The Waverly-Shell Rock High School alternative program, Greenview, graduated 13 seniors in the Class of 2025, so far, and 10 of them crossed the Rada Auditorium stage to receive their diplomas on Friday, May 9.
“Thirteen grads; 10 made it. It was a good day,” Greenview teacher Justin Little said afterward.
Students attending Greenview will have until the end of May to turn in their 38 credits for graduation.
It’s eight credits fewer than are required to graduate from W-SR High School proper, according to Little. The core classes all meet the same requirements mainly through the Edgenuity national online curriculum, he said, but Greenwood requires eight fewer electives.
Previous to last year, the Greenview graduation ceremony was held in their suite of classrooms in the back of W-SR High School, with a separate entrance.
The program has grown. Greenview Principal Brady Weber led with the location change.
“This is the second year you’re going to be able to cross the stage. Congratulations for that,” Weber said.
Crossing the stage as graduates, in order of appearance, were Michael Vandergriff, Mason Van Mill, Davion Slick-Driscoll, Michael Ohl, Emily McIntire, Hunter Star Boy, Joshua Mann, Peyton Anthony, Kevin Lyoba and Kayleigh Hammer. Also listed as graduating are Nicholas Olivares, Caiden Bailey and Devin Kinser.
Weber, who is also the assistant principal at W-SR High School, and soon-to-be principal there, described the Greenview program with a road sign metaphor.
“Greenveiw’s specifically designed (so) it’s not a stop sign,” Weber said. “It’s designed for paths, so you can have a U-turn, a different crossing, some other way. Some of you took credits through online-only services. Some of you had just books and things you went through. Some of you joined the workforce, had employers supporting you and got credits that way. Whatever it may be, you took a unique path and you made it work. Just a few months ago, your path (maybe) was going to end because you didn’t have a diploma. Today you get that. (…) It will have far more benefits than you could ever imagine.”
Weber encouraged students to be grateful for those who have supported them.
“Make sure you have a heart of gratitude because the people here who are witnessing and celebrating you here are so proud of you. Let them be proud of you. You all should be so proud of yourselves.”
Guest speaker Jeremy Langer was at W-SR as Greenview principal for four years, and was principal of W-SR Middle School. Including time as a teacher and coach, he was in education for more than 20 years. He now directs business development for Hubbard Financial, Northwest Mutual and shared about his personal adverse life experiences while encouraging graduates each to write their own story.
“Raise your hand if you were ever a student in my office,” Langer began.
“We all have a story. (…) I’m going to tell you my story.”
Langer said his parents called a family meeting in sixth grade to tell him they were getting divorced. Neither he nor his friends knew what “divorced” meant. “Now we hear (…) one in two marriages end in divorce. I didn’t understand at that time that moment would change my life forever.
“One year later, Mom said, ‘Get in the car because we need money for Christmas,’” Langer said. “We were on the Highway 71 north of my small town of Early, Iowa, picking up pop cans, and I picked up a pop can and I got shook by that pop can because there was a mouse in it. I immediately ran towards the highway, and I was inches away from losing my life. Mom said, ‘Get in, we’re going to figure this out.’
“I can take you through a series of events from my life that led me, I believe, to this point. That could be the loss of a child. That could be the loss of my dad at age 44. That could be the phone call from a sheriff’s department telling me my brother-in-law committed suicide, which are all true (and) part of my story.
“I had the opportunity to decide in my life, am I going to let those things determine my story, and what I could do,” Langer said. “I was in education for 20 years. I’ve always been passionate about the success of our youth.
“You’re just starting your story. You just have the first, second, third chapter written. I’m 44, going on 45, I’m writing chapter 10, 11, 12. (…) In each chapter, you’re going to laugh, you’re going to cry, you’re going to do things with other people, but ultimately you’ve got to do your own thing,” Langer said.
“Today, you get to start a new chapter in your life.”
He encouraged them to lean on those people supporting them at graduation.
One highlight of the ceremony was when Anthony Star Boy’s mom, Shayla Merfeld, draped a quilt over him. She explained it is a traditional Lakota Sioux quilt that shows appreciation for his accomplishment with a seven-pointed star that represents the seven tribes in South Dakota.
Little said there are 52 kids in the entire Greenview alternative high school program this year. He said he enjoys seeing kids succeed when many have given up on them. “Sometimes they’ve even given up on themselves. We’ve had a lot of kids in the program with anxiety, especially since COVID. They like the smaller classroom setting. The most we have is 15 at a time.”
