{"id":22101,"date":"2025-05-26T18:44:40","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T00:44:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/be-a-dragon-southwest-open-school-graduates-prepare-to-take-on-the-world\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T22:11:46","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:11:46","slug":"be-a-dragon-southwest-open-school-graduates-prepare-to-take-on-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/be-a-dragon-southwest-open-school-graduates-prepare-to-take-on-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Be a dragon:\u2019 Southwest Open School graduates prepare to take on the world"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Southwest
Southwest Open School graduates were encouraged to change the world at their graduation ceremony. Lexi Wiescamp addressed graduates and attendees following the presentation of diplomas. (Nick Ferraro\/Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Southwest Open School celebrated its 23 high school graduates, sending them off with a mission to remember their roots and make the world a better place.<\/p>\n

Graduates walked into the ceremony to the song \u201cWake Me Up\u201d by Avicii to the cheers and applause of the families and friends who came to support them. The song lyrics seemed to capture the thoughts of graduates as they prepare to start their next journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t tell where the journey will end, but I know where to start,\u201d the song says.<\/p>\n

After a welcome from Joe Kelly, the Ute Mountain Ute Red Sky Group performed to kick off the ceremony.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we do with such momentous occasions, we begin with a quote,\u201d Kelly said. \u201c\u2018Take pride in how far you\u2019ve come and have faith in how far you can go.\u2019 \u2026 Indeed, take pride in how far you\u2019ve come. You\u2019ve overcome many of life\u2019s obstacles to be here today. Let this give you confidence in yourselves as you journey beyond SWOS.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Southwest
Southwest Open School Student Body President Kalista Summers read SWOS\u2019s mission statement at the start of the ceremony. (Nick Ferraro\/Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Leon
Leon Thom gave a graduation speech at the Southwest Open School graduation ceremony. (Nick Ferraro\/Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Student body President Kalista Summers read SWOS\u2019s mission statement before graduation class speaker Leon Thom gave a speech.<\/p>\n

Thom spoke of the gift of education, encouraging fellow graduates to be grateful for their education and the memories they\u2019ve made while at SWOS.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday we celebrate this great achievement in life, in which all should be grateful for, because many in the world don\u2019t get the opportunity to sit where we are today,\u201d Thom said. \u201cWe\u2019ll look towards the future while never forgetting the memories we experienced throughout the years with friends and teachers, and whether those memories are bad or good, they shape who we become.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thom also referenced a quote by Mac Miller, urging the other graduates to never give up.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe number one reason why people give up so fast is because they tend to look at how far they still have to go instead of how far they\u2019ve gone,\u201d the quote read.<\/p>\n

Students chose SWOS STEM, outdoor education and gardening teacher devyn Lacey to be the guest speaker for this year.<\/p>\n

\"devyn
devyn Lacey was the teacher chosen to address the graduates at their graduation ceremony. (Nick Ferraro\/Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Lacey addressed those in attendance, sharing that she had been surprised to be picked, as many of the students had informed that she had \u201cboring\u201d classes.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps they invited me as payback,\u201d she joked, before referring to a quote she read on a sweatshirt.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlways be yourself, unless you can be a dragon. Then always be a dragon,\u201d Lacey said.<\/p>\n

Lacey spoke of the hard work and dedication it took for these graduates to make it to the graduation stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor these seniors, it has taken their entire lives,\u201d Lacey said. \u201cFor some of them, it has taken many tries, and here we are together \u2026 It has been a pleasure to meet and witness all of you, and it is wild that this is the last time that we will all sit together. I wish you all adventures beyond your wildest beliefs. I wish you peace and joy. I wish for our that you look in the mirror and like what you see. It may not be today, but someday. May the stories that are told of you be of your great character and sense of self.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lacey ended with a call to action, urging the graduates to make the world a better place.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easy to be mean and scared. It\u2019s easy to say ugly things about people. It\u2019s easy to use substance. It\u2019s easy to be numb. It\u2019s easy to settle for less. It\u2019s easy to be less, but you are more,\u201d she said. \u201cYou know the value of doing hard things. If you choose to fight, make sure you\u2019re fighting for a better and more just world \u2026 I hope we\u2019ve taught you how to fight, how it takes a lot of strength and courage and wit to win a battle without throwing a punch. I hope you look at this crowd of faces and feel like you did something.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Graduates
Graduates posed for photos at the SWOS graduation ceremony. (Nick Ferraro\/Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Twenty-three
Twenty-three students from SWOS graduated. (Nick Ferraro\/Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Following Lacey\u2019s speech, the graduates took turns walking across the stage, officially closing the door on this chapter of their lives. Upon receiving their diplomas, the graduates threw their caps and celebrated this new milestone in their lives.<\/p>\n

The names of the 23 graduates are Julian Barrera, Jamie Bartlett, Kayden Brooks, Matthew Dennison, Christopher Dressel, Elijah Holt, Michael (Beau) Hunter, Vance Norton, Xavier Osterloh, Elihu Parks, Gabriel Peabody, Coral Spelbring, Rhett Smith, Shayla Stone, Dawson Stubby, Kaleb Summers, Amora Tagle, Nathaniel Temple, Carlitos Tsosie-Hatch, Thom, Lexi Wiescamp, Josiah Yazzie and Veronica Yazzie.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

To end the ceremony, Wiescamp addressed her fellow graduates in a farewell speech.<\/p>\n

\u201cI suppose I honestly never thought I\u2019d be standing here today, let alone saying farewell to everybody,\u201d Wiescamp said. \u201cI want to congratulate my fellow classmates for being here. Over the past four years, I\u2019ve seen you all grow into mature into amazing, smart and functional people. We all have grown up together, and now here we are, saying goodbye to go start our next chapter.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Graduates were honored at a ceremony on Wednesday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22102,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[21,155,28,60,29,2084],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-22101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cortez","tag-education","tag-headlines","tag-montezuma-county","tag-newsletter","tag-southwest-open-school"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22101"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22101\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77576,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22101\/revisions\/77576"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22101"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=22101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}