By Beacon Staff
Burlington High School salutatorian Hannah Hentzel did not sugarcoat how rough the past year has been.
But she did not hold back on how tough her classmates are, either.
"We have learned we can get through anything,” she said during her portion of the BHS commencement speech.
The graduating seniors received their diplomas Saturday night (June 5) at Bracewell Stadium in Burlington. They wore yellow ribbons on their purple robes to honor a classmate who did not make it to graduation — Bennett Kirk, who took his own life two weeks ago.
“Bennett was such a great friend and will forever be missed,” said graduating senior Tommy Weir.
Despite the emotional wounds, the seniors were all smiles Saturday, some tossing their graduation caps into the air as the ceremony concluded.
Trinity Cheely’s smile was full of relief.
“I turned in my last credit June 1. I barely made it, but I did,” she said.
Cheely has attended BHS entirely online after suffering excessive bullying in junior high and understands the struggle Kirk must have gone through. She has a semi-colon tattooed between her thumb and forefinger. It represents mental health struggles and the importance of suicide prevention.
“It’s sad. I’ve had those thoughts a lot,” she said.
Cheely was able to work a job while earning her diploma, but not all her classmates were able to graduate on time. She is grateful there are credit recovery courses over the summer. This year’s graduating class was just under 200.
“Usually, it’s bigger, but with the pandemic, a lot of people didn’t make it,” she said. "They (the school district) is pretty good at working with you."
Graduate Caden Lee is looking forward to taking a year off before heading down to Alabama, where he plans on entering trade school to become an electrician.
“It’s a little crazy. I’m seeing the class of '21’s faces for like the last time ever. We’re all going to go our separate ways,” he said.
Valedictorian Subrahmanyam Mullangi remembered happier times during his part of the commencement speech, such as when plastic frogs were unleashed on the Industrial Arts classrooms. He also paid tribute to some of the less-publicized accomplishments of his classmates.
“The volleyball team won the southeast conference this year. CTE (Career and Technical Education) swept at the SCC Southeast Iowa Skills Throwdown and at the Iowa State TSA (Technology Student Association) competition,” he said. “Even in the toughest of times, Burlington Grayhounds prove to be resilient and responsive, regularly achieving in the face of adversity.”