Brendan Bloomquist shakes Sweetwater County School District No. 2 board member John Malone's hand after receiving his diploma at Green River High School's graduation ceremony Monday night.
Green River High School art teacher Shane Steiss told graduates Monday night about one of the key principles for self improvement he uses in both his personal and professional lives.
Chosen to address the GRHS graduating class, Steiss, the 2017 Distinguished Teacher said as an artist, he's trained to judge his work and find the imperfections that can be improved. Through each successive painting and pot he makes, he attempts to make each work stronger than the last. As a teacher, a father and husband, he applies the same principles to improve himself, asking himself if he is "sucking less."
"You are going to suck a lot ... but it is my hope you're going to suck less each day," Steiss told graduates. "This is the way we learn, we mess up and learn from our mistakes."
Steiss also spoke about how awesome students in the 2017 graduating class are, having students raise their hand for a number of personal achievements, such as donating blood, being named Wolf of the Week, being a member of the National Honor Society and being a volunteer.
"I dare you to find a group of seniors who have done so much," Steiss said.
Steiss encouraged students to try new things and work at improving themselves each day, saying because they struggle with something initially doesn't mean they'll always struggle with it.
Class address
Anna Ujvary and Kaitlyn Moorman told graduates to be themselves and resist pressure to conform their thoughts and opinions with others. Saying everyone is bombarded with pressure to be politically correct, Ujvary said its important for people to be mindful of others' thoughts and beliefs without changing their own views.
"The idea of political correctness means 'my way or the highway,'" Ujvary said. "It's all around us."
Ujvary said other people will attempt to instill their ideas into graduates' minds and encouraged them to think for themselves and not follow the crowd.
Moorman said individuality is independence and letting another person's thoughts become your own doesn't mean they're your thoughts. She said it might be tempting for graduates to turn off their brains and simply go with whatever happens in their lives, but argued that nothing would come from it aside from instant gratification.
She said no expert was apathetic to the field they are passionate in and said living a mundane and conforming lifestyle would drain a person's spirit.
Reader Comments(0)