(Riverton, WY) – Aslyn Fehring, Bailey Grant, and Tawnie Hootch all graduated from Frontier Academy on Tuesday, May 24th during the Fremont County School District #25 Board of Trustees meeting.
Frontier Academy teacher Robert Winn spoke on behalf of Bailey and Tawnie, and Principal Justin Taylor spoke on behalf of Aslyn.
Presenting their diplomas was Board Chairwoman Lynette Jeffres.
Robert shared how he’s seen Bailey grow during her time at Frontier, and hopes she returns to college.
“She has proven herself to be a responsible, mature, and helpful, resourceful person for our school. … She went from being kind of too cool for our school at first … to being one of my favorite people to have at any activity or any event. … You exceeded the requirements of our school and you’re now ready for the next step. … You can do great things. I know that the year that you spent in college was rough because of COVID and you didn’t get that college experience, so please move forward.”
Robert highlighted Tawnie’s personality and her hard work at Frontier.
“She has a charming and delightful personality she always wants to help other people. She always wants to be the life of the party and be someone that brings a smile to everyone. And for that, I’ve loved having Tawnie around. … Not only was she employed but she also took on college classes this semester. … We know that she’s moving on to something better. Tawnie, as you move forward. I’m excited for your adventure in college. It is time for you to really step up and start on that thing called adulting. College is an exciting time, I strongly encourage you to immerse yourself in that experience.”
Justin shared how Aslyn came to be at Frontier and how proud he is that she has plans after high school.
“Over the summer she gave a call and she said you know what, I do need a change. Can I apply, can I interview with Frontier? And Aslyn, I mean, this is hard for me to say but you brought peace and happiness to my heart. … But I’m just so proud. Because it made me feel like you could do this, (you) needed this extra time just to be with us, engage in our culture, engage with the friendships that you have here. … You’re ready to go. You’re ready to engage with your life after high school down in Cheyenne.”
The graduates also had the opportunity to speak during the ceremony. They thanked the board for Frontier, teachers, as well as their families and friends.
Superintedent Joanne Andre-Flanagan wrapped up the ceremony with these final remarks:
“I want to take just a second to tell you that we’re all very proud of you here tonight. Everybody has different paths and different reasons for why they come to Frontier. And we often, well almost every time that we have a graduation the graduates stand up and thank us for having Frontier and they thank the staff and we’re grateful that you would take advantage of what we offer. So, I think one thing that’s always really important, I say this every time to every graduate that walks in here, is we can offer these things to you, life can offer you things, but you have to take advantage of them. You have to do something with what life offers you. So, we’re so happy to be able to offer Frontier for kids in Fremont County, not just in Riverton, we take kids from across the County and we’re proud of the amazing staff that’s there. But that all doesn’t matter if you don’t do something with it. So, when you walk out of here, you remember that you had an opportunity and you took advantage of it. You are here because you chose. And you’ll have lots of choices to make. I know you can do it. You can do whatever you need to do and you did this. You can do it. And that’s what you always need to remember. And look around, you’re not alone. The journey sometimes might feel that way. But you are never alone.”