Awarding of Iowa Central Degrees — Carter Koeppen, Charles Stansfield.

The graduating class of 2022 of Webster City High School had a record-breaking year, and its students were honored for it at Wednesday night’s awards ceremony.

The awards ceremony recognizes the seniors who put in a plentitude of hard work in order to get into the positions they are in today. There are many different local and college scholarships awards which seniors can apply for. There are awards for everything from military recognition, memorial scholarships, leadership scholarships, and academic scholarships.

More than 70 seniors were honored at this event.

One of the many record-breaking numbers came from this year’s Dance Marathon event. This year the students were able to donate $18,053.92 to the Children’s Miracle Network. This amount was the largest amount that WCHS has ever donated.

The Miracle Maker dance Marathon Award was awarded to any graduating senior who committed four years to the dance marathon event. The award was awarded to Jayce Abens, Katelyn Casady, Jacie Crutcher, Jenna McKinney, Allison Oswald, Adalie Peterson, Shelby Queen, Charlie Stansfield, Kelly Stoakes, Emma Stroner, and Livia Taylor. These students were well-deserving and have put in a lot of effort to help raise funds for the kids!

The Student Council plans numerous events throughout the school year and holds two blood drives per year — one in the fall and one in the spring. This year, they had the best turnout rate that they’ve had in years. LifeServe Blood Center awards certificates and cords to seniors who register to donate blood three times before graduation or host a scholarship blood drive to earn the honor of becoming a LifeServe Donor of Distinction.

These students showcase a strong character, selflessness, and volunteerism. The following students were awarded the blood Drive Recognition Award: Noah Griswold, Jayce Abens, Skyler Jackson, Carter Koeppen, Mason Lake, Christopher Martinez, Jenna McKinney, and Charlie Stansfield.

The Student Council Leadership Scholarship is a scholarship created to recognize all of the hard work that the senior student council members did. Jessica Howard, who presented the award stated that, “This scholarship acknowledges students who went above and beyond in planning student council events.”

The following students received this award: Jayce Abens, Katelyn Casady, Jacie Crutcher, Jenna McKinney, Allison Oswald, Charlie Stansfield, Kelly Stoakes, and Livia Taylor.

Graduating from high school is something that all of these seniors have been looking forward to for years, and many are looking forward to attending college in the fall. But for the first time ever, two high school students have graduated college with a two-year degree before even graduating from high school. The Webster City High School and Iowa Central Community College have a dual credit system in which high school students can take college classes for both high school and college credit. In order to complete a two-year degree, students must take 60 or more college credits.

The awarding of Iowa Central degrees was done Wednesday night by Colette Bertran, Webster City campus director, to Charlie Stansfield and Carter Koeppen.

“I was able to achieve this huge accomplishment of getting my A.A. or Associate of Arts degree by using time management skills and not procrastinating,” Koeppen said. “I would use whatever free time I had between different periods to work on my assignments. Because of this, I had no homework when I went home. With my free time, I went to the gym, played tennis, and hung out with my friends. The Associate of Arts degree is a two-year diploma that is used with certain majors. I plan on attending Iowa Central Community College for one year to take a few classes. I then plan to transfer to University of Northern Iowa to pursue a major in accounting.”

The Class of 2022 has had a tough high school career facing the difficulties of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the loss of one of their classmates. Gavin Maines passed away earlier this year in a tragic accident.

“Gavin was a busy guy, who was a motivated, hard-working man whose life was taken too soon,” Joel Kennedy said Wednesday. In Gavin’s honor, his family chose to create the Gavin Maines Memorial Scholarship. This scholarship was awarded to his classmate Cole Reiling.

I did not know Gavin well, but his peers always spoke nothing but good things about him.

One man that I was fortunate to know, however, was Robert Doerning. Bob was an English and speech teacher at Webster City High School. He was also the drama coach from 1963 to 2001. Bob spent more than 50 years in the classroom and loved teaching and his students. I remember when I was in third grade and was assigned a pen pal who happened to be Robert Doerning. He was truly an amazing teacher and person who touched many around him. In his honor, the Robert Doerning Memorial Scholarship was created to help support a student with plans of becoming a teacher in hopes that they could be just as great as he was.

The scholarship was awarded to Erin Bailey.

In knowing the students of the Class of 2022, I can say that they were a very hardworking and inspirational class. They went through many hardships, but have come out on top, leaving behind a legacy that will be remembered by many.

Their graduation ceremony will be held on Sunday, May 22, 2022, at 2 p.m. in the Webster City High School competition gym.

Annastasia Iverson is a freelance writer for the Daily Freeman-Journal.