Montrose - Daily Press

John Deneen

Daily Press Intern

MONTROSE — Faces both on the stage and in the audience beamed with pride and joy as 42 spring 2007 graduates of Vista Charter High School walked across the stage and received their diplomas Thursday evening at the Montrose Pavilion.

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The 46-person graduating class is the largest Vista has had in its two decades serving the Montrose community. Four graduates were unable to attend.

The graduates have put forth “a tremendous effort because oftentimes there are things on their plate other than going to school, and they come anyway. We have students that work 40-hour weeks and attend school at night on top of their work,” said Vista administrator Coni Wilson.

During the ceremony, Montrose County School District Re-1J Assistant Superintendent Gordon Gibson delivered the keynote speech, emphasizing the importance of “we,” in community, over “me,” in the individual.

“You have crossed all your t’s, and you’ve dotted all your i’s; you are receiving your diploma. That’s the individual effort that you have done, and you should be proud of that,” Gibson said. “But remember it was the we out there, the family and friends, the we, the faculty, and the we, the collective group of classmates that really brought you here to this place in time.”

Vista board members Dan Chinn and Gale Rust presented three President’s Academic Achievement Awards to outstanding graduates in the ceremony. Emily Schroedel received the Academic Award, Raquel Simons got the Progress Award, and Vinny Huff was given the Triumph Award.

Huff recalls the obstacles he faced in “gang life, dealing with drugs, and problems with family. I started going to Vista about a year ago and started getting back on track.”

The highlight of Vista was “the education and the teachers and the caring that they have,” Huff said. “It was great; it was really fast paced. It was very individualized. The teachers were there, but you mostly just did it on your own and that’s what counts.”

As each graduate’s name was called and they walked across the stage to receive their diploma, their future plans were read to the audience. The graduates have a very wide array of plans, from entering the work force to enlisting in the military to attending college, even dedicating themselves fulltime to mothering a child.

The most common plans were to attend Mesa State College, Western State College, the Delta Montrose Vocational Technical School, or Intellitec College in Grand Junction. The most common career paths were nursing and business.

Throughout his speech, Gibson continually brought up the graduates’ potential to go wherever they want in life, and concluded with a quote from Dr. Seuss.

“You have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes, you can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own and you know what you know. You are the person who decides where to go,” he said.

Contact John Deneen via e-mail at johnd@montrosepress.com

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