Principal Justin Kelly, overseeing his first graduation as principal, commended the students for their hard work.
“This is a great group, they really come together as a group,” Kelly said. “This was the last group we had at one middle school. So they started middle school together, and now they're leaving high school together and not split. So that's really something special.”
The school honored 65 students who finished with 4.0 grade point averages as co-valedictorians. This year’s graduating class also featured a school-record 95 students who had earned seals of biliteracy.
Morgan Nelson was one of several valedictorians who addressed the crowd. She said what she learned during high school extended beyond the classroom, especially after the loss of her mother last June.
“What I actually learned is the potential impact of small actions, especially those that expand across the whole community,” Nelson said. “Wasatch High School is a community like no other. We are a family — I've experienced this firsthand. In the absence of my mom, Wasatch stepped up. Friends, teachers, coaches, administrators, and neighbors were all here for me.”
Later in the ceremony, the school board awarded Nelson and fellow graduate Tania Padilla $5,000 scholarships in honor of perseverance in a scholarship named for 1913 graduate Cory Hanks.
Before the graduates crossed the stage, the school senior choir and chamber choir performed Z. Randall Stroope’s “Omnia Sol.”
A recording of the graduation ceremony is available for viewing at wasatchstingtv.com.
About 50 Wasatch Alternative High School graduates will receive their diplomas in a ceremony Friday.
