Harmony Magnet celebrates graduates
Harmony Magnet Academy held a special night of celebration for its graduating seniors inside the Frank “Buck” Shaffer Theater as family and friends watched the students take the stage for their coveted high school diploma.
To jump start the evening, the HMA orchestra played the national anthem, which was then followed by a welcome speech from Principal Jeff brown.
“Welcome parents, students and honored guests, we are here to celebrate the end of one thing for the beginning of another,” said Brown, who continued to thank guests, the faculty and the Porterville Unified School District (PUSD) governing board for always providing the students with support.
Associated Student Body President and Valedictorian Abby Watson gave the ASB speech before moving on to the rest of the valedictorians — a total of 11 this year. The valedictorians for Harmony Magnet Academy were Gwendolyn Adriaansen, Claire Antonio, Glaire Antonio, Lana Bridi, Keeley Fleischer, Audrey Garcia, Grace Guthrie, Zaina Ilyas, Kenzie Milhous, Andrea Murguia and Vanessa Ramos. The valedictorians, who are all young women, each gave 30-second speeches. Some were funny and relatable, others were full of cliches, and others were motivational.
“The first thing that Harmony has taught me is that when life gives you lemons you don’t just make lemonade, instead you take that lemon, figure out a way to make that lemon better,” said Garcia. “Harmony has taught me that integrity, honesty, courage and perseverance are not only big words that we should include in all of our English essays to get a good grade but they are core values that all successful leaders like us should hold true.”
Senior Class President Daisy Orozco followed with the farewell speech.
“Sometimes the best way to figure out where you’re going is
to fail,” said Orozco. “This is going to sound very cliche but we all fail at some point.”
She joked that although her speech was to be on the motivational side, it ended up being not-so motivational and checked her first list of fails, and acknowledged that there are many more to come.
The Harmony Orchestra and its seniors gave one final musical performance by playing a cover of “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” by Elton John and Tim Rice.
Brown returned to the stage to present Harmony’s senior class. He was joined by board of trustees Pete Lara Jr. and Hayley Buettner to present the graduates with their diplomas.