West Jordan High School's eighth graduating class was honored by family members and school officials Thursday night as they collected diplomas and closed their public education careers.
The class has left an impressive mark, said Steve Woods, assistant vice principal, with students being offered more than 200 scholarships both in and out of state worth $485,750.The number of students earning high honors with cumulative grade point averages of 3.7 or above is about double the number last year, Woods said. The school also had two Sterling Scholars and five National Merit Scholarship finalists.
Jane C. Callister, Jordan Board of Education vice president; and Tom Owen, Jordan School District north area assistant superintendent, accepted the school's 475 graduates.
Student speakers at the commencement exercises in the field house were Wendy Griffin, Michelle Plouzek, Dax Kiger, MaryAnn Mabey and Christopher Davis.
In an interview before the exercises, Mabey and Davis said high school was a time of development and a time of discovering opportunities.
"At first, I asked myself, `Did I pass anything up that I could have done better?' " Mabey said. "But life provides opportunities forever."
High school is the arena where kids grow up, Davis said. "It was the chance to grow up, to be more like an adult, to act like an adult, to make adult decisions - to choose whether we want to prepare for life after high school or stay the same and not prepare ourselves at all."
Being surrounded by other students who were competitive and who did well in school inspired Mabey to do her best. "I feel like there's a lot of students that will be very successful from West Jordan," she said. "It's neat to sit in classes with them, because you learn a lot from students."
High school is more than just going to class, it's also a time to be involved. Whether it's service clubs, athletics or student government, the experiences add to the value of a student's education. "My brother's in the eighth grade. I tell him to make sure to stay involved, be a part," Davis said. "Otherwise, afterwards you wish you had."
Younger students can prepare for high school by learning good study habits and learning to respect teachers, Davis said.
If given an opportunity to add to the school's curriculum, Mabey said she would continue to develop the school's use of its computer resources. "We have the equipment, we have tons of computers. There are probably 25 computers in my computer class, and we had only six (students) enrolled."
Davis said he would like to see some courses extended so they don't end just as students are getting up to speed.