Local News

Starting the Next Chapter

67 Tucker Mountain Lions graduate

HAMBLETON -- A total of 67 seniors graduated from Tucker County High School as the Class of 2025 during commencement ceremonies at the school.

The ceremony took place indoors on May 23. 

In her address during the ceremony, Class of 2025 President Reagan Herron recalled first visiting the school as an eighth-grader, adding, "No matter how much we have changed, we have always been there to have each other's backs. The past four years is something we will always look back on with pride, saying, 'Those were the good old days.'"

Co-salutatorian Avah Behrens-Wik told the class, "One of my favorite things about growing up in a small town and attending a small school like this one is that, in many ways, we are a family. So to all the TCHS staff, and all the community members who have ever checked in on me, helped me out, or played a role in my life in any way -- and there are certainly a lot of you -- thank you."

Co-salutatorian Ava Shaffer noted, "All in all, today marks the end of one chapter, and the exciting, unpredictable beginning of another. This journey was not ours alone. Behind every achievement, there was someone who encouraged us, teachers who believed in us, families who supported us, and friends who stood by us through it all."

Valedictorian Malia Cussins told the class, "For me, freshman year feels like a lifetime ago, back when we wandered the halls clutching our paper schedules because we couldn't remember which class was in which room… We figured things out, we learned how to find our way…

"We started to discover who we were. We found what makes us curious, what makes us angry, what makes us laugh until our stomaches hurt. We found people who made school feel like more than just a place to be, it made it feel like a place to belong."

The graduating seniors included:

Alicia Nicole Barb, Avah Ren Behrens-wik, Caroline Paige Bonner, Trevan Cleve Bonner, James William Boring, Joseph Dale Brown Jr., Nevaeh Grace Burdock, Bailey Cale, Moira Glennan Callaway, Cole Lewis Carr, Allen Chase Collar, Chloe Beth Cummings and Malia Nicole Cussins;

Christopher Patrick Donnellan, Charley Young Dumire, Preston Alexander Evans, Joshua Ray Felts, Rocky Dakota Freeman, Jeremiah C. Funk, Brayden Joseph Grey, Blake Daniel Helmick, Kennide Grace Helmick, Reagan Rumer Herron, Madalyn Rose Jennings, Waylon Bo Kisamore and Madeline Pauline Knotts;

Aliya Paige Lawrence, Allison Brooke Liller, Paisley Claire, Lipscomb, Anniston Jade Long, Tyler David Mason, Edina Raven Matthews, Adelaide Seyer McCann, Christian Damien Miller, Quante Shawn Mitchell, Tyler James Mitchell and Liberty Stacey Elizabeth Moore;

Gavin Alan Nestor, Carlee Jaydon Nicholas, Issak Ashton Parsons, Sutton Mareanna Pase, Alex Lydia Phillips, Mark Dale Jr. Phillips, Malachi Eugene Poe, Nolan Bryce Poling, Reece Elias Poling, Jared C. Reall, Damian J. Rhodes, Lillian Maria Rivera and Karleigh Raye Rohrbaugh;

Ryan Allen Scott, Ava Laine Shaffer, Addalean Nina Shoemaker, Cameron Blake Showalter, Winter Ann Slaubaugh, Emily Brook Snyder, Kyra Faith Sovine, Emily Elaine Faith Spackman, Jayden Eugene Suesli, Grayson David Sypolt, Anthony Benjamin Sypolt, Trinity Nicole Thompson, Olivia Marie Triplett, Kelslynn Ann Whitehair, Garrett Lance Wilfong, Olivia Skye Williams and Autumn Brooke Zirk.