The number of alumni from Greene County high schools grew by 100 this month, with 11 students graduating from Paton-Churdan High School and 89 students graduating from Greene County High School.
Paton-Churdan held its commencement Saturday, May 20. Autumn Gannon was salutatorian and Chase Juergensen was valedictorian. Juergensen had also been honored earlier at the Governor’s Scholar reception in Des Moines.
Commencement for Greene County seniors was Sunday, May 28. Senior class president Kenna Marquardt noted that the most important thing she learned during her senior year is “how great it feels to tell someone how much they mean to you.”
Guest speaker was Greene County magistrate David Morain, a Jefferson-Scranton 1999 graduate. He reminded graduates that high school is not the best four years of a person’s life – “It gets so much better.” He said that adulthood is amazingly complicated, and “It’s not cool to not understand something. Keep learning.”
Co-valedictorians were Emily Heupel, John Mobley IV, and Hannah Stein. Salutatorian was Hannah Promes.
Graduates Natasha Groves and Rocky Ford have enlisted in the United States Air Force. Both received applause at the ceremony.
