Paul Albani-Burgio
palbaniburgio@coloradocommunitymedia.com
On Wednesday night, Green Mountain High School’s class of 2020 arrived at Jeffco Stadium nearly four years after they started their high school careers to see a rainbow visible to the east of the stadium. It was a fitting way to start an event that had recently come to seem as elusive as a pot of gold.
“We all knew that our year would be special, monumental at the least,” co-valedictorian Allison Lawrence said in an address to her class. “Although we underestimated the extent of how that would be.”
But the recent challenges that have defined the last few months have ultimately shaped the class for the better, Cece Carpenter told the class. Carpenter, who was in her first year coordinating security at the school, was chosen by the students to be the ceremony’s faculty speaker.
“This will be something you can be proud of and use as another added piece to your foundation,” she said.
The second valedictorian, Kasey Klocek, said that missing out on “so many lasts at Green Mountain” made her aware of how precious every moment is. She challenged her classmates to embrace the unpredictability and not let the opportunities contained in those moments to pass them by.
“The last months of school were boring and flavorless,” Klocek said. “Do not let your lives be the same.”
If the ceremony was any indication, many of Green Mountain’s newest graduates will have no problem during just that. Before the presentation of the diplomas, Principal Colleen Owens led the students in a final “Ram Jam,” a green mountain tradition in which school comes together to dance. Many of the students did so enthusiastically.
But while the students finally got to parktake in a final Ram Jam and the long-awaited turning of their tassles, there is still one tradition that will have to wait.
“Principal Owens normally hugs each one of you as you come across the stage, which is something that is unique, and I know that is going to be hard for you tonight,” Jeffco School Board President Susan Harmon said. “So I want to encourage you to come back [to visit] because I know she will be ready for her hugs.”
