{"id":33786,"date":"2023-05-19T00:23:04","date_gmt":"2023-05-19T06:23:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/farmington-high-school-graduates-374-amid-aftermath-of-shooting\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:13:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:13:40","slug":"farmington-high-school-graduates-374-amid-aftermath-of-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/farmington-high-school-graduates-374-amid-aftermath-of-shooting\/","title":{"rendered":"Farmington High School graduates 374 amid aftermath of shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Former
Former Farmington High School Principal Timothy Kienitz and current principal Rocky Torres hold a sign to challenge and inspire. (David Edward Albright\/Tri-City Record)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

After a tragic event involving a Farmington High School student, the graduating class of 2023 will seek to overcome trauma and grief as they begin a new chapter in life.<\/p>\n

The graduation ceremony took place as scheduled, at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Hutchinson Stadium.<\/p>\n

Trey Jones, class salutatorian, said he had taken classes at FHS since eighth grade and quoted C.S. Lewis, saying, \u201cYou are never to old to set a new goal or dream a new dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones said he was disappointed by not being selected as valedictorian \u2013 his lifelong dream \u2013 but was glad it went to his good friend, Cannon Hilton. Jones stressed the importance of SMART goal setting, specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.<\/p>\n

He said the components are useful tools in goal setting, accountability and self-improvement, but \u201cthey can only get you so far.\u201d He suggested adding another letter \u2018R\u2019 to SMART, making it SMARTER, for resiliency, which means \u201cputting a smile on your face and bouncing back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones said people only learn through failure, quoting Confucius, \u201cA man is not great because he hasn\u2019t failed, a man is great because failure hasn\u2019t stopped him.\u201d He said resiliency was needed when \u201cour own principal hit another student\u2019s car in the student parking lot,\u201d making the crowd laugh.<\/p>\n

\"Salutatorian
Salutatorian Trey Jones suggested adding and \u2018R\u2019 to SMART, as he emphasized the importance of \u201cresiliency.\u201d (David Edward Albright\/Tri-City Record)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cMistakes happen, but we learn from them and move on,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n

Jones said in elementary school he struggled, showing low academic and behavioral performance and lacking direction. He settled into a state of mediocrity and contentedness. He said he also dealt with mental health issues, bouts of depression and self-loathing.<\/p>\n

Jones said he reached out to a fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Baxter, who expressed genuine care and provided assistance with both his academic and personal struggles. They met early in the morning before school started.<\/p>\n

Baxter walked with Jones as his honor escort. He thanked Baxter, his best friend Palmer Bentley, Dr. Teun Fetz for inspiring his lifelong passion for the cello, his mom, dad, the educators and God. \u201cI owe it all to the Creator,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Jones concluded by saying to his classmates, \u201cYou will fall short and you will fail, and failing is exactly what we need. Make goals, strive for them, fight, sacrifice and most importantly, be resilient.\u201d<\/p>\n

Valedictorian Cannon Hilton acknowledged the resilience displayed by Jones and thanks his parents and family for helping him. He thanked the \u201camazing teachers and staff of FHS for their selfless service and tireless efforts \u2026 you\u2019re incredible,\u201d<\/p>\n

He thanked the Farmington police officers and first responders \u201cwho selflessly serve and protect our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hilton acknowledged others who deserve the award, those who have overcome personal and family tragedies and those who have survived mental and physical challenges and those who have fled war-torn countries and are completing their education here.<\/p>\n

Hilton described the challenges his graduating class had faced, including the pandemic, lockdowns and \u201cfear and uncertainty.\u201d He said they were faced with the decision to \u201ceither hold on to the hope that this too shall pass or give up our dreams in the face of discouragement and despair.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe, the graduating class of 2023, chose hope \u2026 we believed in a brighter future,\u201d Hilton said. \u201cThe pandemic taught us how much we need each other. We learned that there\u2019s room for all, but there\u2019s no room for prejudice,\u201d Hilton said. \u201cWe learned that we are better together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hilton said that next week when he takes the oath to defend the U. S. Constitution as he joins the Air Force, he\u2019ll be swearing loyalty to an \u201cidea and that idea is America. \u2026 the idea that people can rule themselves and work together for a common good \u2026 that we can be united despite our differences \u2026 that humanity and love will always prevail.\u201d<\/p>\n

Timothy Kienitz, FHS principal from 2012 to 2021, offered the guest speech. He said his words were prepared weeks ago before Monday\u2019s shooting, but he believed his message was \u201cordained and predetermined for this very moment,\u201d and still the \u201cright message.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kienitz recounted the difficulties and hardships of dealing with the complete remodel of FHS and the \u201conslaught of COVID that turned into something that no one could have imagined.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow all that\u2019s behind you \u2013 no more troubles, no more issues \u2013 you\u2019ll never face any challenges again,\u201d Kienitz said facetiously.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened (Monday) \u2026 we know that trouble does come. It rains. Sometimes it rains hard,\u201d Kienitz said.<\/p>\n

He referenced a \u201can ancient text by the Hebrew kings\u201d that described \u201cpeople of valor.\u201d He quoted, \u201cThese people were ones who knew the times and knew what to do about it. They were people of valor and discernment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know you know what\u2019s going on around you today. You\u2019ve been well-prepared by your teachers and whatever they didn\u2019t teach you \u2026 you\u2019re going to pick up through Discord, Twitter, Tic Tok, Instagram, Discord, Twitter, twitchtube,\u201d he joked. \u201cThe world is not going to be without its troubles ahead. My advice is know the times and know what to do about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou will overcome the challenges of yesterday and the future ahead,\u201d Kienitz said. \u201cWhen you face challenges \u2026 you need to know who you are, what your purpose is \u2026 and how to be overcomers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Kienitz and FHS Principal Rocky Torres held up a sign from the students that read, \u201cFind a Way to Win,\u201d a phrase used by football coach Dalton over the years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a strong, tenacious community and we will find a way to overcome,\u201d Kienitz said.<\/p>\n

The honor graduates were introduced by Dawn Kynast, senior counselor, followed by Torres with his address to the audience.<\/p>\n

Torres said, \u201cFirst, you will notice \u2026 an empty chair with a bouquet of white roses. We\u2019d like to recognize our fellow graduates, family members and friends who could not be with us here tonight. We know the impact you\u2019ve made.\u201d He asked for a moment of silence.<\/p>\n

Torres acknowledged and thanked parents for their support of the graduates and he credited teachers and staff who \u201chave adapted to an ever-changing world.\u201d He praised staff for rising to the challenge of \u201cdoing 1% better each day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rocky
Rocky Torres, FHS principal, encouraged the grads to \u201crecognize their potential\u201d. (David Edward Albright\/Tri-City Record)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Torres said this year\u2019s graduating class, totaling 374, was offered over $9.2 million in scholarships.<\/p>\n

Torres encouraged the grads to recognize their own potential because \u201ctonight is not where it ends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quoting President Franklin Roosevelt, he said the \u201conly limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cYour choices, your effort and your attitude is what makes your tomorrow happen.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

challenged, encouraged and honored<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33787,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[799,1708,443],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-33786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-farmington","tag-farmington-high-school","tag-san-juan-county-new-mexico"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33786","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=33786"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82342,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33786\/revisions\/82342"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33786"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=33786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}