Sunday, May 15, 2016

Jacob Auten, Kenna LaFollette Receive Worth County Graduation Honors

25 students graduated from Worth County Sunday; Jacob Auten was named valedictorian and Kenna LaFollette Salutatorian. Graduating were Dylanie Abplanalp, Chris Alarcon, Chris Allen, Tess Andrews, Jacob Auten, Lydia Babb, Ben Badell, Zach Beier, Shadow Briner, Adrian Fletchall, Jacob Hardy, Rikky Hunt, Dylan Huntsman, Kenna LaFollette, Montana Lykins, Tristan Miller, Truman Moore, Nate Pointer, Taylor Raymond, Brevyn Ross, Will Runde, Jackson Rush, Ryan Smyser, Willie Wilson, and Rune Zinn-Scheiffele.

Graduating with honors were Dylanie Abplanalp, Chris Allen, Tess Andrews, Jacob Hardy, Rikky Hunt, Kenna LaFollette, Montana Lykins, Truman Moore, Taylor Raymond, and Ryan Smyser. Graduating with highest honors was Jacob Auten.

Kenna LaFollette was President. Other officers were Jacob Hardy (Vice-President), Rikky Hunt (Secretary and Student Council Representative), and Tess Andrews (Treasurer and Student Council Representative). Sponsors were Bryce Schafer and Sean Thurm. The class motto was, “Don’t wait for the perfect moment, take the moment and make it perfect.” Class colors were chrome and teal. The class flower was a teal carnation with chrome ribbon. Class song was, “Here I Go Again.”

Dylanie Abplanalp plans to take summer classes at MCCKC Longview. Chris Alarcon plans to attend Peru State. Chris Allen plans to join the US Army and become an Apache helicopter mechanic. Tess Andrews plans to take online classes through Ashworth College and pursue a degree in Psychiatric Studies. Jacob Auten plans to attend Northwest Missouri State. Lydia Babb plans to attend Northwest Technical School and take classes in culinary arts. Ben Badell plans to attend Northwest Technical School and work for Mike’s Garage in Allendale. Zach Beier plans to attend Southwest Iowa Community College.

Adrian Fletchall plans to take online classes through the Art Institute of Pittsburg and move to Branson. Jacob Hardy plans to attend Northwest Technical School and work in a shop. Rikky Hunt plans to attend Missouri Western. Dylan Huntsman plans to enter the workforce. Kenna LaFollette plans to attend LSU to become a lawyer. Montana Lykins plans to attend Northwest Technical School for Auto Body Repair. Tristan Miller and Truman Moore plan to attend Northwest Technical School. Nate Pointer plans to join the US Army. Taylor Raymond plans to attend Truman State and double major in Psychology/Anthropology to become a substance abuse counselor.

Brevyn Ross and Will Runde plan to attend Northwest Technical School. Jackson Rush plans to attend Northwest Technical School for Welding and Automotive Technician. Ryan Smyser plans to attend Fort Scott (KS) to major in Farm and Ranch Management. Willie Wilson plans to attend Northwest Technical School to become an Auto Technician. Rune Zinn-Scheiffele plans to go to SCC and ASU for Aeronautical Engineering.

Teacher Julia (Moore) Wideman addressed the graduates and told them that they could achieve anything through self-discipline. She encouraged the kids to go to someone successful and ask them hard questions like one student in juvenile detention did when she was teaching at the facility. She said that discipline was for their own good, like the time that some girls were putting lipstick on the bathroom walls and Jeannie Fletcher, the custodian, had to take each class to the bathroom and show them how hard it was for her to clean the bathrooms every day.

She said that no matter what their circumstances were, they were in charge of themselves and the consequences from self-discipline were amazing. “If you don’t discipline yourself, others will discipline you or life will,” she said. “You’re going to look 15-20 years down the road and wonder how you got there.”

One time, Mrs. Wideman recounted that one of her children when through a phase where they kept getting in trouble. His excuse – “’Steve’ told me I could do whatever I want.” Steve was a character on a TV show whom the kids were obviously very familiar with. “There are a whole new set of rules and expectations for you,” said Mrs. Wideman. “Choose, but choose wisely.”

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