A sea of flying hats amongst a spattering of bouncing beach balls was the scene at the Port of the Pirates on Friday, May 20 as the graduation ceremony took place for the Grants High School Class of 2022.
Grants High School Principal Lane Widner led the ceremony with his staff in a packed gymnasium as friends and family looked on. The Class of 2022 graduated a total of 172 seniors and college scholarship’s combined for a total of $5.8 million, including $85,000 of local community scholarships.
The valedictorian for the Class of 2022 is Kolton Bratzel who graduated with a GPA of 4.198. The salutatorian was Elena Perez, graduated with a 4.191 GPA. They both addressed the Class of 2022 with speeches that emphasized giving thanks to those who helped them on their journey. They also reminisced about fond memories and stated positive future goals for themselves and their classmates.
Rounding out the rest of the Top Ten were Francine Dantes, Tyler Everhart, Gwyneth King, Joshua Canaba, Oliyah Murray, Tearza Valencia, Andy Lu and Elias Miranda. Class President Tyler Everhart led the tassel ceremony with salutatorian Elena Perez. The night ended with many of the speakers echoing the iconic phrase, “Once a Pirate; Always a Pirate.”
“It was fun – the memories will live forever,” said senior Francine Dantes of the graduation ceremony.
Twenty-nine students received New Mexico State University-Grants President’s and Lottery scholarships totaling $38,236.00, each for a grand total of $1,108,844. Tearza Valencia received transfer, lottery and Conroy Honors scholarships totaling $58,916.00 to New Mexico State University main campus.
Twenty-two students received a total of $498,776 in varying scholarship amounts to the University of New Mexico. Four students received at total of $178.00 in scholarships to Arizona State University.
There was one FORD Sponsorship scholarship for $38,000 which went to Rober Damron. Seven students will be joining the military, receiving $556,000 each for a total of $3,892,000 through the Montgomery GI Bill.
Senior Athletes of the Year for the Class of 2022 were Tyler Everhart and Aubrey Trujillo.
The class color was red and the class flower was a red rose and white lily. The class song was the classic “Good Riddance,” by Green Day. The senior class motto was, “Behind you, all your memories. Before you, all your dreams. Around you, all who love you. Within you, all you need.” Lilli Vaihere