Thrilled to be finished and moving on, 18 new Killeen ISD high school graduates walked across the auditorium stage Thursday at Ellison High School to receive their Class of 2024 diploma.
Family and friends cheered the cap-and-gown clad grads as they processed into the auditorium.
School Board President Brett Williams shared tips for continued success. Shoemaker High School graduate Johanna Camelia Cuello urged her peers to find and follow their own paths.
After Superintendent Jo Ann Fey accepted the class and they stepped across the stage, took their seats, moved their tassels and recessed out to begin life after high school.
Cuello thanked her many supporters, including high school staff members, for helping her even when she didn’t want their help.
“They cared for me even when I rejected it,” she said. “They talked to me even when I didn’t want to be talked to. They loved me even when I wanted to be alone. Honestly, they saved me.”
That unconditional care, she said, taught her that she needed help to overcome obstacles.
The new graduate urged her classmates to be quick to love others, to care for themselves and to see hardships as opportunities for growth.
Later, Cuello said she was relieved to get to move on from high school to focus on her future. She is currently in real estate school, set to attend Temple College and plans to pursue a business degree.
In her speech, she said she wanted to encourage her fellow graduates to approach their next steps with courage.
“Don’t be scared to take that step of faith and limit yourself to what you think you can do, find out what you can do instead of moping around about what you should have done,” she said of her main message to classmates.
“Don’t base your decision on what other people are doing,” she said. “What everyone else is doing is not going to be fitting for you. Finding out what’s best for you makes such self-growth.”
Williams urged the graduates to learn from their mistakes and not let today’s poor decisions be the reason for future missteps.
Intentional actions, he said, lead to intended results, while haphazard actions lead to uncertain results.
The board president also told the graduates to surround themselves with people smarter than they are in order to keep learning.
Relationships matter, he said because success rarely happens alone.
Over the next few years, Williams said, the high school graduates’ goals shouldn’t be to have as much fun as possible, but to set themselves up to live their best lives.
Class of 2024 Summer Graduates include the following:
Ellison High School
Isaiah Valjordan Christian
Jose Luis Rivera Velazquez
Alexis Yariel Torres Rodriguez
Chaparral High School
Sarisyannette Burgos Rivera
Braiden Jerrale Bush
Anayia Francella Hegler
Jamir Dominic Norman
Samiel Antonio Olivieri
Alysse Lashanda Wilson
Harker Heights High School
Mikayla Joye Adair
Mia Angely Franco Luna
Gemma Lynne Frost
Wayne Edward Jackson, II
Killeen High School
Stephen Phillipe Jeanlouis, Jr.
Janiah Leigh Murry
Angel Leonardo Rivera
Jarramy Seth Lee Laureta Scoby, Jr.
Jayden Micahael Sullivan
Jemima Destiny Williams
Shoemaker High School
Niyla Gisele Cooper
Johanna Camelia Cuello
Ania Marjorie Danns
Brandon Maurice Keller
Kaleb Maxwell Pierre
Summer Graduation photo gallery:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/killeenisd/albums/72177720319425120/
