Page 18 - Flathead Beacon // 5.27.2015

18 | MAY 27, 2015 COVER FLATHEADBEACON.COM
GRADUATION SCHEDULE
2015
Glacier High School
June 6, 11 a.m. Glacier High School gym Class of 2015: 270
SUMMA CUM LAUDE
4.0 GPA CUMULATIVE ALL FOUR YEARS
Kaitlyn Anderson Megan Bridwell Alicia Frye Noah Hill Tacey Howe Hunter Kauffman Gabriel Leopold Kali Ann Mathison Kelsi McGinnis Katelyn Parmelee McKenzie Smith Samuel Stern Chazz Upton Katelyn Wiley
MAXIMA CUM LAUDE
4.0 GPA CUMULATIVE THROUGH SEVEN SEMESTERS
Charmayne Glasman Makenzie Mertz Keele Nouque
Flathead High School
June 5, 7 p.m. Flathead High School gym Class of 2015: 340
INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE DIPLOMA AT LEAST 3 HIGHER LEVEL COURSES AND 3 STANDARD LEVEL COURSES DURING JUNIOR AND SENIOR YEARS
Mackenzie Artnzen Marshall Bessette Heather Bodenhamer Mackenzie Bouma Camas Carlson Chloe Clevidence Siri Danielson Jackson Davey Devina Gillis Steele Jochim Tia Kohs
Jade LeGassey Mallorie Mason Wyatt McGillen Alaina Mothershead Gavin Pirrie Katie Poston Connor Roettig Emma Sauve Ellen Schuster Kelsey Weed Meredith Wilson Zoe Zander
Glacier High School seniors Hunter, left, and Harrison Kauffman. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
THE STRONG LEGACY
OF THE CLASS OF 2015
Over 1,000 high school students from the Flathead Valley will celebrate graduation in the coming weeks
BWy DILLON TABISH of the Beacon
hen a young student needed
advice or direction at Gla-
cier High School, he or she was usually directed to a pair of sturdy
seniors for guidance.
Hunter and Harrison Kauffman,
fraternal twins towering over 6-feet-1 and combining for nearly 500 pounds of brawn, are a pair of scholarly senti- nels, versatile leaders who set goals and tackled them one by one, balancing du- ties as co-captains of the state cham- pion football team with excelling near the top of their class.
In other words, the Kauffman brothers represent the best of this val- ley’s graduating class, a group of over 1,000 young men and women who started as wide-eyed underclassmen with hopes and goals and have now grown into the leaders of tomorrow. In the next two weeks, the class of 2015 will toss its caps in the air, celebrating a milestone.
Glacier High School will hold its graduation ceremony June 6 while Flat- head and Stillwater Christian will hold theireventsthenightbefore.Whitefish, Columbia Falls and Bigfork will cele- brate graduation on June 6. Linderman Education Center will graduate its larg- est class ever, with 122 students receiv- ing diplomas June 4.
At each ceremony, students will earn recognition for accomplishing greatness over the past four years. Of course, greatness is defined differently
for each student. For some, greatness is achieving a 4.0 grade-point average while others overcame untold odds to simply receive a diploma, which is no less noteworthy.
Each and every student has a sto- ry worth telling. Like the Kauffman brothers.
Their family moved to Kalispell from Pennsylvania when the boys were in sixth grade. This rather remote cor- ner of the state seemed far gone from the urban landscape on the other side of the country. The brothers had each other.
As freshmen at Glacier High School, the boys were fortunate enough to meet upperclassmen who became significant mentors. Students like Luke Hallibur- ton and Mack Sutherland helped the boys understand the importance of in- tegrity and hard work.
“The role models in my life have pushed me to do more. When you de- cide you want to give everything you’ve got to your activities and your academ- ics, it just goes into all facets of your life,” Harrison said.
The brothers set ambitious goals, academically and athletically. They also established a moral compass that would guide them past the pitfalls of high school.
“A lot of those guys didn’t focus on being just a great athlete. They wanted to be good people too,” Hunter said. “Theytookcareofus,notjustforthe program but coming to a new high school from all these different schools.
They looked out for us. It’s really nice to have somebody who can look out for you.”
The Kauffmans excelled. By their senior year, they were co-captains on the Glacier football team, which went undefeated and won the Class AA state championship, the first in the school’s history and first for a Kalispell team in over 40 years. The two bulky linemen were both named all-state.
In the classroom, their drive and achievement was no less impressive. Hunter is graduating with a 4.0 GPA and will attend John Hopkins Univer- sity. Harrison will attend Lehigh on a football scholarship and study business and pre-law.
“They’re just a couple of great kids. They’re amazing,” said Jan Twamley, administrative assistant at Glacier.
Walk the halls at each school and similar stories of leaders emerge. The class of 2015 is well represented and is leaving quite the legacy.
“The nice thing about being a senior is people will look up to you and they’ll come to you with their problems or if they need guidance and it gives you a great platform to take people under your wing and help them,” Hunter said.
“I think one thing that is really im- portant about senior year is legacy,” Har- rison said. “You want to teach the things you’ve learned to the younger kids. The role of a senior is to help them become theleadersthey’llbecomenextyear.”
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