Graduation Speech to the GICC class of 2024

Good afternoon, and Happy Mother’s Day.

First of all, I’d like to say that Mr. Howard and I chose to retire this year so that we could go out with this very special class.

I’d LIKE to say that. But the truth is, we're shot.

That does not make, however, the class of '24 ANY less special.

From left: Morgan Schulte, Anna Blake,
Allison Haney and Rubi Carrasco

I am one of the fortunate few who's been able to teach these kids ever since they were in middle school, and it was apparent even then that some of them were already exceptional.

Kate Novinski thinks she needs to go to med school to be a doctor. She doesn’t. She could be my doctor right now. Kate, when she was 12 years old, could have said, “I’m skipping English class today,” and I would have said, “Here’s 20 bucks. Take my car.” 

Reese Reilly is another girl who wants to be a doctor. There’s nothing that Reese doesn’t do well. But I can imagine her - just as I imagine Kate - in a white lab coat treating her patients with such compassion.

If you followed our volleyball team coached by the iconic Sharon Zavala, you know what a determined group Kate and the rest of these girls were. Coach Zavala used to marvel - as did Coach Mayfield in basketball - that there was never any drama with the senior girls. Carolyn Maser is THE kindest girl you will ever meet. Tristyn Hedman never made a big deal about getting a tooth knocked out her junior year during a state match. Maddie Schneider was sweetness itself and never without that dazzling smile. Hadlee Hasselmann dealt with an injury that stole her senior year of volleyball away but never complained and always supported her teammates. Lovely Mia Wiese, although not a starter, cheered and encouraged every player on her team. And Kinnley Kearns, GICC’s very own Fairy Godmother, was nevertheless tough as nails behind the serving line. These girls made history as Coach Zavala’s last state championship team before she retires this year.

Isaac Henry and his mom Kelly

There were so many dedicated scholars in this group. My husband loved teaching Andrew Arens who was curious and smart and always laughed at Mr. Howard’s jokes. Every teacher enjoyed the quiet, respectful and funny Zenon Sack who, in class, would nod in understanding and make all of us feel like we were the greatest teachers in the world. Isaac Henry was dear to all of us. It was impossible to see Isaac saunter into your classroom and not feel better about life in general. And then there was Angel who used to stay after World History class to ask my husband penetrating questions like, “Mr. Howard, you got any good pick-up lines?” Because who better to ask than a 70-year-old history teacher.

One of the great rewards of being an old vet has been the gift of teaching generations of families. One day Madeline Logue was walking down the hall, and for just a second I had a flashback. It was 1997, and I wasn’t seeing Madeline but Madeline’s mother Laura Hoch smiling at me across the years. Kinnley, likewise, is simply a younger version of her beautiful mother Katie. Anna Blake has her mother Melissa’s big, winsome eyes, and one of Anna's best friends is Morgan Schulte, tall and graceful like her mother Angie. Anna remembers being the scared new kid at Central Catholic in the cafeteria when little Morgan - a complete stranger - plopped down and said, “Wanna see me eat jello without using my hands?”

Gabby Nuncio, the daughter of my former student Mario, speaks with a voice that belongs only on FM radio and flashes her dad’s spectacular smile. Hannah Hamik is every bit as pleasant and hard-working as her mother Julie, a graduate from 1986, whom John and I have always considered one of our very favorite people. Sheridan Puncochar is as talkative as her father Tim was quiet. In fact, Sheridan and Inara Hooper, the comedy duo of the senior class, are famous for getting their teachers off topic. I remember one English class when those girls somehow had me passionately arguing that Snoop Dogg was better than Jay-Z. I don’t know who these people are. But Inara and Sheridan were so much fun.

With two special grandmothers
and 1973 GICC
classmates: left - Karen Pfiefer
Robison (grandmother of Sam
Mueller), and right - Barb
Kosinski Bosak (grandmother of 
Hunter Borges)

I started out at this school teaching my brothers and sisters and feeling like a big sister to their friends and my students. I’ve been hanging around so long that by now I feel like a grandmother to you children, and, as a matter of fact, had the great joy of graduating from Central Catholic 51 years ago with two of your grandmothers: Hunter’s grandma Barb and Sam’s grandma Karen. I have a special affinity for Karen Robison and her family. What a joy it was to teach Sam’s parents - classmates Jeremy and Kate from the class of '94 - and all the Robison and Mueller  kids. They are like family to me. When Barb and Karen and I were in high school here strolling down the halls in our pleated uniform skirts and navy blue blazers, we never envisioned that just a few feet away I’d be teaching two of their grandsons and two of the nicest boys I’ve ever known 50 years later.  

Speaking of grandparents, two of you were raised by your grandparents. John and I love Avery O’Boyle and Damian Glass. Each of them was raised by an incredible set of grandparents, and those four wonderful people deserve all the credit for their unique, lovely and magnificent grandchildren. Maybe it’s a gift that comes with age and wisdom, but Damian’s grandparents have encouraged him to be exactly who he is. Every Monday when we visited about our weekends before class, Damian would say with a straight face, “I had lunch with Neil Armstrong on the moon”, or “I chewed tobacco with the man on the moon“, or “Bigfoot met me for a coke on the moon”.

Sam Mueller with one of his
beautiful grandmothers - 
Jeannee Mueller Fossberg

Avery, who never came out of a softball game without bruises and open wounds, played softball and basketball as if her very life depended on the outcome. You’ve never seen such determination or such complete support from a very proud set of grandparents.

All of us who teach the seniors marvel at how easy it’s been. You have never been demanding or disrespectful or arrogant.

Gabe Guerrero tried - tried to be the rebellious,  tough guy. He just couldn’t pull it off. Mr. Kester said that right after his mom died, he received an email from Gabe. “Mr. Kester,” it said. “I’m so sorry about your mom, and I’m praying for you.”

Gabe and Victor Castellanos came late to GICC. Victor, especially, was nervous about coming to Central Catholic in the ninth grade. He wrote in an English essay for me, “I didn’t expect my poor Mexican self to fit in with a bunch of stuck up rich white kids. But when I got here, a strange little white boy came up to me and said, ‘Hi, I’m Sam. Nice to meet you.’ Sam was my very first friend at GICC.” 

Carreagan came later, too, but settled in and soon was part of a state qualifying speech team and bonding with her teachers. Rubi remembers arriving during her sophomore year and being terrified. She may have been shy at first, but she’s an expert at dishing it back to Mr. Howard when he gives her grief. Nohemi eventually came to GICC, too, and worked to become one of my best students this year. We’re so glad she chose Central Catholic. All the newbies remember being welcomed by their classmates during that traumatic time as the new kid.

From left: Jack Steenson, Barret Obermiller, Isaac Henry,
Connor Johnson, Jack Hulinski, Sam Mueller, Andrew
Arens, Zenon Sack

Some of the seniors in this class are natural born leaders but never lord it over each other. Connor Johnson is one of those remarkable kids and a man of few words who leads purely by example in the classroom and football and wrestling. Barret is another quiet kid whose impressive presence speaks volumes. Jack Steenson is movie star-handsome but quiet and humble. One day in class he said the one thing that always makes him smile is when he sees a frail, ancient couple holding hands. It wasn’t Mr. Howard and me. Justin Hollister, who was always so shy and timid in middle school, has grown into a tall and confident young man and has become a leader in his own right. You’ve probably seen his magnificent sets in the last two musicals and wondered about the great artist who created them. Jack Hulinski lives and breathes baseball. Like all these boys, he’s quiet, funny and completely unaffected by his many accomplishments. Likewise, the sisters Sonia and Glenda are quiet but hardworking. More than anybody, these two are devoted to family and are grateful for the sacrifices of their remarkable parents.  Allison Haney is joyful and sweet and beautiful but possessed steel endurance to run six years for the cross country team, and Deilany is tender enough to help her parents raise foster babies but tough enough to get through the Marine Corp training camp.

Angel Sotelo, left, and Victor Hugo Castellanos

If all those kids are quiet, there are those who are not. Lilly Fischer can gab your ear off and then some. And nothing can coax our other Lillie - Lillie Encinger - to wax poetic like her dreamy boyfriend Cameron. Cameron, if you’re here today,  you must be, by all accounts, God’s gift to all women.

Finally, we have to remember our foreigners - the Germans Nico and Florian. Florian definitely came to the United States to improve his English, make a few friends, and generally to take a year long vacation.

Nico is not quite as laid back.

Foreign exchange students Nico Kiewald (left)
and Florian Leicht with Principal Dr. Jordan
Engle

“I need explicit instructions,” he demanded every day in class. But if you ever want to get a completely unfiltered look at GICC, you should read Nico’s writing about his first few weeks. “I am German,” Nico writes, “and I am mean. Germans are mean. But as soon as I stepped into this school,” Nico says, “everybody was so nice. Students welcomed me, teachers protected me. I did not understand Mr. Howard or his jokes or his personality. But he made a great impression on me. Seeing Aaron, Jack, Zenon, Damian, Gabe and Angel was the reason I wanted to go to school every day. Mr. Cheetah Gavers was not just a coach to me but a sensei full of wisdom. They all made this year a dream come true.” 

Nico’s struggling to say goodbye. Aren’t we all? Once you and I leave this building, we’re locked out. Do you realize that? I have to turn in my keys next week. I will be locked out of my own house. We will have to ring the doorbell to get in. I hate that.

Not enough to keep working, I guess.

But that time to say goodbye comes to all of us. It’s never easy to leave home. You will be off to big and grand adventures, but remember that even if we can’t come in and out whenever we feel like it, Central Catholic is still home. You children are imprinted on the floors and walls of this esteemed old building. You’re in the smell of sweat in the old gym and in the dust particles that float through the air. But now it’s time to begin the next part. You graduate today and begin your lives in college and in the workforce. And Mr. Howard and I begin - the slow march to death. 

However, we’re planning to attend your tenth year reunion right here in this very gym. Maybe we’ll shuffle in on walkers, but we’re coming because we have to know what happens. Will Carolyn Maser be our hometown darling competing on the United States Olympic volleyball team? Will Sam have hair?

I don’t know, Prince Charming. I’m looking at your old man up there, and, Sam, I wouldn’t hold onto that hope. 

So this isn’t goodbye. This is just “see you later.” Until then, be sure to call your mother, go to church, and remember what you’ve been taught by your good religion teachers. In English class every day, we prayed for our Lord to bless our families both in Heaven and on earth, and we always ended with this: “Lord Jesus, help me to be a blessing to someone who needs you today.”

You’ve been a blessing to all of us every single day. We love you very much, and we’ll see you later.

Grand Island Central Catholic Class of 2024