To 530, ‘much is required’ from FHS Class of ’24
-
Farragut High School Class of 2024 graduating seniors Whitney Gohn, left, and Kate Bruce hug minutes after FHS’s Commencement Ceremony on Bill Clabo Field Sunday evening, May 19. - Photos by Tammy Cheek
-
FHS graduating senior Jack Alley will be making his mark in the military, soon heading to the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. - Photos by Tammy Cheek
-
Audrey Louden - Photos by Tammy Cheek
-
Michelle Lin - Photos by Tammy Cheek
-
Valedictorian Benji Cho, left, and salutatorian Danial Khan - Photos by Tammy Cheek
-
Graduate Madeline Gao hugs Summer Wu - Photos by Tammy Cheek
-
Dr. John Bartlett, FHS principal, and grad Katelyn Bruce - Photos by Tammy Cheek
-
Julie Raby hugs a graduate - Photos by Tammy Cheek
-
Berkley Naro - Photos by Tammy Cheek
-
From left, Alex Bertram, graduate Aubrie Diedrick, Kinsey Frabotta and Olivia Diedrick - Photos by Tammy Cheek
-
Olivia Holmes - Photos by Tammy Cheek
Farragut High School Class of 2024 seniors, 530, walked the stage for the school’s Commencement Ceremony on Bill Clabo Field Sunday, May 19, to receive their diplomas with the challenge to “make a difference” still ringing in their ears.
“To whom much is given, much is required,” FHS principal Dr. John Bartlett said in his speech. He told them to remember two questions: “What breaks your heart” and “what are you going to do about it.”
He challenged them that when something breaks their heart “to fix it.”
Bartlett announced FHS’s graduates earned $43 million in scholarships, while five grads have committed to join the military.
Among them, Benji Cho has earned valedictorian status while Danial Khan was named salutatorian.
Jack Alley was accepted into the U.S. Air Force Academy while Michael Delph was accepted into the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
“It’s my privilege to present an appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to Jack Alley,” said Col. Rick Coleman, the air liaison officer for the U.S. Air Force Academy. “There were 10,500 applicants. Jack was one of 1,200 selected for the Class of 2028.
“Jack will join the long blue line and become an outstanding leader of character in the world’s greatest Air Force,” Coleman added. Along with Alley’s training, “he will be earning his Bachelor of Science degree in business management to become an acquisition officer in the Air Force.”
“Michael will become an Army officer after he completes his studies,” Bartlett said. “He signed up to play baseball, (but) more importantly, he is a man of honor and integrity, and I am super proud to be able to call him sir.
“There is no greater calling than to serve your country,” added Bartlett, himself a former U.S. Marine.
Commencement speakers Audrey Louden and Michelle Lin took from the class quote by Jane Goodall: “What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what difference you want to make,” offering a similar challenge.
“Jane Goodall understood everything we do makes a difference, even the decision to do nothing at all,” Louden said. “The future you have can make a difference. What kind of difference is up to you.”
“Our greatest freedom is to react,” Lin said. “What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide the difference you want to make.”
