BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Monitor Editor
KEYSTONE HEIGHTS— Gratitude turned out to be the theme of the 2022 commencement exercises at Keystone Heights High School, with student after student expressing thanks to parents and teachers during the Friday, May 20 ceremony.
Several graduates singled out class sponsor Sally Jackson for gratitude, saying the school’s Teacher of the Year was a constant presence at class events.
“You could find her at almost every school event, and she always had a smile on her face,” said Class President Della Boyette. “Thank you for everything you have done to make our senior year unforgettable. We love you, Miss Jackson.”
Boyette added that many of her classmates have known each other since kindergarten.
“We have grown up with the same people in the same town which we hold close to our hearts,” she said. “Throughout these last six years at Keystone Heights Junior-Senior High School, we have made friends joined clubs been quarantined a time or two.”
Everyday sacrifices
Valedictorian Caleb Moncrief devoted most of his speech to thanking teachers and parents for the everyday sacrifices that enabled his classmates and himself to achieve one of life’s significant milestones.
“In the mornings they made sure that we were up for school and at night they tried to help us, with whatever homework they could understand,” Moncrief said of parents and guardians. “They took us to early practices and took us home from late night games and events. They gave us their space in our houses so that we could have a place to hang out even if it was just to sit on our phones. They gave all that they could do so that we would have the opportunity to walk across the stage tonight.”
Friendly and welcoming spirit
Salutatorian Bryce Couey urged his classmates to keep learning and developing, even as they look back on the achievement of overcoming the difficulties of virtual learning, social distancing and masks to make it to graduation.
“This ceremony is both a celebration of what we have all accomplished and a challenge for us to strive for even greater heights, Couey said. “In the words of Benjamin Franklin: ‘Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement and success have no meaning.”
Couey recalled that he transferred to Keystone halfway through his eighth-grade year from a small, private school and was terrified.
“It’s the classic tale of a fresh-faced, introverted boy entering a big new environment where he could easily become overwhelmed,” Couey recalled. “And I was at first: navigating hallways full of people, collaborating with other students, giving presentations in front of an entire classroom. I thought it would break me.”
The salutatorian said that a female classmate named Brooke introduced herself to him during his first day at Keystone. He added that Brooke personified the friendly and welcoming spirit on the Orchid Avenue campus.
“She walked up to me in third period on my first day of school and wouldn’t allow me to be shy,” Couey recalled. “She herself introduced me to the whole class and even made her friends move seats so that I had somewhere to sit. Brooke embodied what it meant to be a student here at Keystone Heights High School.”
Principal turns the tables
Vice Principal Barry underwood told the crowd that Principal Laurie Burke was attending her own son’s graduation at Clay High School in Green Cove Springs.
Underwood then introduced an audio recording Burke made to say goodbye to the Class of 2022.
“Although I am not here, I did not want to miss this opportunity to tell these fine young men and women how much I love this group,” Burke said. “You all are amazing. I am proud to be your principal.
Burke said parents and guardians played outsized roles in their children’s education that went far beyond the Three Rs.
“All of your hard work of teaching them right from wrong, how to work through struggles, how to take care of themselves, holding them accountable and so much more because you love them has made a difference and where they go from here,” Burke said.
The principal told the departing graduates that the world is rapidly changing and that they should expect obstacles and difficulties beyond the campus in southwest Keystone Heights.
“When the world tells you to quit because it’s too hard, don’t listen,” she said. “When the world knocks you down with a roadblock in your path, get up and go around it. When the world gives you a chance to do
something nice for someone, do it.”
Burke challenged the graduates to follow other Keystone Heights alumni who have risen to become leaders in their communities.
“There are many great leaders out there that grew up right here in Keystone Heights,” she said, “and it has come time for each one of you to find your opportunity and be the positive hard-working leaders of our future.”
And while the graduates devoted much of the commencement ceremony to thanking the parents and teachers who supported them, Burke turned the tables, thanking the departing seniors for enriching the lives of the adults at their homes and school.
“I want to thank this group of seniors for the fun you’ve given us,
the love and the respect you have always shown us and the hard work you have put in and the special bond we have created together,” Burke said. “This truly is a special group and thank you for what you have taught us.”
