{"id":27573,"date":"2024-05-20T18:04:47","date_gmt":"2024-05-20T18:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/mancos-high-bids-farewell-to-class-of-2024\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T06:04:55","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T06:04:55","slug":"mancos-high-bids-farewell-to-class-of-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/mancos-high-bids-farewell-to-class-of-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Mancos High bids farewell to Class of 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The
The Mancos Class of 2024 begins to throw their caps into the air in celebration of their graduation on Sunday afternoon. 39 Bluejays received diplomas in front of a packed house of family and friends at the Performing Arts Center. (Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

MANCOS \u2013 The Mancos High School senior class paved its own path, even when there wasn\u2019t one that previously existed.<\/p>\n

Thirty-nine Bluejays, donning their school colors and many decorating their caps, received their diplomas and the encouragement of hundreds of family, friends and educators on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Secondary educator Adyan Farrar, a part of the Mancos staff for two decades and the students\u2019 English teacher during their freshmen and sophomore years, gave the commencement speech.<\/p>\n

Invoking Dr. Seuss\u2019 \u201cOh, the Places You\u2019ll Go,\u201d Farrar commended each student\u2019s upcoming journey, whether it\u2019s the workforce, trade school or college.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur ups and downs are what connect us to all other human beings,\u201d Farrar said. \u201cIt takes courage for us to ride the roller coaster of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Valedictorian Mandi Peacock shared her message of recognizing the opportunity for each graduate to make changes to their world.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s protect those dearest to us, be full of love for those around, and be brave enough to stand up for what is right,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Peacock commended the educators for their efforts to instill important values in the students, reminding her classmates of the skills and capacity given to them as they go out into the world.<\/p>\n

Salutatorian Samantha Simmons reflected on a question that had been resonating with her on the eve of her departure for college.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat kind of stories do you want to remember 20 years from now?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

For Simmons, it\u2019s about \u201csaying yes\u201d to all the opportunities that sit in front of the graduates, allowing those experiences to \u201cshape the kind of people we want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Mancos
Mancos graduate Nicolai Charley beams after receiving his diploma from Superintendent Todd Cordrey at the Mancos High School graduation. (Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

<\/p>\n

Peacock and fellow graduate Akima Kane compiled an emotional tribute slideshow for the seniors, showcasing photos from their earliest years together as classmates, as well as posting pictures from infancy up through their senior year.<\/p>\n

Achievements in the classroom and in their extracurricular activities followed the Bluejays throughout their entire careers.<\/p>\n

Upon receiving diplomas each Bluejay took the opportunity to thank the countless influences that guided their path toward graduation.<\/p>\n

The senior class made influential contributions in the school\u2019s first ever state football title this past fall, state tournament appearances in volleyball and girls basketball, and league titles in wrestling, boys basketball, and girls track and field.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever let this community leave you, and listen to your heart when you decide on the path that you\u2019re wanting to take,\u201d Mancos principal Ed Whritner told the seniors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

39 Bluejays celebrate graduating on Sunday afternoon<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27574,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[38,39,155,28,37,36],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-27573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dolores-high-school","tag-dove-creek-high-school","tag-education","tag-headlines","tag-mancos-high-school","tag-montezuma-cortez-high-school"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27573","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=27573"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80111,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27573\/revisions\/80111"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27573"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=27573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}