Top two seniors speak at Commencement

In the graduation ceremony held last Thursday night in the Portageville High School gymnasium, both the class valedictorian and salutatorian delivered speeches of encouragement to their fellow classmates.

This year's Valedictorian in Jake Bracey. He is the 18 year old son of Jim and Mary Catherine Bracey, and Sherri and Tony Scherer. He is the grandson of Bonnie Bracey and the late Hilton Bracey, and also the grandson of the late Edward and Mary Mosby.

He has played football for four years. He has been the president of the Future Business Leaders of America, the Future Farmers of America, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He was a member of art club, beta club, future teachers of America, student council, and the national honors society.

His future plans are to attend the University ofMissouri-Columbia and major in engineering.

Below is his speech.

"Teachers, administrators, faculty, family, friends, and Caleb

Gooch, welcome to the graduation ceremony of the class of 2014. I

would like to start out by thanking my family for taking me to my knee

surgeries. With them, I would not limp like I do today. I would like to thank Coach Pick for always reminding me that "it just got serious" and Coach Wallace for reminding me that "it's all about the technique." I would also like thank Coach Bullock for gently, and without ever using any explicative reminding me that I'm "dang" near a genius but can't seem to block, snap a ball, or breathe. On that note, I would like to thank Coach King for giving Coach Bullock someone else to make fun of at practice. I would like to thank Coach Red for going against his sense of style and wearing a fanny pack, in public, so I would have my meds on the field. I would like to thank Mrs. Patty spending two of the four days in a hospital when we went to California on an FBLA trip. I would also like to thank pretty well every other teacher whom I'm sure at one point or another when I was wondering in the hallways asked me if I had class I was supposed to be

in. The answer is yes, I did have classes, I just didn't like going to

them.

Our time in high school was a journey to say the least. In fact,

there for a little bit, some of us were kind of worried if we'd actually

make it. However, here we are, dressed in our matching blue and white

listening to this big headed guy talk. Don't worry, I'm not gonna bore

you with a bunch of quotes from people we learned about in Coach Red's class but already forgot, or tell you that once we walk across this

stage life suddenly "just got serious". I'm not gonna tell you these things

because I know the class of 2014 and I know that none of y'all would

listen to me. That is what makes our class unique. While we don't really

listen to anything people tell us, we still managed to get here to our

graduation night, and graduating high school is an achievement in of

itself.

Our class isn't a tight knit group by any means. You won't see us

sitting around a circle holding hands singing Kumbaya. More than

likely, after tonight, many of us will never see or speak to each other

again. In fact, I think closest we've been together in our four years of

high school is when we were all crowded around trying to see a fight in

the courtyard. As un-cohesive as our class is, I know one time where I

felt like our class really came together. My junior year I blew my knee

out playing football. When I finally came back to school after my

surgery; people I never normally talked to would come up to me and ask me how I was doing and the people I normally talked to were actually nice to me for a few weeks. It was almost like our class was one big family. Its either that or I was taking a couple too many pain pills, I'm not really sure.

While there are many things about our futures that are uncertain there is one thing that I know about the present. All 44 of us are

graduating tonight. Whether it was by luck, hard work, or a combination

of the two we all made it. You should all be proud of what you have

accomplished. God Bless and congratulations class of 2014."

The Class Salutatorian is Kylie Spence, the 18 year old daughter of Todd and Joelle Spence of Portageville. She is the granddaughter of John Spence and the late Deloreise Spence of Steele, and also the granddaughter of Claudia Young of Portageville.. She is the sister of Chloe and Camryn Spence.

She is a member of Student Council, National Honors Society, Art Club, Vice-President of FBLA, and Secretary of Senior Beta.

She plans on attending The University of Alabama this coming fall where she will be majoring in Engineering.

Below is her speech.

"Parents, friends, and faculty, good evening. Tonight we gather to celebrate a very important night in our lives, the graduation of Portageville High School's Class of 2014. I am honored to be Salutatorian of the Class of 2014. While preparing this speech, I began to try to define Salutatorian. By my definition, it meant I was being rewarded for the hard work I had achieved academically over the past four years. However, Urbandictionary.com defines salutatorian as a person who just missed being

valedictorian by a few GPA points. So, as the saying goes, second place is the first loser. I hadn't thought of it in those terms until looking up salutatorian in the dictionary. The definition gave me some points to

ponder.

First, no one in the Class of 2014 is a loser. We have all achieved our initial dream of graduating from high school. This means we have endured countless hours of studying for math and science tests, created detailed science projects, represented our school at many athletic and academic contests, written many essays, and memorized many facts, most of which we thought were useless. Every one of the students in the Class of 2014 will receive a diploma, and know that this is a victory for the battle they

have endured for the last four years. Let me tell you, this is a sweet victory.

Second, many of the members of the class of 2014 have learned a lot from the losses we have experienced over the past four years. We have endured losses individually and as a group. While individually, some of us have struggled to get a higher ACT score and prepared to compete against

others in the state at a FBLA competition, we have also come together to support our favorite Beta candidate and our athletes on the playing field and court. Through the wins and the losses, we have each grown and learned the meaning of perseverance. This perseverance was evident by the 9-2

winning record the football team had our junior year and the baseball conference championship that was claimed last Wednesday. Even though our school can't seem to having a winning Beta candidate, we will never quit because of defeat! The PHS Coop will continue to fly high!

Even though we can consider,that we have won this battle by graduating from high school, each of us will begin a new battle soon. Some are headed to college, some are headed to the military and some have chosen to enter the work force. My advice to each of my classmates is whatever you choose,

do so wisely and then fight to be the best college student, soldier or worker that you can be. There may be ups and downs along the way to becoming a successful person, but as Margaret Thatcher once said,

"You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it." Our success will depend upon the fight within us and the people who surround us and support us. Classmates, remember this, the same people who have supported us while in high school will still be there tomorrow to continue to support us as we

follow our next dream.

In closing, I would like to thank the parents, friends, teachers, and administrators who have supported the Class of 2014 thus far. I personally would like to thank my Mom and Dad, my sisters, Mrs. Denise who let us have countless study parties and fed us during those times, Mrs. Bracey, Mrs. Brands, and Mrs. Heather for the advice, support and confidence you have given me, and Mrs. Mary Rhoades for instilling a desire to learn in me. And a huge thanks to Mrs. Donna for helping me write this speech. I am

proud to be a member of the PHS Class of 2014. As we leave here tonight and move on the next chapter in our lives, not only will we walk away with our diploma, we will walk with a sense of victory."