Steffen Silvis
MNJ Correspondent
A capacity audience filled the Mitchell High School gymnasium for the class of 2025’s graduation last Friday evening. One hundred and eight seniors filed in to receive their diplomas, representing the end of 13 years of formal study.
Those 13 years came with challenges for this class, the most recent being the aftermath of Helene, which served as the theme for Principal Cole Chester’s commencement address. Chester began by situating the beginning of the catastrophe in the very structure where the graduates gathered.
“Eight months ago, outside these doors behind me, I stood with a group of Mitchell County Schools employees, late into the night and early in the morning, working to prevent the gym from flooding,” Chester said. “I remember thinking to myself, ‘Well, this is as bad as it is going to get.’ Little did I know the devastation that we would soon encounter.”
Chester admitted that he “was truly worried that this day might not look as normal as it does today. But here we are, on this day, celebrating a milestone — a mountain we’ve collectively climbed.”
Chester noted the lessons that this young group had learned outside of school, such as resiliency, the unexpected vagaries of life, and the true power of nature’s violence.
“Helene didn’t just disrupt our school year,” he said, “she tested the very fabric of our community.”
But what Chester found was a unified effort among the students to work through the calamity as a community.
“You showed us what you’re capable of,” he said. “You didn’t let Helene define your year. You didn’t let the unexpected derail your dreams. You adapted, you persevered, and you excelled.” This class, Chester maintained, had proven itself capable of climbing and mastering any mountain, whether metaphorical ones or the all too tangible ones left by disaster.