Free State High school graduate Elle Cormaney offered a gift of new shoes to the graduating class of 2025 — not a physical pair, but a pair offering a lesson for the Firebirds to take as they depart the school.
She said shoes have walked the Firebirds through every stage of their long educational journeys. The idea to speak about shoes came to her as she looked at her beat-up sneakers that she has worn nearly every day the last few years.
“We have left footprints of our legacies everywhere we have gone,” she said.
Now, she said, the new shoes offer a new opportunity for the class of 2025.
“Please take these shoes and run to create your future,” she said.
Nick Sprecker said high school has taught him the importance of being present.
“We often think too anxiously about the future or sulk in the past such that we forget the present,” he said.
He said people are prone to overlook what is constant yet extraordinary in their lives, and people learn more about themselves in moments of failure than success.
“Growth happens in the present,” he said. “Growth happens right now. Growth happens in the day-to-day.”
Superintendent Jeanice Swift addressed the 430 graduates as an “expanse of green under a beautiful blue sky.”
“You have everything it takes to move forward in confidence and impact our world in positive and profound ways,” she said. “You have persevered. You’ve overcome. You represent a unique and special generation.”
Swift commended the students for starting their high school careers during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet still finding a way to excel.
“I hope you know that you emerge from a strong and powerful place: Free State High School. Lawrence, Kansas,” Swift said.
Swift thanked the teachers and support staff who helped the graduates reach Wednesday’s celebration, and she recognized the role parents play in a child’s education and thanked them for entrusting their students to Free State High School.
School board vice president GR Gordon-Ross issued a challenge to the graduating class: be a lifelong learner.
“Learning should never stop, whatever you choose to do,” he said. “You always choose to learn and to grow and to continue to build your knowledge base. Knowledge is the only thing in this world that can never be taken from you.”
Thirty-five students were honored with gold medallions for achieving perfect GPAs: Charity Bittinger, Mridula Boopeshkumar, Zoe Cachiguango-Latta, Logan Dinges, Austin Drewry, Sacia Edie, Amaya Gab, Hannah Goertzen, Kathryn Hale, Neylana Haque, Olivia Hemker, Olivia Iversen, Ember Klein, Krish Kulkarni, Richard Li, Dylan Mackie, Parker Moore, Sham Nassar, Megh Patel, Naomi Porter, Noah Pultz-Earle, Aspyn Roundy, Max Ruland, Elinor Russo, Loren Schwab, Gillian Sellet, Somjai Sengchan, Elliot Skillman, Lola Stuhlsatz, Amelia Wiles, Anwen Williams, Simon Williams, Jocelyn Wilson, Lois Xie, Marlena Zuo.
The graduating class voted to give Citizenship Awards to Daijah Preston and Blaine Larkin, recognizing their classmates for showing respect, responsibility, inclusivity and good sportsmanship in school and the community.
Landon Gillman Haskell read a land acknowledgment to begin the ceremony, recognizing the district’s occupation of land from numerous Indigenous nations including the Kaw, Osage and Shawnee nations. Free State choir seniors sang the national anthem and alma mater.
Here’s a list of scholarships awarded on Senior Night and self-reported by the graduates, provided by the district:
FSHS-Local-Scholarships-24-25
If our local journalism matters to you, please help us keep doing this work.
Don’t miss a beat … Click here to sign up for our email newsletters
Click here to learn more about our newsletters first
Cuyler Dunn (he/him), a contributor to The Lawrence Times since April 2022, is a student at the University of Kansas School of Journalism. He is a graduate of Lawrence High School where he was the editor-in-chief of the school’s newspaper, The Budget, and was named the 2022 Kansas High School Journalist of the Year. Read his complete bio here. Read more of his work for the Times here.
More coverage: Graduation 2025
Nathan Kramer / Lawrence Times
August Rudisell/Lawrence Times
August Rudisell / Lawrence TimesFree State grads urged to be lifelong learners at 2025 commencement
Latest Lawrence news:
Maya Hodison/Lawrence Times
