Serving Franklin County, WA
Serving Franklin County, WA
Calby Ann VanHallebeke selected as Class of 2020 valedictorian
Superintendent Todd Spear presents Calby VanHollebeke her diploma.
Washtucna teacher Staci Gloyn raps a song in honor of this year's graduating valedictorian.
Calby VanHollebeke poses for a photo with her family following commencement.
WASHTUCNA — A dark and mostly empty gymnasium didn’t take away from Calby Ann VanHollebeke’s evening Saturday.
As the only member of the Class of 2020 to show up for graduation, VanHollebeke of Kahlotus took the sole seat on the stage, helped by her brother, Jess VanHollebeke, who served as the graduation column leader.
Only four family members and a handful of School District employees were present for the Pomp and Circumstance that was also live broadcast in a digital format for those who could not attend.
The remaining members of the Class of 2020, Daphnee Smith and Emma Hulett, were unable to attend the ceremony.
VanHollebeke, the valedictorian, teared up at times during commencement, and laughed at others, including the portion in which teacher Staci Gloyn attempted to rap on stage.
Wearing sunglasses and a backwards baseball cap, Gloyn rapped to the rhythm of “Guns and Ships,” calling her tune “Lungs and Lips.”
Gloyn rapped about “this blue-haired girl we know and love.”
She also sang about the VanHollebeke’s grades, drive and plan to attend University of Missoula this fall.
“You know we’ve got your back
Get your UM life on track
Time to break the Washtucna fetter
But the sooner the better
To get your own life on track
Calby Ann VanHollenbeke”
Gloyn was one of four speakers. The others included new Superintendent Todd Spear, teacher Micheal Dorman and VanHollebeke herself.
Gloyn also read a letter from school counselor Kellie Lassiter.
In her letter, Lassiter encouraged the Class of 2020 to “fail big.”
“Failure, is perhaps, one of the best ways we learn and grow as humans,” Lassiter wrote. “Failure says to me that you tried. You tried something new, scary or different and it just didn’t work out. But the try is so very important.”
In her own speech, VanHollebeke recalled making history in Washtucna schools, resulting in the state naming Palouse Falls as the “state waterfall.”
“… Not many kinds have those kinds of bragging rights,” she said during her speech. “We have to continue taking chances and finding opportunities.”
VanHollebeke also thanked her teachers for making her who she is today, noting that since “you only live once,” she’s not going to take her shot at bigger things.
Those bigger things start this fall for the valedictorian, who is planning to attend University of Montana in Missoula.
See the Ritzville Journal online for VanHollebeke’s full graduation speech.
Roger Harnack is the owner/publisher of Free Press Publishing. Having grown up Benton City, Roger is an award-winning journalist, photographer, editor and publisher. He's one of only two editorial/commentary writers from Washington state to ever receive the international Golden Quill. Roger is dedicated to the preservation of local media, and the voice it retains for Eastern Washington.
Washtucna Valedictorian Calby Ann VanHallobeke gives her graduation speech to a nearly empty gymnasium Saturday evening.
I would like to say thank you to my family for being my in-person audience, and to everyone who is attending via Zoom. For a lot of people, this is probably the strangest graduation they’ve every been to. It’s definitely the strangest graduation I’ve ever been to.
When Mrs. Kraft first told me that I was Valedictorian and going to have to write a speech, I asked her, “Can’t I just play by oboe instead?”
She said no. So, here we are.
When I first came to Washtucna in third-grade, I had no idea how much it would change my life. From by very first day in Mrs. Mayer’s class to when I transferred back in 10th-grade, I have been welcomed with open arms by everyone in the school.
This was something 9- and 16-year-old Calby desperately needed.
Over the course of six-and-a-half years, Washtucna has become my home and second family. But it took that three years of being away to make me realize how special Washtucna is and how good the kids in this school have it.
To the classes below me, I say, don’t take this community for granted … because you don’t know what you have until it’s gone. There are very few other places like Washtucna and we need to cherish them so they’re here for future generations.
I would not be where I am today if it weren’t for the amazing teachers I’ve had throughout my life. You have inspired me to continue learning and pursue my passions, whether it be music, computer science, history, writing or obsessing over “Hamilton.”
There have been times when I questioned whether or not I was choosing the right career. But during those times of doubt, there have always been someone there to remind me that if this career is what I want, then go for it, because you only live once.
To these teachers, and especially my parents, I thank you with a quote from Uncle Iroh from “Avatar: The Last Airbender.” “While it’s always best to believe in oneself, a little help from others can be a great bleassing.”
There are two teachers, in particular, I want to give thanks to. Mrs. Gloyn, you have become my school mom and stand-in therapist. Mr. Dorman, you’ve become my school dad and not having you in Washtucna this year was hard on all of us. You’ve both changed my life and helped me grown not only as a students, but as a person. I will be forever grateful for the things I have learned from you.
To say this year has been crazy in an understatement. Each month has brought something new. And just when you thought things couldn’t get any crazier, 2020 said, “You think crazy, just wait till next month,” as if a global pandemic wasn’t enough.
Even though COVID-19 completely changed the end of our senior year and a lot of things are uncertain in the world right now, we’re still starting the next chapter of our lives.
One of us is married and living in Virgina, another one of us is planning to move to Spokane and work, and I’ll be moving to Montana in a little over a week to start college.
The 11th Doctor once said, “The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don’t always soften the bad things. But vice versa, the bad things don’t necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant.”
So, while the world may not necessarily be a very fun place right now, we can’t forget how good it can be.
While a lot of people see the defining characteristic of the Class of 2020 as being the first class to graduate during the pandemic, there’s something particularly special about Washtucna’s Class of 2020.”
We are the first of four classes to graduate from Washtucna that helped make Palouse Falls the state waterfall when we were in elementary school. What started out as an idea mentioned during class one day, turned into taking a field trip to the falls, learning about Washington state, getting to meet Rep. Joe Schmick, a select few of us speaking in Olympia, being able to get an in-depth look at the legislative process and culminated in getting to watch Jay Inslee sign the bill that made Palouse Falls the state waterfall at Palouse Falls State Park.
Not many kids have those kinds of bragging rights.
As we enter a strange and sometimes slightly scary new world, we should continue to achieve our dreams, whatever they may be. We have to continue taking chances and finding opportunities.
After all, you only live once, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned from “Hamilton,” it’s that “I’m not throwing away my shot.”
— Valedictorian Calby VanHollebeke
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