Dayton High School graduates enter the high school football field for their processional during commencement Thursday.
Photo by Jessica Garcia.
Dayton High School recognized 169 members of the Class of 2023 on Thursday during graduation held at the football field.
Fifty seniors qualified for Millennium scholarships totaling $500,000.
Dayton High salutatorian Chloe Henderson delivers her student address to her classmates after receiving her medal from her parents during Thursday’s graduation ceremony.
Valedictorian Natalie Barwig and salutatorian Chloe Henderson were recognized with the traditional medals for their honors.
Henderson acknowledged that for her classmates, their first two years of high school were “completely different” than the traditional experience for students, thanking Dayton’s staff for helping her and her peers.
“I would like to think if we got through COVID, we can make it through our next journey,” she said.
Paul Manning, physical education and health teacher and boys basketball coach at Dayton Intermediate School, gives the commencement address to Dayton High’s Class of 2023, reflecting on teaching some of them when they were in middle school.
Barwig quoted Thomas Edison in her message about failure being an option to inspire her classmates in their next chapter.
“We’ve had our ups and downs, our achievements and failures,” she said. “We should not shy away from failure. When creating the light bulb, Thomas Edison said, ‘I have not failed 10,000 times, I have found 9,999 ways that won’t work.’ … So wherever we go, whether across the country or across the globe, we get to choose what we do.”
Dayton High graduates Joslyn Madsen and Kristen Hoffman perform the national anthem Thursday.
Dayton graduates wave to family members and guests as they arrive at their seats during the processional.