{"id":198859,"date":"2024-06-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-14T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=198859"},"modified":"2024-06-14T21:14:36","modified_gmt":"2024-06-14T21:14:36","slug":"students-walk-the-stage-into-adulthood-at-2024-hohenfels-graduation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=198859","title":{"rendered":"Students walk the stage into adulthood at 2024 Hohenfels graduation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n JOINT MULTINATIONAL READINESS CENTER, Germany — Col. Kevin A. Poole, commander of U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria, speaks to the 2024 graduating class of Hohenfels High School during their graduation May 31, 2024. The class of 20, Poole recounted, entered life as military children during two large military conflicts, and their high school lives saw both a pandemic and the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II. All these experiences, Poole believed, would make them the resilient generations the U.S. has seen. (U.S. Army photo by Bryan Gatchell, USAG Bavaria Public Affairs)
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JOINT MULTINATIONAL READINESS CENTER, Germany — Seniors of Hohenfels Middle \/ High School graduated during a ceremony May 31, 2024, at the military movie house near Hohenfels, Germany.<\/p>\n

There were 20 in the graduating class, with half going on to college and the other half either entering the workforce or taking apprenticeships or similar on-the-job trainings.<\/p>\n

Members of the community lined General Patton Drive to cheer them as they made a motorcade from the school to the theater.<\/p>\n

Students in the music program played \u201cPomp and Circumstance\u201d by Edward Elgar as the seniors walked in pairs down the middle aisle of movie theater to ascend the stage and take their seats, two rows of five on either side of a table covered with a blue tablecloth and the school\u2019s symbol \u2013 the head of a blue-eyed white tiger roaring.<\/p>\n

Before an audience of parents, siblings, teachers, and many other Hohenfels military community members, Principal Rick Renninger took to the podium stage right. He addressed the seniors and the challenges they faced throughout their academic career.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeniors, you have come so far, and you have learned so much,\u201d said Renninger. \u201cI am completely confident you have inside of you everything you need to truly change this world for the better. You are well-rounded, culturally aware, tolerant, and extremely resilient. You have all of what it takes. I am honored to be a part of your final year at Hohenfels High School.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHere at this school, we have had the opportunity to experience a glimpse of the diversity the world as a whole has to offer,\u201d said salutatorian Bryce Buford. \u201cWe will be with other in memory and experience. We have struggled and persisted together.\u201d<\/p>\n

The valedictorian, Hector Proano, cited the Hohenfels community\u2019s relatively small size and isolation from other installations as factors in developing a strong bond with his classmates.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery last one of you made this place special,\u201d said Proano, referring to his fellow classmates.<\/p>\n

Col. Kevin A. Poole, U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria commander, imparted four pieces of advice as his keynote address to the graduates: to embrace the struggle, to not be afraid to fail, that their potential is unlimited, and to lead with love.<\/p>\n

Along with the advice to persevere in both struggle and failure, he commended the class for growing up as military children during two major combat operations \u2013 Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The graduating class also entered high school just as COVID-19 become a pandemic that required difficult adjustments on the students\u2019 behalf. And, then, of course, they were all in Europe as Russia invaded Ukraine \u2013 the largest armed conflict on the continent of Europe since World War II.<\/p>\n

\u201cLadies and gentlemen, I don\u2019t think you realize it yet, but you have been forged in fire and are ready for any challenge that you undertake,\u201d Poole said. \u201cYou are our nation\u2019s next \u2018greatest generation,\u2019 and don\u2019t let anyone (to include old folks like myself) tell you any different.\u201d<\/p>\n

Poole also clarified what he meant by \u201cleading with love.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I mean with the word love is a conscious act of the will for the good of another,\u201d Poole said. \u201cFind what\u2019s good about those you interact with, the organizations you work for, your co-workers, your subordinates, your friends, your Family, and dedicate your existence to their good \u2013 and you will all be better for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the keynote speech, the students received their degrees, moved their tassels and flung their mortarboards into the air.<\/p>\n

The class of 2024 graduates from Hohenfels High School includes:<\/p>\n

–\tErin Angulo,<\/p>\n

–\tHayden Bartlett,<\/p>\n

–\tForrest Bogel,<\/p>\n

–\tEmily Boyle,<\/p>\n

–\tBryce Buford,<\/p>\n

–\tJazlyn Campbell,<\/p>\n

–\tGarris Coker,<\/p>\n

–\tKatelyn Cooley,<\/p>\n

–\tBrian David,<\/p>\n

–\tIsabel DeBorja,<\/p>\n

–\tTrashon Fortenberry,<\/p>\n

–\tScott Johnson,<\/p>\n

–\tAbigail McCarthy,<\/p>\n

–\tPreston Mitchell,<\/p>\n

–\tHector Proano,<\/p>\n

–\tColibri Sanchez,<\/p>\n

–\tLuisa Jane Tolentino,<\/p>\n

–\tAbigail Weaver,<\/p>\n

–\tNadine Willey, and<\/p>\n

–\tJacob Zarum.<\/p>\n

To see photos from the event, visit https:\/\/flickr.com\/photos\/usagbavaria\/albums\/72177720317463297<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JOINT MULTINATIONAL READINESS CENTER, Germany — Col. Kevin A. Poole, commander of U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria, speaks to the 2024 graduating class of Hohenfels High School during their graduation May 31, 2024. The class of 20, Poole recounted, entered life as military children during two large military conflicts, and their high school lives saw both […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198861,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-198859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=198859"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198859\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":198862,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198859\/revisions\/198862"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/198861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=198859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=198859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=198859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}