The Inter-Mountain photo by Edgar Kelley Students walk toward the stage during Buckhannon-Upshur High School’s 135th annual commencement ceremony at the Rockefeller Center on the West Virginia Wesleyan campus.

The Inter-Mountain photo by Edgar Kelley
Students walk toward the stage during Buckhannon-Upshur High School’s 135th annual commencement ceremony at the Rockefeller Center on the West Virginia Wesleyan campus.

BUCKHANNON — Buckhannon-Upshur High School celebrated its 135th annual commencement ceremony Friday evening as 273 students received their diplomas at the Rockefeller Center on West Virginia Wesleyan’s campus.

B-UHS Principal Jonathan Pollock spoke to the large crowd in attendance. He was followed by speeches from Caden Andrick and Kaitlyn Shannon, who were voted on by the students to speak at the ceremony.

“You’ve gone through so much, you have achieved and gotten yourself to this point here,” Pollock told the graduates. “The world is big and there are still plenty of things for you to see, and overwhelming amounts of things for you to learn.

“There is a lot of stuff out there, some things that are worth it, some things that aren’t. You’re going to have to trust in yourselves, you’re going to have to trust in your loved ones, you’re going to have to trust in all the things that you have learned that have brought you to this point right now. You’re going to have to trust in your intellect. But however, there are times, when all of those things, whether due to exhaustion, or anything, some of those things can fail you.

“But I will give you one little piece of advice,” Pollock said. “In all my time, there is one part of me that I know has always guided me right when everything else melted away, and it will guide you right, too, until the day of its last beat, and that’s your heart. You want to use all of the facilities and everything you have, but don’t ever forget your heart, don’t ever forget your heart.”

Senior Class President Katie Pearson closed out the ceremony with a farewell speech. Top graduates in the Class of 2022 are Phillip Wayne Setterlund Jr. and Ryanna Louise Hines.

This year’s 2022 B-UHS graduates include: Dominic Abel, Jadah Abel, Gaidian Adams, John Adams II, Ethan Akagi, Gavin Allman, Rhett Ammons, Caden Andrick, Kierra Arbogast, Tegan Atchison, Cameron Bailey, Cody Bailey, Jacon Bailey, Meghan Bailey, Kaiden Ball, Robin Ball, Layna Barger, Bradley Batten, Kayla Bean, Emma Bender, Marissa Bender, Alexander Bennett, Andrew Bennett, Haylee Bennett, Devin Black, Haylee Blankenship, Luke Bohnsack, Roger Booth and Mashae Bowser,

Kandice Brady, Samantha Brock, Jordan Brown, Madison Brown, Parker Browning, Christian Bryant, Montanna Burr, Samuel Canter, Branson Carpenter, Kristina Carpenter, Madison Carpenter, Alivia Carr, Kloey Chapman, Morgann Chapman, Britney Chidester, Destiny Chidester, Hunter Clark, Allie Claypoole, Bailey Cleavenger, Christopher Cochran, Claire Coffman, John Coffman, Kristina Cogar, Tyler Cogar, Jessica Cool, Brice Cowger, Molly Criss, Kayla Currence and Madison Currence,

Autumn Curtis, Donovan Cutlip, Makenzi Cutright, Quinton Daniel, Sophronia Daugherty, Alexa Davis, Asher Davis, Kasey Davis, Teddy Davis, Colton Day, Isaiah Dean, Brendan Dowling, Gaven Duman, Christopher Dunaway, Blake Dyer, Olivia Ellis, Caleb Elmore, Cameron Irvin, Kaitlyn Evans, Cassandra Everett, Catalina Farnsworth, Dylan Fox, Payton Frame, Logan Freeman, Nevaeh Friend, Caroline Frye, Justice Gooden, Kaleb Gooding, Deven Gould and Miranda Greene,

Mackenzie Grose, Madison Grose, Jonathan Haddix, Maggie Hall, Trinity Hamilton, Carter Hamner, Kaylie Hamner, Kobe Hamrick, Kadee Harper, Karissa Harper, Kellie Harris, Nathanial Harris, Makayla Hayes, John Hayes II, Colin Heavner, Kourtlynn Heflin, Russell Herndon III, Ryanna Hines, Ashton Hinkle, Landon Hitt, Shaylee Hitt, Kaitlyn Hollen, Tessa Hollen, Joycelin Holman, Michael Hoover, Christopher Howard, Gaige Hubbard, Freedom Huddleston, Ashlee Huffman and Tucker Hurst,

Yeshua Hurst, Reese Hutson, Landon Hyre, Lucas Hyre, Mason Hyre, Ashauntae Jefferson, Zelphia Johnson, Lillian Keith, Jada Kelley, Logan Kelley, Giovonni Keplinger, Alona Key, Oliver King, Harley Kittle, Jessica Kittle, Tiffany Landis, Ty Landis, Haley Lane, Isaac Lane, Julien Larcher, Connor Lawrence, Alexis Lee, Branson Lee, Shakia Leichliter, Regan Leigh, Haden Lewis, Kera Lewis, Emma Light, Abigail Loudin, Hannah Loudin, Christina Lustila, Joel Malone and Ryli Marsh,

Zachery Mayle, Chance McCartney, Destinee McCartney, Kaylyn McCartney, Madion McCartney, Kaiden McDaniels, Shelby McDaniels, Kaley McKisic, Olivia McKisic, Landon McLean, Jackson McNeish, Mauricio Menedez, Hailey Metz, Dorian Miller, Kelli Mitchell, Matthew Montgomery, Seth Moore, Olivia Murphy, Breanna Navarrete, Noah Nichols, Kaylee O’Conner, Daniel Oliveira, Catherine Oliveto, Casandra Ortiz, Emory Page, Trinity Page, Abigail Parsons and Miryah Paugh,

Kayleigh Paulhamus, Alexander Payne, Amelia Pearson, Takoda Perrine, Nathaniel Perry, Tyler Peterson, Sheridan Phillips, Maxwell Pickens, Aden Pitts, Randell Post, Holden Powers, Samuel Pringle, Tyson Pugh, Emma Pumphrey, Aiden Radabaugh, Trevur Randolph, Rachel Rebelo, Kaylie Reed, Kamry Reynolds, Katie Riffle, Dade Riley, Cadence Ringer, Brooklyn Robinson, Isaac Robinson, Justin Robinson, Makayla Robinson, Alyssa Rohr, Joseph Rose and Bambi Rowan,

Dylan Rowan, Shawn Rowan, Zachary Rowan, Nathaniel Russell, Brooklynn Sanders, Loni Scott, Eli Seelback, Phillip Setterlund, Kaitlyn Shannon, Sidney Shorter, Hadyn Simmons, Austin Simons, Caitlyn Smith, Dominic Smith, Jasmine Smith, Jeremiah Smith, Katlyn Smith, Wilbur Snider V, Camden Snyder, Haley Sparks, Brittany Sponagle, Kyndra Spotloe, Samuel Stalnaker, Michael Stewart, Karris Stimson, Hailey Stout, Destinee Sutherland, Brittany Suttle and Pharyn Swisher,

Audrey Taylor, Allison Tenney, Cameron Tenney, Charity Tenney, Destiny Tenney, Dominic Tenney, Ethyn Terry, Gaige Thompson, Shelton Thropp, Sterlin Thropp, Tucker Wagner, Zachariah Wagoner, Harrison Walker, Courtney Walton, Hannah Walton, Amberley Ward, Brittany Ward, Cameron Ware, Caroline Ware, Clayton Ware, Nathen Ware, Arlan Washington, Auston Watson, Isabella Weatherholtz, Jaeneika Westfall, Aidan Wilson and Dakota Wilson,

Morgan Wilson, James Hinters IV, Isaiah Woods, Jennifer Woods, Kiara Woods, Logan Wyatt, Virginia Wyatt, Patrick Yoakum and Cameron Zuliani.