Churchill graduates receive Adult High School diplomas

The Churchill County School District Adult Education program graduated 27 students this spring with the majority participating in the May 16 commencement exercise at the Churchill County High School auditorium.

Chantelle Redner, director of the Adult Diploma Program, said two students completed their requirements several days after the graduation ceremony that recognized the Class of 2024.

Redner said the graduates have changed in many beautiful ways by achieving their goal of earning a diploma and completing the degree requirements. She added the students completed a transformational learning process that showed students how they see each other in the world. This type of learning supports critical ways in which students consciously make meaning of their own lives.

“It’s wonderful to see the transformational learning in all of you,” she said.

Redner said the students were receiving the recognition they deserved after completing their educational requirements.

“As your teacher, I am so very proud of you,” she said.

Redner called on students if they wanted to share their learning experience. Christopher Robinson was the only student who volunteered to tell of his success.

“If it wasn’t for the Lord, personally I wouldn’t be receiving a diploma,” he said.

Robinson also thanked his family for their help, especially with his home schooling.

“This curriculum I’m graduating out of would’ve been much harder,” he said.

Robinson commended his teachers and also the parents and friends of other graduates who attended the graduation.

“I want to thank all of you for coming here and supporting everybody,” he added.

Kathryn Bervin-Mueller, the Churchill County School District's director of Learning and Innovation, delivered the graduation address. She has been a teacher and principal as well as an educational supervisor. Before coming to Fallon in 2023, she was a principal and teacher of middle and high school English, French, Advanced Placement English and Literature, Gifted and Talented students as well as other classes. When Bervin-Mueller taught, she directed two community musicals a year.

Bervin-Mueller’s message centered on the story “The Prince and the Fox” and how the tale’s moral is to focus on what matters. The theme is more direct: “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly: what is essential is invisible to the eye.” Additionally, she pointed out seven messages readers will derive from the book including not to be too fond of numbers, judge people by what they do and important people experience life with their hearts, not with their eyes.

Bervin-Mueller said the true learner grows, especially by creating a bond.

“Relationships make life worth living,” she said.

GRADUATES

Casey Wyatt Anderson, Joshua Alan Bacon, Matthew Jay Bill, Anthony Barajas-Tapia, Shelbe Marie Bereta, Stephen Alan Brooks, Vincent Karmine Cafrelli, Neveah Ranae Caudill, Cody Alven Coffey, Elijah Ray Cornelius, Elijah Kenry DeSantiago, Evelyn Gissell Dirico, Juan Alberto Gutierrez, Kaylin Alexandria Hansberry, Ethan Nicholas Hohlt, Troy Jose Holbrook, Kelsey Lynn Kamps, Joseph Byron Lee, Steven Kyle Leisch, Anthony James Lombardo, Kiana Shayanne Nelson, Jillian Rae Norton, Kaden William Rickerson, Christopher Robinson, Consuelo Romero, KeeAndre Darryl Yazzie and Cheyenne Auburn Wheeler.