After stressful start to high school, Catoctin grads finish strong

As she stood in front of her school’s senior class Tuesday night, Catoctin High School Principal Jennifer Clements reflected on how high school and the world had changed during their time at the school.

The start of high school in 2020 for the 166 members of the class of 2024 included virtual learning, a drive-through homecoming, and masks, Clements said.

“All of that is part of your story,” she said.

Photos: Catoctin High School Graduation

The class has affected the Thurmont and Emmitsburg communities during its time at Catoctin, she said.

But Clements said she was confident that the class’s impact would continue to be felt as it leaves the school.

Carly Ridenour, the class’s student speaker, also reflected on how the dynamics of their school experience completely changed with the arrival of COVID-19 during their eighth-grade year.

“At times, we were pushed beyond our limits,” she said.

Board of Education member Jason Johnson issued the graduates a deceptively simple challenge: “Make your life count.”

They could help that happen by sharing with others, always seeking victory, and persevering and enduring through difficult times, he said.

“Not every road will be straight, and not every sea will be calm, but press on,” Johnson said.

Frederick County Public Schools Superintendent Cheryl Dyson urged the graduates to stay connected with people who helped them get where they are and to never stop learning.

As graduates lined up in the gymnasium across the hall from the arena at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg before the ceremony, a few reflected on their journey, and what they hoped their journeys would be going forward.

Gisselle Vasquez said the last few weeks have been stressful. At times, she wasn’t sure if she even would graduate.

But the challenges helped her learn to ask for help when she needed it, rather than trying to do everything herself, she said.

She felt relieved and excited Tuesday night, and plans to go “off to explore in this world.”

She’s hoping to go to Frederick Community College to get a degree in child care.

She already works at a daycare, working with infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.

Vasquez said she enjoys working with children, seeing how their minds work and how they figure things out.

For Malin Grongstad, a Norwegian exchange student at the school, the immediate future includes returning to her native country in June, after being in the United States since July.

She’s spent the past year traveling with her host family and getting used to American customs.

One thing that surprised her the most is Americans’ tendency to make small talk, she said.

It’s taken some adjusting, but she’s gotten more used to talking with strangers, Grongstad said.

While she will be returning to Norway soon, she said she hopes to return to the U.S. to go to college.

Senior Kaitlynn Grimes said it was good to have the experience of graduation and senior year with so many of the people she’s grown up with and gone to school with her entire life.

School has often been difficult, she said, but she credited her psychology teacher, Stephen Cree, with helping her rediscover a love of learning in high school.

She’s thinking of pursuing a career in psychology, or some type of work that lets her help people.

Having struggled at times with her mental health, she said, she wants to help people see that you can struggle and still be OK.

“That’s what I want to do. I want to make an impact on people’s lives,” she said.