'Only 12 more years': Pine Bluffs, Burns give big send-off to the high school class of 2024

May 19—PINE BLUFFS — If Laramie County School District 2 Superintendent Justin Pierantoni had one main message for the high school class of 2024, it was this: You only have 12 more years until you reach your 30s.

Just as the past 12 years zipped by for their parents, Pierantoni guaranteed the high school graduates that the next 12 years would fly by just as fast.

Pine Bluffs High School saw 28 students graduate on Sunday, and Burns High School saw less than double that amount, with just over 40 high school seniors receiving their diploma. Both schools held their commencement ceremonies within three hours of each other, at Pine Bluffs High and the Event Center at Archer, respectively.

Parents, grandparents, siblings and cousins filled the bleachers of each commencement ceremony, dads wiping their eyes and moms snapping photos on their phones. In the blink of an eye, the waddling toddlers they once knew were now on their way to adulthood. Some of them will continue their education at the local community college or four-year institution, and others plan to join the military or head straight into the workforce.

Burns High graduating seniors Shelby Clark and Brooke Hansen opened their school's ceremony on a nostalgic note, recalling the last time a senior athlete practiced on the track or the last time students sat in the bleachers for a Friday night football game.

"After all these lasts, nothing is the same," one of them said.

Pierantoni and the LCSD2 Board of Trustees made a special appearance at both graduation ceremonies. Pierantoni's own son, Jace, graduated from Pine Bluffs High School on Sunday.

"Full disclosure, horseradish makes my eyes water," Pierantoni said. "It was only yesterday they graduated from kindergarten. At least, that's how it feels to us parents."

Pierantoni engulfed his son in a big, proud dad bear hug after he received his diploma, eyes watering without a single horseradish in sight.

The Pine Bluffs High School ceremony certainly scored points for its theatrics. The buzz of family and friends chatting in their seats fell silent once the gym lights went out. A small light illuminated from an electric keyboard in a far corner of the gym, and the pianist played the familiar graduation march, "Pomp and Circumstance," composed by Edward Elgar.

The graduates entered the room in pairs, led by family members who carried a plastic candlelight. A path of light formed as the candle bearers stood on either side of the aisle, and the graduates found their way up to the stage.

Pine Bluffs High School Principal Todd Sweeter described the class of graduates as humble and hardworking, with "a touch of sass." Before the group of 17- and 18-year-olds set off to start the new chapter of their lives, Sweeter couldn't resist giving the group one last piece of advice.

"You can go wherever you want, I promise you that," Sweeter said. "Use your quiet determination and take what you want, while the world is sitting back and watching TikTok videos."

What Burns lacked in theatrics, it made up for in humor. On stage, Burns High School Principal Bobby Dishman swapped out his brown leather loafers for a pair of soft blue Nike Air Jordans. Dishman explained he was fulfilling a promise he made to graduating senior Isaiah Camarillo.

Camarillo is well-known for being a "sneakerhead" and told the principal about the shoes at the beginning of the school year, Dishman told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. Dishman said if Camarillo bought him a pair of "South Carolina-colored" shoes, he'd wear them on graduation day.

"I walked away thinking it would never happen," Dishman said. "He came in before Christmas, put them on my desk, and said, 'Here's your graduation shoes.'"

Each school's ceremony included a slideshow that displayed the names and photos of each 2024 class member. Burns seniors chose to have the final slide dedicated in memory of Cassidy Linn Cooper, who died in a horse riding accident a week before her seventh birthday in October 2013.

Had Cooper survived, she would have been sitting with the rest of the Burns High School seniors that day. The Cassidy Linn Cooper Memorial Scholarship, created in her honor, was awarded to three of the 2024 graduates: Shelby Clark, Summer Kinkade and Savannah Kirkbride.

"It always seems impossible until it's done. But guess what guys? It's done. It wasn't impossible," said Kirkbride, salutatorian of the Burns High Class of 2024. "And this is the mindset that can take you to the next step of your life."

Hannah Shields is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's state government reporter. She can be reached at 307-633-3167 or hshields@wyomingnews.com. You can follow her on X @happyfeet004.