{"id":22123,"date":"2025-05-24T19:49:59","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T01:49:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dolores-class-of-2025-celebrates-community-at-commencement\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T22:11:51","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:11:51","slug":"dolores-class-of-2025-celebrates-community-at-commencement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dolores-class-of-2025-celebrates-community-at-commencement\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolores Class of 2025 celebrates community at commencement"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dolores
Dolores High School grads on Friday, May 23, celebrate as confetti flies in the gymnasium.(Matthew Tangeman\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Families and friends packed the Dolores High School gymnasium to celebrate 26 graduates walking across the stage on a bright Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cClose, energetic, dedicated, and resilient\u201d are a few of the words that the Dolores Class of 2025 would describe themselves.<\/p>\n

Co-salutatorian Kiera LaRose said she is proud and excited for her fellow graduates to explore different life paths beyond high school.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve known these people since elementary school and the path everyone\u2019s chosen \u2013 whether that\u2019s college, trade school, the workforce or cosmetology \u2013 it\u2019s all been things that fit that each person well,\u201d LaRose said. \u201cThey\u2019re working toward their goal and it\u2019s super cool to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Salutatorian
Salutatorian Keira LaRose.(Matthew Tangeman\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Valedictorian
Valedictorian Elia Lowe giving her speech.(Matthew Tangeman\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The graduating class highlighted students\u2019 extracurricular activities and school milestones. One graduate, Michael Nielson, participated in football, basketball, track, Knowledge Bowl, National Honor Society, and student government. He was also part of Dolores High School\u2019s first baseball team in years.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving baseball back here feels like an achievement,\u201d Nielson said. \u201cTo leave something for the underclassmen, it\u2019s like a legacy thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Valedictorian Elia Lowe said she was proud of the perseverance of her classmates.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of all that we accomplished as a group. We\u2019ve been able to handle difficulties together.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dolores Board of Education entered the gymnasium first, followed by the graduates, who walked one by one to loud cheers from the attendees. Justice Eubanks then took the stage to perform the national anthem before Superintendent, Alesa Reed, shared a few words of encouragement.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you move forward, embrace challenges and opportunities for growth, be kind, build humanity rather than fracture it and find commonalities with people and stay curious.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Class
Class President Siena Parr giving her speech.(Matthew Tangeman\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Salutatorian
Salutatorian Maya Lowe.(Matthew Tangeman\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

In her speech, she reminded students that graduation is just one chapter in their lives, encouraging them to keep growing, approach the future with an open mind, and use the skills they gained in school to continue learning. She also expressed gratitude to parents, guardians, and mentors for their support in helping students reach this milestone.<\/p>\n

Class President Siena Parr, then addressed her fellow graduates, speaking about the individual growth that brought them to graduation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of you for waking up this morning and looking at the sky, and saying \u2018I\u2019m going to do this today,\u2019\u201d Parr said. \u201cI\u2019m proud of you for taking in the pain, discomfort, the noise, acknowledging it, letting it shape you, and then moving on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Student Body President, Isla Vaughn, reflected on shared memories with the small but close graduating class, recalling their first overnight field trip to Crow Canyon, PJ movie day, their third grade classroom restaurant, a sixth grade trip to Moab, and challenges during COVID. She said because of those moments, the class is closer than ever and knows they embody qualities that will help them prosper.<\/p>\n

\"Student
Student government President Trayton Traweek giving his speech.(Matthew Tangeman\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Student
Student government President Isla Vaughn giving her speech.(Matthew Tangeman\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cAfter spending the last 14 years or so with this class, I know the traits that will help us succeed wherever we go,\u201d Vaughn said. \u201cDetermination, compassion, empathy, intelligence, respect, maturity, and the list goes on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Science teacher, David Hopcia, delivered the keynote address, making a memorable and unexpected entrance to the sound of U2\u2019s \u201cBeautiful Day.\u201d While he said the song choice added a touch of humor, it was also intentional, chosen to reflect the significance and optimism of the occasion.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a declaration that joy is still possible when the world feels broken\u2026,\u201d Hopcia said. \u201cEach of us has the power to choose what kind of day to make of it. I absolutely love that song because to me, every day is a beautiful day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dolores
Dolores High School grads on Friday, May 23, celebrate as confetti flies in the gymnasium.(Matthew Tangeman\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"052325The
052325The ceremonial turning of the tassels.(Matthew Tangeman\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

In his speech, Trayton Traweek spoke about his best friend and late classmate Jesse \u201cJ.D.\u201d Minor. Traweek said to defy the limitations set by the world and told his graduating class to carry forward the hope and passion that Jesse exuded.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want us to carry that same unreasonable hope that Jesse had,\u201d he said. \u201cThat passion, that fire, that spark that never allowed the world to tell J.D. who to be,\u201d Traweek said. \u201cThere will be days that feel too heavy, days where everything inside of you wants to give up, but remember you already made it through things others couldn\u2019t even imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ceremony also featured a slideshow highlighting each student with baby photos, superlatives, extracurricular involvement, and moments captured throughout the school year, celebrating their journey and achievements.<\/p>\n

In his first year as principal, Matthew Walker expressed his admiration for the leadership demonstrated by the senior class and shared his hope that they will continue to embrace learning beyond high school.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope they never stop learning, and they continue their quest for knowledge and shedding light on the truth of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

To view or purchase photos of all the graduates, visit photographer Matthew Tangeman\u2019s website at https:\/\/matthewtangemanphoto.pixieset.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seniors highlight close bonds as they celebrate their community<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22124,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[573,38,574,28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-22123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-commencement","tag-dolores-high-school","tag-graduation","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22123","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=22123"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77584,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22123\/revisions\/77584"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22123"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=22123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}