Written by
Beth Farrah, SMT Writer
Essex, Missouri – The Richland Rebels celebrated the end of the 2012-2013 school year on Friday, May 18th. The school day ended with an early release, sending the students home at noon. It was a busy day for all students and faculty members, but it was especially busy for the high school seniors and the kindergartners, who were both preparing for graduation.
Both graduations took place in the gymnasium, but the kindergartners were the first to start their first graduation program after many successful practices earlier on Thursday and Friday. The program began at 6pm and there was a great turnout for the soon-to-be first graders. All of the kindergartners had a great first year of school and are excited to continue their elementary education at Richland with their new teachers in the fall.
While the kindergartners were celebrated the end to their first year of school, the seniors were graduating the end to their last year of high school. The senior graduation took place two hours later, at 8pm on the stage in the gymnasium, where senior classmate, Jesse Barnes, welcomed all of the visitors and began the ceremony. Mr. Nathan Rice from the Harvest Assembly Church of God in Essex, began the invocation and welcomed the salutatorian and valedictorian, Jessica Shidler and Kelly Motta.
During the presentation of scholarships, Richland’s counselor, Mrs. Michelle Chism, had quite a long list to give to the graduates. The students worked very hard and competed for multiple scholarships. A majority of the senior class is planning on going to college or pursuing a secondary education after high school.
Superintendent, Mr. Frank Killian, and high school and junior high principal, Mrs. Cindy Rhodes, were honored to present the class with their diplomas. Mr. Loyd Odum, President of the Richland R-1 Board of Education also congratulated the class and helped confer their diplomas. The junior class escorts included Tyler Maddox and Kayla Uhles, who were both chosen by the seniors to help guide them onto the stage and represent the upcoming class.
Tears began to pour during the special recognition, where the seniors passed out flowers to their family members, friends, and other important members that helped them get to this point in their life. The recognition was followed by the senior slideshow titled “Thirteen Years of Memories”, which many of the twelfth grade classmates worked very hard on most of the year to gather enough baby pictures, group pictures, and songs to create a timeline of their lives and all of the fun they had growing up year after year together.
When it came to the time to throw up their caps, the class song, “We All Roll Along” by The Maine played through the speakers. The class of 2013 was a joy to have at Richland and they were always a spirited and lively bunch, but even more than that, they were great role models for the underclassmen and always took great pride in helping others.
Their class motto was a quote from Mac Miller, “People change and things go wrong, but just remember life goes on”. Their class flower was the daisy and their class colors were lime green and turquoise. The seniors had a long and busy year with the help of their three class sponsors, Mrs. Lisa Taylor, Mrs. Samantha Jones, and Mr. Matt Cline.
The class had multiple successful years at Richland High School and ended with a successful graduation. The students will go on to do many great things and will continue to learn, grow, and thrive wherever they choose to go for the next chapter of their life.
Congratulations, Class of 2013!
