than ourselves. I want to thank our hard working teachers who sacrifice to make us better people. Teachers like Ms. Rhodes who made English fun and had a genuine care for her students, Mrs. Phillips who teaches an exceptional curriculum and encourages students to learn outside the box, and Coach Dial who goes beyond the classroom to mentor and develop strong relationships with students.
The three traits of Care, Pride and Compassion for one another are all traits of a great small town. They are also traits of this great country. We are so fortunate to live in a free country in which we are given the opportunity to pursue our own interests and not someone else's. Some of us may choose to attend college for the next two to four years. Some may go the route of attending a technical school and learn a trade and some may even enter the work force. We have the freedom to do whatever it is we want. We can buy whatever car we want. We can worship whenever and wherever we want, and we can pursue whatever business we want to pursue. This freedom has come at a cost that is still being paid today, by those selfless heroes that have laid down their lives in harms' way to defend our way of life.
There are those in this senior class who will soon be entering the military because they choose, voluntarily, to sacrifice in order to preserve the freedoms that we appreciate in America. Next year I'll be going to college and attending the Texas Aggie versus Mizzou ballgame. While I'm enjoying the college experience I can't help but think about my fellow Cardinal alumni who will be standing watch over freedom's gates. At this time, I'd like to recognize Jacob Kessler and Dakota Newsome, who this summer will be reporting for duty in the United States Marine Corp. They will be among the young men and women that are the gatekeepers of freedom; the ones guarding the fence and defending this great nation.
Amelia Earhart stated that, "Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace." I want to thank those students for their dedication and service they will execute in the coming years to protect the freedoms that we love and enjoy in the United States. Gentlemen, thank you for your courage.
I would like to honor my fellow classmates and close with an excerpt from the West Point Cadet Prayer: "Strengthen and increase our admiration for honest dealing and clean thinking, and suffer not our hatred of hypocrisy and pretense ever to diminish. Encourage us in our endeavor to live above the common level of life. Make us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never to be content with a half-truth when the whole truth can be worn. Endow us with courage that is born of loyalty to all that is noble and worthy, that scorns to compromise with vice and injustice and knows no fear when truth and right are in jeopardy. Guard us against flippancy and irreverence in the sacred things of life. Grant us new ties of friendship and new opportunities of service."
