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PHOTOS: West Grand graduation 2025, ‘We will forever be connected’

33 seniors say goodbye to high school

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Meg Soyars Van Hauen
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West Grand valedictorian Taylin Harthun speaks at the 2025 commencement ceremony. "All of you are in this room because you've taken a role in shaping the people that we are today," she told the crowd.
Meg Soyars Van Hauen/Sky-Hi News

33 West Grand seniors threw their graduate caps into the air on May 24 to signal the end of high school and their first exhilarating step toward their bright futures.

The energy of the ceremony was punctuated with hope and grateful. At the commencement ceremony, several speakers offered advice to the seniors, including valedictorian Taylin Harthun.

She said that each person in the crowd is capable of living to their full potential, and thanked teachers and family members who helped the graduates reach their goals.

Harthun added that commencement can create a mix of emotions for fellow seniors, from joy at entering adulthood, to anxiety if they will find their true calling.

“Even though this chapter of our lives is coming to a close, we all have the next chapter to look forward to,” she spoke to the crowd. “While this might be a tough reality to come into, it’s a reality necessary to become the people we strive to be.”

She expressed hope that fellow classmates would spread a positive impact to those around them as they move out into the world.

“High school is now a memory, only something to be cherished or looked back on,” Harthun said. “And yet, it lays the foundation of the people we will eventually become. This is just the beginning and though there is much life left to experience, we’ve already had a lifetime of memories here, with each other.”

She added that a good life is measured not by fame or fortune, but by the personal connections made with others.

“We will forever be connected as the West Grand class of 2025,” she said.

Salutatorian Luci Bruchez speaks at the class of 2025 commencement ceremony on May 24. “Stay true to yourself,” she encouraged her classmates. “In a world that wants you to color inside the lines, draw outside them and make your own designs.”
Meg Soyars Van Hauen/Sky-Hi News

Keynote speaker calls students to ‘live boldly’  

The class chose college and career coordinator Andrew Mericle as its commencement keynote speaker.

“You will be missed,” he told the students. “You are and have been a standout class in academics, athletics, visual arts, performing arts and through your service.”

Mericle shared advice with the students on how to truly embrace life, no matter where the path takes them after West Grand.

West Grand college and career coordinator Andrew Mericle speaks at the May 24, 2025 commencement ceremony.
Meg Soyars Van Hauen/Sky-Hi News

“Sometimes we start down the path well; we think we’re living,” he said. “The months go by; the years go by. Then one day we’re not living, but just existing … Living is vibrant, existing is stagnant.”

He added that the vibrancy of truly living is embodied in culture, from classic writings to films. The poet Henry David Thoreau opined that the “mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation” — meaning that people who are simply existing find themselves unfulfilled.

Songs like “You are the Sunshine of my Life” and movies like “It’s a Wonderful Life” celebrate the joy of connection that living life to the fullest brings, Mericle explained. And replacing “life” with “existence” doesn’t make sense in cultural arts, nor does it in reality.

“Imagine over the holidays, gathering with family and friends with a cup of hot cocoa, to watch that timeless classic ‘It’s a Wonderful Existence,'” he said. “Even Dr. Frankenstein, when his monster rose from the table, he did not exclaim, ‘It exists.’ No, indeed he cried out, ‘It’s alive!'”

Mericle expressed that life and existence are polar opposites. He encouraged students to live, even in times when following the status quo seems safer and less likely to create mistakes. Although reality outside of the school walls isn’t easy, stumbling means you’re moving, Mericle said.

West Grand High School senior Joe Probst receives his diploma at the commencement ceremony May 24, 2025. He was also class president and a two-time state track champion in the 110-meter hurdles.
Meg Soyars Van Hauen/Sky-Hi News

“Living is contributing, existing is taking away,” he concluded. “Living is positively impacting those around you, existing in blending in. Living has purpose, existing is purposeless … so live courageously, live daringly, live boldly.”

After the speakers, attendees watched videos of each classmate, then the students accepted their diplomas as family and friends cheered. The group headed out the gymnasium doors to the celebrate the next chapter, as they carry the skills they learned at West Grand out into the great, wide world.

The West Grand High School commencement ceremony took place on May 24, 2025.
Meg Soyars Van Hauen/Sky-Hi News

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The West Grand High School Class of 2025

Esteban Aguilar Pineiro
Evelyn Amaya Cruz
Madison Batchelder
Luci Bruchez
Samuel Cameron
Caitlyn Corcoran
Elisabeth Corcoran
Roberto Flores
Callie Freitag
Makaila Gifford
Ethan Glave
Jared Gonzalez Garcia
Wyatt Guthrie
Taylin Harthun
John (Orion) Ilgner
Gavin Jackson
Lawson Landrus
Joseph (Luke) Leaghty
Sara Lechman
Joseline Lopez Salazar
Matthew Lujan
Taylor Luttrell
Sylvia-Grace Manguso
Cooper Martinson
Taylor Martinson
Madison Nelson
Eva Norton
Joseph (Joe) Probst
Dean Ratcliff
Jackson Steinle
Ryan Van Oosten
Kohl Viles
Sage Wheatley

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