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GALLERY: Class of 2017 graduates Charles City High School

  • The Charles City High School class of 2017 is greeted by Superintendent Dan Cox during Sunday afternoon's graduation ceremony.

  • Nathaniel Reams shakes his glasses at the crowd during his commencement speech.

  • Choir members hold hands while singing the Charles City High School Alma Mater on Sunday.

  • An orange rose marked the seat of Evelyn Miller, the Floyd five-year-old killed in 2005 who would have graduated with her classmates on Sunday.

  • Zion Cornelius Eugene Jordan

  • Whitney Adkisson

  • Molly Renee Fox

  • Malik Askari Knighten

  • Dave Concepcion Dejongoy

  • Jaylen Allen Bill

  • Sandra Celine Bontemps

  • Dalton Basil Cleveland

  • Brenden Michael Kvernevig

  • Nika Babtsov

By Kate Hayden, khayden@charlescitypress.com

The class of 2017 graduates have the rest of their lives to write the show they were meant to perform in, graduation speaker Nathaniel Reams told his classmates on Sunday.

“Try not to make your play into a tragedy,” Reams joked.

Reams and fellow speaker Mason Meyer addressed more than 100 of their classmates and a gym full of family and friends on Sunday afternoon, as Charles City High School honored it’s senior class during commencement. Seniors Bailey Mitchell and Abby Milligan were co-valedictorians.

The ceremony also paused to remember classmate Evelyn Miller of Floyd, who was killed in 2005 at five years old. A rose was placed in Miller’s honor on a chair among her classmates.

The class of 2017 has made a name for itself among the school and the community, Principal Josh Johnson said.

“When I came here three years ago, a number of people … said I needed to get to know the sophomore class well, because they were going to do big things and they were going to be big contributors to our school,” Johnson told the Press following commencement. “That’s certainly rang true the last three years. It’s a pretty special group.”

“Any time you have 11 students getting the silver cord, you know that they’re wanting to give back and be a part of our school community,” he added.

Associate Principal Larry Wolfe met the class as eighth graders when he joined the district in 2012, he said.

“They’re not the same person that they were when they walked in the door. They’re better people today, and that’s what we strive to do,” Wolfe said. “We’ve put enough tools in their tool belt to make them go out and be successful, and that’s what I’m most proud about.”

“We are a family that gets involved and cares about each other,” he added.

Close to 90 percent of the class was involved in extracurricular activities, and Johnson encouraged next year’s seniors to get involved as well.

“Take on some of the new things that we’re doing,” Johnson said. “Get involved in some of the new programs that we’re doing, get involved in the new classes, get involved in the new school design. These classes have a really good chance to leave a legacy in Charles City with the things that are happening.”

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