“Together we achieved, now we shine our own way” ~ The EGHS Class of 2025 Motto
By Edward Lynn
Editor
EAGLE GROVE, Iowa — The Eagle Grove High School Class of 2025 celebrated its graduation Sunday afternoon with a heartfelt ceremony filled with music, reflection, gratitude, and forward-looking optimism.
The event began at 2 p.m. in the high school gymnasium, with the traditional processional, “Pomp and Circumstance,” performed by the Eagle Grove High School Concert Band, led by Director Justin Schwake. Principal Heidi Vasquez welcomed attendees and offered encouragement to the graduates.
“Persistence and hard work will help you achieve your dreams, no matter what the odds are,” Vasquez said. “Don’t expect someone to do the work for you—not ChatGPT, y’all.”
She also recognized the top ten academic achievers of the graduating class: Ashley De Leon Andrade, Elizabeth Lopez, Savannah Gilbert, Zabdi Castro-Aroche, Natalie Pederson, Kennedy Thacker, Zach Hogrefe, Riley Hannes, Piper Willard, and Brett Ascherl.
The band followed with a rousing performance of “Byzantine Dances” by Carol Brittin Chambers – which ended in a shout that seemed to announce to the world: here comes the EGHS Class of 2025!
Superintendent Jess Toliver thanked school staff and board members and asked everyone to keep Mr. Groth’s family in their thoughts.
Toliver then introduced salutatorian Elizabeth Lopez, who will attend Iowa State University. Lopez’s speech blended humor and heartfelt thanks, beginning with appreciation for school leaders, coaches, teachers, and her family. “You didn’t just teach me lessons from a textbook. You taught me how to think, how to stay curious, how to communicate and how to grow,” she said.
Lopez fondly recalled the class’s progression through elementary school, where they learned through play; the unpredictable, awkward middle school years; and the abrupt shift to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We went from dissecting sheep lungs to dissecting our internet routers,” she joked. “Let’s go into the world with courage, kindness, and a little bit of humor,” she concluded. “Because if we can survive middle school on Google Meets, we can survive anything.”
She ended on a sentimental note, saying, “If I had another 100 lives, I would choose to be in this class time and time again, as these were the happiest years of my life. I will truly miss each and every one of you.”
Valedictorian Ashley De Leon Andrade, also heading to Iowa State, offered a television-themed metaphor for high school, describing the past 12 years as a binge-worthy show full of unforgettable characters, life lessons, and plot twists, divided into seasons and episodes.
“When we watch any show, we get a feel for the characters and who they really are. We see the connections that are being made between them and how they all play an important role in the story,” she observed. “As we walked through the doors of the elementary school in season one, we didn’t know what to expect,” she said, but by season two, “middle school was our next adventure,” before the third season featured highlights like “the homecoming episode”, sports, music, clubs and extra curricular activities. And, in the course of each “season” of the education of Eagle Grove’s Class of 2025, “there were new characters we met and each influenced us in their special way,” she explained, perceptively.
De Leon Andrade also delivered touching thanks to family, coaches, teachers, and classmates, highlighting the role of her mother, whom she called her biggest inspiration. “When she arrived to the United States, the things that she had were only dreams and ended up becoming many accomplishments,” Andrade said. “This is proof that no matter where you come from, you can accomplish anything you put your mind to.”
She reflected on the shared journey of her classmates, noting that while graduation may feel like the end, the bonds formed will endure. “Take a look around you. The faces you see will never all be here again, all at the same time. This will all be a memory, and smiles that surround you become people we knew from high school,” she said. “However, just because those people we’re graduating with doesn’t mean it has to stay that way.”
“Even though we’ve been waiting for this moment, it doesn’t feel real,” she said. “How do you just say goodbye to the people you’ve grown up with?”
An inspirational message from Class President Michelle Calles-Castro included in the program struck similar notes. “Though this chapter is closing, the memories and friendships we’ve made will stay with us forever,” Calles-Castro wrote. “As we stand at the edge of a new chapter, I want to wish each of us the very best in whatever lies ahead.” Castro-Calles closed on a toast to her classmates, “here’s to chasing our dreams and writing the next great story of our lives!”
The choir, led by Director Sandy Muzzey, performed “And Wherever You Go” by Douglas E. Wagner before Principal Vasquez officially presented the Class of 2025.
Formally accepting the class as graduates, School Board President Tracy Crail reflected on her own graduation, almost exactly 40 years before. “40 years tomorrow, I was you,” Crail said, noting that her own class motto “Though we don’t know where we’re going, we will cherish where we’ve been,” was a perfect summation of everything the students had heard so far in the ceremony. “Be proud of your accomplishments today,” Crail encouraged. “Don’t be afraid to dream big, and remember—you have a gym full of people here ready to cheer you on!”
Diplomas were distributed, each graduate called to the stage in turn, greeted by a member of the School Board, and given their diplomas, and a purple carnation (the class flower). And Principal Vasquez offered a special note in honor of two graduates—Sal Venegas Sanchez and Rafer Russel—were not in attendance as they are currently serving the country in the military.
To close the ceremony, graduate Yarissette Pelico performed Natasha Bedingfield’s “Unwritten” as the recessional, leading her classmates from the gym in song.
Dr. Vasquez concluded by inviting families to remain in the gym to greet their graduates, marking the end of a memorable ceremony, and the beginning of a new journey for the Class of 2025.
Look for cap & gown photos of the individual graduates in the May 29th issue of the Eagle Grove Eagle.
Watch the full Commencement ceremony below:
