“This has been, and is, a great class,” Mingus Union High School Principal Marc Cooper said.
As he reflected on the 2009 graduating class, Cooper said it is the first class he has really known since coming to Mingus more than five years ago. He has watched the progress from freshman year on through. Getting to know them as a class and individually has been a lot of fun, and their accomplishments are astounding, he said.
“They, as a class, were highly performing for four years; they were part of seven state championships in sports and 15 regional championships — eight in their senior year. They earned $1.4 million in scholarships, and 22 of them received the AIMS tuition waivers to the state universities,” Cooper said.
What that means is that those 22 students of the 235 graduates reached the exceeding level on the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards in reading, writing and math. The graduates’ performance falls in line positively with Valedictorian Erin Wylie’s statement that she can guarantee they will not find success by sitting around waiting for it to come.
Wylie said everyone can achieve and succeed. It is just a matter of finding one’s niche.
“Everyone is brilliant at something. Everyone has something they can do better than most of the people they know. Everyone can use that ability to prepare themselves for any opportunities that come their way,” Wylie said.
She said succeeding in high school is a wonderful thing, but what really matters is what one does from this day forward.
“It’s what you make of your life when you are the only one in the driver’s seat,” Wylie said.
Salutatorian Jeremy Glick acknowledged that hard work and good choices are what will lead to success, spoke on the all work, no play theme, and said there is no way to predict what the future will bring.
“Enjoy yourself. Have fun and relish the unexpected and life’s little mysteries. We have so much opportunity to do whatever we please that it’s hard to see why you can’t enjoy yourself every day,” Glick said.
After tossing mortarboards following the graduation ceremony on the football field, and after the hundreds of relatives, friends, teachers and classmates finished the congratulations and hugs, the graduates and a few of their friends headed for Clarkdale and the Operation Graduation Party.
