CBSS graduates final class
Columbia Basin Secondary School principal James Yonko congratulates a senior during the school's commencement ceremony Tuesday night.
MOSES LAKE - Columbia Basin Secondary School sent off its last graduating class this week.
Family members and friends of the 51 graduating seniors filled the Wallenstein Theater at Big Bend Community College Tuesday night to watch as the group said goodbye to each other and their school. Principal James Yonko said this year's commencement was special because the Class of 2014 represented the school's 30th graduating class in addition to being the school's last graduating class. It becomes Endeavor Middle School next year.
The Class of 2014 also had a record number of students in it, he said.
"Look at how many students are on stage with us tonight," he said during commencement. "We are proud of every one of these students."
Yonko took a moment to thank current and past CBSS staff for their contribution to the school over the years.
"This program continued because it had a lot of people - teachers, administrators, students - working together to continue to fight for the program," he said.
Yonko said each graduating class, especially the Class of 2014, was evidence of that work. He said while CBSS staff play a role each year, it's the students who do most of the work.
"The student has to have the passion to be successful, we as staff can light the fire but it's up to the student," Yonko said.
He said like the Phoenix rises from the ashes, so do students rise from their obstacles to success.
"When the flame catches hold, we stand back and watch the flames get bigger and bigger and you see that success," Yonko said. "And on graduation day you have this right here on stage, this is success."
Class valedictorian Emilee Hieronymus told her fellow graduates that the success they've had at CBSS will carry over to the next parts of their lives.
"I know all of us will make sure the word success is associated with what we do," she said. "I hope that what we learned here at CBSS serves us well."
Although this was the last year for their school, she said the Phoenix legacy will continue to live on through them.