Sixteen Tigers Graduate From Prescott High

PRESCOTT - Amanda Beckman plans to study pre-law. Iris Batalla wants to become a dental hygienist. Nora Almanzar may enroll in a police academy and become a professional sniper. Cesar Munguia will attend WSU to study business and accounting. Joe Purdin and David Brock plan to enroll in Walla Walla Community College's welding program.

The Tigers in the Class of 2011 all have a vision of their future which began at their commencement on Friday night, capping high school careers as athletes, honor students or simply making all the way to graduation.

"Each of us has a different way and pace of traveling down this path," said Munguia, his class' valedictorian told the many teachers, relatives and community members who came to celebrate their graduation.

"There are many memories that left behind and you will all be missed," he told Prescott High School's teachers and staff in particular. "Thank you for all that you have done for this class of 2011."

Sixteen Tigers graduated in a sunset ceremony at the gym that marked Dr. Bill Jordan's first commencement as the district's superintendent. They chose for their class motto: "Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible and achieves the impossible."

Some graduating Tigers already reached high during their years at Prescott, with athletes like Munguia, Purdin, Batalla, Beckman, Brock, Isabel Benito, Guillermo Hernandez, Jose Esquivel and Miguel Velazco all excelling in their sports ranging from soccer to basketball and contributing signifi cantly to the Waitsburg- Prescott sports combine.

Senior Tigers also won more than $8,200 in scholarships to support their higher education goals after high school.

Jordan, who was one of two commencement speakers, had a few sage words of his own for the seniors' next stage in life: keep your word, treat people better than they expect, be of service, take the time to listen to others, do the right thing, have courage and never be afraid to try something new.

And finally, "don't confuse your career with your life," he said before shaking each of the graduates hands and turning the podium over to Teacher of the Year Mark Grimm.

Grimm's speech included some candid ribbing of each of his departing students (Miguel Rubio's yellow shoes, Almanzar's perfect nails, Amelia Lopez's record-setting parental notes) and an observation about the nature of Prescott High.

"This school is all about sharing," Grimm said. "Families come through. That's the cool thing about this school: You're all such wonderful people."

Graduate David Brock introduce the class song, "Time To Grow Up," which was written especially for the occasion by James Corbin, a singer song writer from North Carolina who now lives in Seattle when he's not serving in Iraq.

"How many times have I cursed those old orchards and wheat fields that block the sun from my eyes," the song's second verse goes. "For some unknown reason, I'm not ready to leave em much to my bewildered surprise."

To Corbin's down home country folk lyrics, each of the seniors had a chance to find their parents in the audience, hand them a yellow rose (one of the class flowers) and embrace them in a long held school tradition.

"As parents, you should be extremely proud," high school counselor Marianne Newell said before she and business manager A.J. Jacobson started their long list of scholarship recipients. "This truly is an outstanding class."

High school principal Jodi Thew handed the graduates their diplomas, after which Hugo Puhua invited the gathered to the graduation reception in the school's multipurpose room.

2011 PRESCOTT HIGH SCHOLARSHIPS

Senior Scholarships:

Prescott Memorial Scholarship Fund Valedictorian

Award $150 Cesar Munguia

Prescott Memorial Scholarship Fund Salutatorian Award

$100 Iris Batalla

Lions Club/Sam Erwin Memorial Scholarship $1000

Amanda Beckman

Presented by Matt Tunnell

Prescott Education Association Scholarship $ 5 0 0

Guillermo Hernandez

PHS Alumni Class of 1960 Memorial Scholarship $780

Joseph Purdin

Aiyeku-Turner/Jackson Family Scholarship $500 Cesar

Munguia

Jacobson Family Scholarship $500 Cesar Munguia

Jacobson Family Scholarship $495 David Brock

Gailord and Jean Nelson Scholarship $500 Amanda

Beckman

A.C.E. Award $350 Amanda Beckman

Prescott Booster club $500 Amanda Beckman, presented by Michelle Brock

Gaylord and Jean Nelson Scholarship $500 Amanda

Beckman;

Blue Mt. Community Foundation William & Delora

Harpe Scholarship $1,000, Isabel Benito, presented by

Lawson Knight

Blue Mt. Community Foundation Ralph & Delora

Harpe Scholarship $1,500 David Brock

Blue Mt. Community Foundation Keith & Helen Fenner

Scholarship $595 David Brock

Rasty E & Nona Ketcherside Scholarship $1,500 David

Brock

The Times Community Service Scholarship $500 David

Brock, presented by Imbert Matthee

Prescott Booster Club $1,000 David Brock, presented by

Michelle Brock

Rotary $1,000 Cesar Munguia, presented by Terry Keske

Blue Mt. Community Foundation William & Delora

Harpe Scholarship $1,000 Cesar Munguia, presented by

Lawson Knight

WSU Gear-Up $2000 Cesar Munguia

WSU-Future Cougars of Color Award-Renewable for 4

years $5,000 Cesar Munguia

Alumni Scholarships:

PHS Alumni Scholarship $767 Morgan Beckman

PHS Alumni Scholarship $767 Rocio Escalante

PHS Alumni Scholarship $767 Julio Almanzar

Prescott Education Association Scholarship $400 Alisha

Marshall

Prescott Education Association Scholarship $500 Andrea Cruz

Columbia Basin College Foundation, Leuita P. Mathiowetz Scholarship $1000 Andrea Cruz, presented by Brenda

Boone