Seniors say goodbye

MEDORA - It was a collective "yes" from Taylor Wagner, Alayna Cowles and Brittney Smith when they were asked if they had looked forward to graduation all year.

These three and 11 other seniors turned their tassels and received their diplomas Friday night at Medora High School. It was the 108th graduating class from MHS.

"Everybody this year has been ready for it to be over," said Cowles, class president and salutatorian. But, she added, "we've been closer than ever this year."

Smith said that's because it's "our last year and everyone realizes it."

Graduating with such a small class, Cowles said, "Everybody's like family," and Smith said, "By the time you get done, everyone is."

Before the ceremony, some of the seniors shared moments from the past, while also thinking about the future.

Wagner, Cowles and Smith all spent their 13 years of school at Medora, and they all played volleyball and basketball and were on the cheerleading squad.
Looking forward, Cowles will begin nursing school at Ivy Tech Community College in January. Smith is heading to Indiana State University to study pre-veterinary. Wagner, who graduated mid-term in December, has been going to cosmetology school in Bedford. She will finish that in August.

Ethan Sullivan made a big transition a year and a half ago, transferring from Bedford North Lawrence High School to MHS. At BNL, Sullivan said, class size could range from 300 to 400 students. At MHS, he had just 13 classmates.

"I like it a lot better with the smaller classes and smaller school atmosphere," Sullivan said.

At Medora, Sullivan played basketball and was a role model in the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, where he talked to elementary students at Medora, Crothersville and Brownstown.

"It was nice to talk to all the younger kids," he said.

Sullivan is now ready to begin college in the fall at Lincoln Tech to study diesel.

Later that night in her salutatorian address, Cowles said, "This class, we've had our battles, but we always managed to work the problems out and remain friends."

Fighting back tears at that point, Cowles continued, "We will go our separate ways and start our lives on our own. In a way, it hurts to see it end because you've been surrounded by the same group of people for so long, and it feels like you're saying goodbye to your friends but you're saying goodbye to your family."

Valedictorian Stephanie Cornett expressed how proud she was of her classmates in her address.

"Our time here has given us the strength and knowledge so we can go on and do what we want in life," she said.

Other speakers at the graduation were Principal Brad McCammon and Interim Superintendent Dr. Robert Mahan.

"This class may be small in number, but they have a strong will," McCammon said. "They are entering a world that presents great challenges. However, I have no doubt they are up to the task. I wish them well, and I am confident, with the help of their loved ones, they will be a success in any endeavor they pursue."

Before Mahan addressed the graduates, he recognized the school board of trustees, parents, grandparents, teachers, staff and past graduates of MHS, who have all had a part in the success of the Class of 2008.

Some of those families, such as senior Tanya Brewer's family, shared a story about their graduate.

"She kept her grades up and had an A-B average all through since kindergarten," her father, Jeff Brewer, said.

Brewer's stepmother, Laura Brewer, said MHS has been good for Tanya.

"There's not as much competition, and it's more relaxed," Laura said. "There's not as many social stresses as you would have in a bigger school."

Tanya is a Core 40 graduate and she was a class officer.

"She's very motivated and she sets high goals for herself and she meets them," Tanya's mother, Melissa Murphy, said.

That's something for Tanya's sister, Desiree Murphy, to look up to.

"I'm proud of her and she's a role model to me because she keeps me wanting to go to school," said Desiree, a member of the MHS Class of 2011. "I want to be like her. She's done well for herself."

Tanya's grandmother, Virginia Brewer of Crothersville, said Tanya will start in the nursing program at Indiana University Southeast in the fall. Tanya's other grandmother, Frances Jaynes of Clearspring, also attended graduation. Virginia admires Tanya for holding two jobs throughout high school.

"I love her to death," Virginia said of Tanya. "She loves this school. It's just where she started and she didn't want to change. She's got lots of good friends and that makes a difference, too."

It was an emotional night for Lindsey Ball. Her boyfriend, senior graduate Craig Bell, has battled cancer at a young age.

The challenge for Bell, Ball said, is him "having to deal with it" and for her, "knowing that he's got it and knowing that it could come back at any time."

But in some way, Ball said, Bell has remained strong. She said Bell plans on getting a job and going to college to get his commercial driver's license to drive a truck.

"I think the reason why he's wanted to come through it is because of his family and his friends," she said. "I'm just glad that he's just got through it, and everybody's really proud of him. I just want him to know that everybody loves him."