videoed<\/a> graduation ceremony that had been taped earlier in the week.<\/p>\nDolores Superintendent Lis Richard introduced the video ceremony, saying that while this year has seen a variety of challenges, they would only serve to make the graduates stronger people.<\/p>\n
\u201cI choose to believe it\u2019s going to make great citizens out of these young people,\u201d Richard said. \u201cI can\u2019t wait to see what they\u2019ll give to our country, what they\u2019ll give to our society, as they learn to overcome challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n
The parade kicked off at 6 p.m., westbound on Central Avenue. It was led by Montezuma County Sheriff Steve Nowlin and trucks from the Dolores Fire Protection District, followed by a line of vehicles carrying this year\u2019s graduating class \u2013 both from Dolores High School and Teddy Bear Preschool.<\/p>\n
A wide range of vehicles processed down Central and Railroad avenues, from cars to a motorcycle to even a pineapple-inspired float. Seniors perched on truck beds or rooftops, dressed in their graduation caps and gowns, while family members drove.<\/p>\n
After the parade, the district streamed a videotaped version of its graduation ceremony. Students were scheduled to come into the Dolores High School gymnasium at a given time to be recorded, with just a few administrators on hand. The clips were then parsed together by Mark Baxter, the district\u2019s technology director.<\/p>\n
Although it perhaps had a quieter crowd than usual, and there were a few giggles as student speakers considered the empty gymnasium before them, the event had all the usual traditional ceremonial proceedings expected.<\/p>\n
Senior class president Jessica Lopez commended her classmates for persevering through an unexpected year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat doesn\u2019t kill us makes us stronger,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s keynote speaker was Jessica Mulvihill-Kuntz, who said she had taught English to most of the graduates since they were in seventh grade. She spoke to them about the power of words, and traced the meaning of each graduate\u2019s name \u2013 after having spoken with their parents.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese words have a tremendous amount of meaning, because they make up who you are,\u201d she told the graduates. \u201cAs you go on in life, please be aware and cognizant of the words that you use. They are powerful. Use them well and with kindness and positivity.\u201d<\/p>\n
There were three co-valedictorians this year, as their grade-point averages were all within hundredths of a point of one another, Richard said. Jordan Elder, McKenzy Howerton and Madison Rodriguez all had the chance to speak to their graduating class, through the camera.<\/p>\n
Elder recalled the value of growing up in the small town of Dolores, and encouraged her classmates to think of the pandemic experience as a chance to really get to the \u201ccore\u201d of who they are.<\/p>\n
\u201cI call you all to stop waiting for a return to normal life, and start building something different, something better,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Howerton congratulated her classmates and told them that it was perfectly fine not to know exactly where they were headed as they took their separate paths.<\/p>\n
\u201cNever give up, pursue your dreams, and don\u2019t be afraid to fail,\u201d she told the class.<\/p>\n
Rodriguez, a recent survivor<\/a> of a rare type of cancer, said the global pandemic made their graduation ceremony all the more unique and memorable. She said there was a time last year when graduation seemed more like a dream than a reality for her.<\/p>\n\u201cBut if there\u2019s one thing I know I will take from senior year, it\u2019s that I\u2019ve got a pretty good support system,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cAnd you know what? I think we as a class are our own support system, in a way.\u201d<\/p>\n
All DHS graduates were able to receive a diploma on camera, and Lopez led them in ceremonially turning their tassel.<\/p>\n
ealvero @the-journal.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dolores students parade through town, tape video ceremony<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":88359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[38,103,155,28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-88358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dolores-high-school","tag-dolores-schools-re-4a","tag-education","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88358","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=88358"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88363,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88358\/revisions\/88363"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88358"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=88358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}