Grads say goodbye to Pahrump Valley High

After years of hitting the books, Pahrump Valley High School students heard Principal Jerry Hill say the magic words June 7, "Having fulfilled all the requirements of the State of Nevada and the Nye County School District, I pronounce you graduates of 2001."

The graduation event on the football field was marked by different speakers with notable quotes, poetry and song. Hill called the class of 2001 the best of the 28 graduating classes at Pahrump Valley High School, with 40 percent of the senior class qualifying for the Nevada Millennium Scholarships, reaping almost $700,000.

"You must adapt, improvise, in order to overcome the obstacles you will face," Nye County School Superintendent LeRoy Key said. Quoting from a Chinese proverb he said, "it is said change is like the dragon: ignore it and it will devour you; learn to ride it and you will prosper."

The graduation ceremony was shortened to 75 minutes, with the scholarships and other awards handed out at a senior class awards ceremony the night before.

Walt Turner, a popular member of the senior class, said, "Life is not a dress rehearsal. You only have one life to live it."

Suzi Nelson and Amy Fredrick, the first and second valedictorians, recited their poem, "The Graduate," which drew heavily on Edgar Allan Poe's famous poem, "The Raven" and it's characteristic line, "nevermore" to recollect about four years at Pahrump Valley High School.

"Ah, distinctively we remember it was the crisp September;

And each separate vibrant classmate skipped her feet across the floor;

Eagerly we wished the morrow; forced, we had stopped to borrow;

School books that brought much sorrow -- sorrow from excessive bore;

Of schoolwork and homework more."

One stanza, which evoked the incidents at school this past year, read:

"But the strangeness still beguiling all our fancy into remembering;

Stenches we whiffed at much demise inside hallways and bathrooms many;

Then, in the morning, while thinking, the phone starts ringing;

Secretaries saying, explaining that there is no school that day;

For broken water lines and bomb scares prove that there is no school, no way!

But yet to happen, never more."

Another stanza summed up the school life:

"Testing, testing, never resting. Working, working, always time-investing.

Intent and naive, we toil long, seeking knowledge and grades that are strong.

Compromising sleep with homework galore; juggling friends and labor ever more.

Wishing, hoping for it all to end, and time with friends for us to spend."

The two valedictorians closed with some advice: "Drink lots of water, apply sun block as needed, don't let your brains go to mush."

The rock group, Exit 33, comprised of Pahrump Valley High School students Vince Blodgett, Ashley Hall, Lee Wharton and Kevin Keating, struck up a rock version of "Pomp and Circumstance" on electric guitar, part of a medley of appropriate hits that included "I Will Survive," "We Are The Champions" and "I Hope You Had The Time of Your Life."

The Queen song contained the lyrics, "I've paid my dues; Time after time; I've done my sentence; But committed no crime; And bad mistakes; I've made a few." But it added, "No time for losers; 'Cause we are the champions -- of the world."

In a tradition, the senior class picked a featured speaker -- wrestling coach Craig Reiger got the honors. Reiger recalled his first year at Pahrump seven years ago. He taught many of these same students in sixth-grade at Rosemary Clarke Middle School. He remembered some of the students -- Candace Sanderson, Walt Turner, Ashley Hastings.

Reiger said wrestler Neal Cowley, in winning the state championship this year with a broken hand, proved someone can accomplish anything if they want. The hard work of the students brought them to the graduation ceremonies, he said.

"You will always have pleasant memories of Pahrump Valley High School," Reiger said. "There's no substitute for hard work and when times are tough, by the wise words of one Jesse Wable, suck it up and take another lap."