With more than 600 students, the Class of 2026 constituted one of Wasatch High School’s largest classes ever since 1912, likely for the last time, with class sizes set to shrink when the new Deer Creek High School opens in August.

Among those graduates were 67 who maintained a 4.0 average throughout high school, as well as students who snagged scholarships, seals of biliteracy, associate’s degrees and other impressive accolades, explained Principal Ryan Bishop during Thursday’s graduation ceremony at the high school football field. 

Some other records were altogether less impressive.

“Just to keep things grounded, this class also managed to rack up well over 1,000 unexcused absences,” Bishop joked, to hoots and hollers from the graduating class. “We are not proud of you for that. And just to top it off, a few hundred parking tickets along the way. So, yes, you definitely left your mark in several different ways.”

Bishop added it is not the impressive GPAs, test scores or awards he wants students to remember, but the peers, family members and teachers who helped them through the journey.

“I hope you carry humility with you. The world will tell you to focus on recognition, comparison and proving yourself. But humility is not thinking less of yourself. It’s remembering that no one succeeds alone,” he said.

That rang true for co-valedictorian Brynnlea Scheuller, who in her speech compared the high school experience to climbing Mount Timpanogos, whose snowcapped peaks she’s gazed at from her front window every morning since she was five. She finally took the plunge and climbed the mountain last year.

“Getting to the top requires waking up at 4 a.m. to beat the heat, hiking 7 miles straight uphill and earning at least three blisters and a shoe full of rocks along the way,” she said. “Just like this mountain, our lives have two sides: a side that everyone admires from a distance and a side we keep hidden. People often see the photo at the summit, the part that looks easy and put together, but the real story is in what happens before the picture is taken. It happens during the switchbacks, in the moments when no one’s watching, when we are tired and unsure but decide to keep going.”

Co-valedictorian Matthew Blood also used literal and metaphorical heights as inspiration in his speech, recalling NASA’s Artemis II mission to the moon in April.

“I don’t know who the first to say, ‘The sky is the limit’ (was), but they sure weren’t very bright,” he joked. “There is no limit to where humanity can go. … We will be at the forefront of these projects. We will be advancing society and building a positive culture. Presently, we are the most influential generation because we will set the precedent of excellence in our communities, countries, the world and eventual interplanetary species.”

After the four co-valedictorian speakers was a fitting musical number by the high school’s chamber choir, “North” by Sleeping At Last. The lyrics about repainting when “our color fades” and “our paint chips away” set the tone for school board member Brad Ehlert’s speech about resilience.

Ehlert began by telling the story of Cory Hanks, a Charleston resident who, while working in a gold mine in Nephi, lost both hands and his sight after he picked up a box of blasting caps that had been sitting in the sun. 

He had been working in the gold mines to pay for his tuition to Stanford University and, despite his accident, went on to attend Stanford, Harvard University, the King’s School of Oratory and Columbia University. He became a lecturer in high schools, colleges, universities and civic halls throughout the United States, Canada, Cuba and the Hawaiian islands. 

Before Hanks died in 1955, he authored his autobiography, “Up From the Hills,” in which he wrote, “We can never turn in our pathway of experience. We must go on.”

“One choice changed Cory Hanks’ life, but the choices after that defined it,” Ehlert said. “He chose to learn and work again. He chose to build again. He chose not to let one moment, even a devastating one, become the final definition of who he was or what his life could become.”

Ehlert then awarded a surprise $5,000 scholarship to a student who embodied Hanks’ tenacity: 19-year-old Crew Baxter, a football and baseball player who recently received an athletic and academic scholarship to the Colorado School of Mines, where he will study civil engineering.

Baxter’s older brother, Kaden, died in a car collision with a drunk driver in 2020. Kaden was 20 at the time. Surrounded by family after the graduation ceremony, Baxter explained that Kaden’s death had completely changed his approach to life.

“It’s pushed me forward in schooling and sports and everything. I feel like I’m living his life through me. I mean, he did civil engineering, too, and he was really a football star and a baseball star,” Baxter said. “Every day, I feel like he’s looking down at me. He’s giving me his energy to go through all this stuff and achieve.”

Another challenge for Baxter throughout his schooling has been his parents’ divorce. He described his father as “abusive.”

“We went through a lot of years of going through the divorce, going through a scheduled visitation and then going through a lot of court systems,” Baxter said. “I lived in an apartment for most of my middle school and elementary school, sharing a room with my mom and my brothers.”

Throughout the challenges, Baxter’s family has been his guiding light.

“The comfort and moral support that we had with each other really helped us grow and blossom,” he said.

Baxter said high school came with its fair share of fun — participating in sports, becoming more sociable and growing into himself — but it felt “amazing” to be acknowledged for the hardships, too.

“Us Baxters, we don’t really like talking about our grief, especially me. I don’t want to feel like I’m given a step up or pity,” he said. “Having the scholarship was being recognized at least, for once. It really salved my heart and soul.”

The message Ehlert left the Class of 2026 with was to persevere, just like Baxter did.

“When you choose a path that isn’t the right fit, do not let that be the end of your story. Learn, repair, stand back up, choose again, because your life will not be built by one perfect decision. It will be built by the choices you kept making after the plan changes,” he said. “You are not behind. You are not broken. You are not defined by the hardest thing that has happened to you. You are the person who still gets to choose what comes next. That is what this valley has been teaching you.”

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During the Wasatch Alternative High School graduation, educators and families celebrated 48 students who received their diplomas despite the personal and academic challenges they had faced.

Among the students Friday was Alistair VanRoosendaal, an aspiring musician who looked the part with his flowing brown hair, pink velvet suit jacket and wealth of jewelry pieces, each with a special meaning — even the necklace of strung-together Goldfish cracker bags, which his siblings made for him. 

VanRoosendaal has been at the Alternative High School for one year. He said he’s learned more in that year than in his first three years at Wasatch High School.

“I never felt like a curriculum was being shoved down my throat. It felt like I was learning what I needed to learn in order to be who I needed to be. … I think every teacher is incredible. I don’t like calling them teachers because they’re friends,” he said. “I don’t feel like it’s just a school, and I don’t feel like it’s just a place to go hang out and goof off, because it’s the perfect marriage of the two.”

The Alternative High School, held at west campus, provides intervention for students in need of extra attention and guidance outside of a traditional classroom environment. 

“A lot of kids obviously come for different reasons, but we have some that are just so credit deficient that recovering credits at main (campus) while earning credits gets to be super daunting,” explained Administrator Amanda Edwards. “Kids will also come with family trauma or anxiety, depression, reasons that keep them out of main campus right now. It’s 2,700 kids (at main campus). It’s overwhelming, busy, daunting. The classes there are 80 to 90 minutes, and we run on a much shorter, 50-minute class schedule.”

During the ceremony, each graduate was introduced by a teacher who had tracked their progress to ensure they made it to graduation. Unlike a traditional graduation, each of the nine teachers also shared thoughts about each student after reading their name.

There wasn’t a dry eye in the house, though many tried to hold back their tears. 

Teacher Lindsey Jacobsen, for example, began announcing names in an even tone, but the steely-faced facade didn’t last as she spoke about students like Anthony Gonzalo Rodriguez Batalla, a budding barber who calls Jacobsen his “school mom.”

“Oh, dear,” she said, choking up, to which a graduate shouted from onstage, “You’ve got this, Ms. Jacobsen!”

Teacher Paul Smith was also emotional as he addressed Sandybel Reyes Dominguez.

“Sandy, when I first met you, you wanted nothing to do with school or with me. However, over the last few years, I’ve seen miraculous change, like the caterpillar and the butterfly,” he said. “It’s been one of the great blessings of my life to see this transition.”

He took a more jocular tone with Antonio Saucedo Tapia.

“Oh, Tony, Tony, Tony,” Smith sighed after reading his name. “I’ve lost a lot of sleep over getting you to graduation. We went back and forth so many times about what work you needed to do and the time you needed to get everything done. Every time, you’d say you’d do it, and you did.”

He used the same routine on the following graduate, Collin Coomes.

“I’ve never lost more sleep over anybody but you. I’ve also lost six pounds,” he jested.

Smith wasn’t the only one with jokes. 

“I’m going to be honest. In a way, Caston (Spear) was a disappointment,” teacher Derek Brooks said. “Because he’s such a hard worker, he ended up finishing many of his credits earlier than expected, and this meant that I got to experience less of our meaningful conversations before, during or after class this past year.”

One of the 48 graduates was given special recognition by school board President Kim Dickerson.

Dickerson began by telling the story of Cory Hanks, a Charleston resident who died in 1955. Hanks lost both hands and became blind after a box of blasting caps exploded while he was working the gold mines in Nephi to pay for his tuition to Stanford University. After the accident, he pursued his education anyways, becoming an author who gave 6,670 lectures throughout his life.

Dickerson quoted a passage from Hanks’ autobiography, “Up From the Hills”: “Tears shed through trials should be tears of joy, for scars grow together stronger than before.”

Dickerson then awarded a surprise $5,000 scholarship in Hanks’ name to Josie Perez, who will be studying nursing at Utah Valley University in the fall. 

Perez had been one of five graduate speakers and told the story of her parents’ immigration to the United States over three decades ago.

“Their sacrifice became the foundation for my opportunities,” she said. “All my life, my parents told us the importance of school. ‘We have no choice but to work with our hands for the rest of our lives. You have an opportunity to work with your brain.’”

Education was the “job” Perez and her siblings were tasked with, but her first three years of high school were “rough.”

“Transferring to Alternative may be seen to many as a setback, but for me, it was a turning point. It gave me a chance to reflect and to rebuild,” she said. “It gifted me with teachers who saw me, who believed in me and who pushed me to believe in myself again. … Anyone can handle assignments and show up to teach a class, but it takes something much deeper to truly change a student’s life. It takes a person with a genuine and compassionate heart to look beyond the grades, the struggles and the setbacks, (and) continue to see potential, to choose encouragement over judgment, patience over frustration, belief over doubt.”

Using Perez as an example, Dickerson said that each Alternative High School graduate’s story is not defined by strife. Rather, each story is defined by “resilience, determination and hope” — qualities that will guide the graduates as they write the next chapters of their lives.

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The Park City High School volleyball team faced off against Tooele High School Thursday evening, September 7, 2017. The Miners beat the Buffaloes 3-0. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

Link to full gallery here: https://parkrecordphoto.smugmug.com/PHOTOS-PCHS-Volleyball-vs-Tooele-High-School/

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The Park City High School volleyball team hosted their home opener against Lone Peak Thursday evening, August 31, 2017. The Miners fell 3-1. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

Link to full gallery here: https://parkrecordphoto.smugmug.com/PHOTOS-PCHS-Volleyball-vs-Lone-Peak/

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North Summit High School graduated 73 seniors Monday evening, May 22, 2017. The ceremony opened with a processional of students and flags followed by speeches, a special tribute and more. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

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The Park City High School baseball team faced off against Pine View High School and Dixie High School at Utah Valley University during the state final rounds this past week. The Miners failed to clinch the title, but placed third overall. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

Full gallery here: https://parkrecordphoto.smugmug.com/PHOTOS-PCHS-Baseball-State-Semifinals/

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The Park City High School baseball team advances to the state quarterfinals after winning 12-0 against Morgan High School and then winning 1-0 against Desert Hills High School on Saturday afternoon, May 13, 2017. The Miners will play Pine View High School on Friday, May 19, 2017, at Utah Valley University. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

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The Park City High School girls and boys water polo teams faced off against Kearns High School at the Park City Aquatic Center Wednesday evening, May 10, 2017. Both the girls and the boys beat the Cougars, 7-6 and 13-8, respectively. The teams also recognized their senior members. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

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The Park City High School tennis team took to the courts Saturday morning, May 13, 2017, for the UHSAA 3A boys tennis championships at Liberty Park’s tennis courts. The Miners finished third overall. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

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Park City High School hosted the Region 10 Championship track meet at Dozier Field on Thursday, May 11, 2017. The Miners came to play, qualifying multiple members of the team for the state meet. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

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