Top students speak out
at KMHS Commencement
Olivia Green is Valedictorian of the Kings Mountain High School Class of 2021 and Emily Poeng is Salutatorian.
The No. 1 and No. 2 academic scholars in the graduating class of 264 seniors gave the keynote addresses at commencement exercises Saturday morning, May 29, at 9 a.m. in John Gamble Stadium.
Green interspersed her remarks with reflections on moments the class shared before COVID defined “our lives.” I am an optimist and I prefer to live by the motto, “Live, laugh and love,’’ she said. Green also challenged the graduates to be the cure of racism.
‘The past two years have been the embodiment of unprecedented times. Each day it seemed a new conflict arose without giving us enough time to recover from the last. From a virus that has taken the lives of 3.5 million people to witnessing incidents that reinforced the notion that racism sadly still prominently exists within our society, she said.
“Injustice runs deep. It’s similar to a virus. It takes on new forms to ensure its survival and it’s our job to be the cure, adding “I want our generation to be defined as unity and peace. I don’t see us as the “lazy generation who will run this country into the ground, a statement that I have heard more than enough,’’ she said. “Prove them wrong, we have big dreams and so much resilience we can accomplish anything and proved it by accomplishing so much in spite of difficult circumstances.”
Motivating the graduates to “be the cure for injustice it’s our job to be the generation to cause the change we want to see in the world.”
“We have the potential to make change and the potential to be the change,’’ she said. As a generation we have been exposed to so much violence, hatred and division that sadly has become the norm. We hear about mass shootings, blatant hate crimes and increasing political divide and this should not be our norm. We must no longer allow it to be,’’ said Green.
‘Let us be the generation that becomes the change, the one who actually creates the reality that we have envisioned for ourselves. If we can accomplish all we did in a time like this, I find it hard to imagine what obstacles could possibly hold us back in the future.”
Green was raised by her mother, Chrissi Green and her grandparents, Gene and Janie Murray. She said her Grandpa inspired her and believed in her “no matter what.” She said her grandparents gave her unconditional support that has helped her to achieve goals. She also signaled out Tara Fliesher, Jenny Robinson, Nicholas Inman, Rayvis Key, and Laura Robinson as teachers who helped her become confident and a person capable of achieving her aspirations. She thanked graduates, teachers and administrators who “tried extraordinarily hard to make the school year fulfilling in spite of the pandemic.
Green is recipient of $380,000 in scholarships and will enter Duke University in the Fall on a full scholarship to major in neuroscience on the pre-med track. She aspires to become a Neurosurgeon. “I would find no greater joy than to dedicate my life to improving and saving many people’s lives through my occupation,’’ she said.
Poeng visited family in Laos, Thailand and Cambodia before her freshman year at KMHS. ‘’I realize how fortunate I am to have free education and clean and available necessities at home, adding, seeing all the homeless children in Southeast Asia who didn’t go to school and instead were selling trinkets on the streets made volunteering and helping children read and interact with others even more vital here in town,’’ said Poeng.
During her sophomore year Emily was a positive role model to young children at Mauney Memorial Library and during her junior year as an AP Chemistry student she entered the US Chemistry Olympiad to gain more exposure to real-life problems involving chemistry and passed a local exam. In the Fall at UNC-Chapel Hill she will major in either Bio-Chemistry or Pre-Pharmacy.
“My uncle, a proud father of a current Yale University student, always told me that knowledge is power. I took his advice and ran with it,” she said.
At KMHS Emily took challenge classes “simply because I wanted to learn more.”
Poeng dedicated her salutatory speech to the Class of 2021, spoke of class colors and her pride of the regional football championship game as a highlight of their lives.
‘While writing my speech I couldn’t help but think about how as children we all begin as “unpolished clay blocks’’ and even as freshmen were s till very much unpolished and naïve in the ways of high school and the experiences it brought. To me we had yet to be “confidently ‘standing statues’ because of the many lessons we had yet to learn from high school before being thrust into the real world.
“Additionally, these four years of high school are only a small puzzle to be a bigger picture of who we are- a missing shard of clay found out of several million, if you will,’’ Emily said. “We are all constantly trying to understand ourselves and who we are as we move into the next chapter of our lives,’’ she added.
“As each new school year opened and a new year started there were times when we were placed into the “licks of fire in the kiln, hardship that can only strengthen or break our stature similar to h ow a clay structure can withstand the heat or crack. The “pinching and rolling” the people in our lives have bestowed upon us are the lessons we have learned that have shaped and molded us and were put to the test to see if we could withstand “the blaze.”
Emily added, “From 2020 to 2021 our class experienced the uncertainty of the future and safety, something I consider hardening of us, yet also tempting, to crack under pressure. Without this invaluable gift, the experiences high school gave us, none of us students would be the people we are today.”
The No. 1 and No. 2 academic scholars in the graduating class of 264 seniors gave the keynote addresses at commencement exercises Saturday morning, May 29, at 9 a.m. in John Gamble Stadium.
Green interspersed her remarks with reflections on moments the class shared before COVID defined “our lives.” I am an optimist and I prefer to live by the motto, “Live, laugh and love,’’ she said. Green also challenged the graduates to be the cure of racism.
‘The past two years have been the embodiment of unprecedented times. Each day it seemed a new conflict arose without giving us enough time to recover from the last. From a virus that has taken the lives of 3.5 million people to witnessing incidents that reinforced the notion that racism sadly still prominently exists within our society, she said.
“Injustice runs deep. It’s similar to a virus. It takes on new forms to ensure its survival and it’s our job to be the cure, adding “I want our generation to be defined as unity and peace. I don’t see us as the “lazy generation who will run this country into the ground, a statement that I have heard more than enough,’’ she said. “Prove them wrong, we have big dreams and so much resilience we can accomplish anything and proved it by accomplishing so much in spite of difficult circumstances.”
Motivating the graduates to “be the cure for injustice it’s our job to be the generation to cause the change we want to see in the world.”
“We have the potential to make change and the potential to be the change,’’ she said. As a generation we have been exposed to so much violence, hatred and division that sadly has become the norm. We hear about mass shootings, blatant hate crimes and increasing political divide and this should not be our norm. We must no longer allow it to be,’’ said Green.
‘Let us be the generation that becomes the change, the one who actually creates the reality that we have envisioned for ourselves. If we can accomplish all we did in a time like this, I find it hard to imagine what obstacles could possibly hold us back in the future.”
Green was raised by her mother, Chrissi Green and her grandparents, Gene and Janie Murray. She said her Grandpa inspired her and believed in her “no matter what.” She said her grandparents gave her unconditional support that has helped her to achieve goals. She also signaled out Tara Fliesher, Jenny Robinson, Nicholas Inman, Rayvis Key, and Laura Robinson as teachers who helped her become confident and a person capable of achieving her aspirations. She thanked graduates, teachers and administrators who “tried extraordinarily hard to make the school year fulfilling in spite of the pandemic.
Green is recipient of $380,000 in scholarships and will enter Duke University in the Fall on a full scholarship to major in neuroscience on the pre-med track. She aspires to become a Neurosurgeon. “I would find no greater joy than to dedicate my life to improving and saving many people’s lives through my occupation,’’ she said.
Poeng visited family in Laos, Thailand and Cambodia before her freshman year at KMHS. ‘’I realize how fortunate I am to have free education and clean and available necessities at home, adding, seeing all the homeless children in Southeast Asia who didn’t go to school and instead were selling trinkets on the streets made volunteering and helping children read and interact with others even more vital here in town,’’ said Poeng.
During her sophomore year Emily was a positive role model to young children at Mauney Memorial Library and during her junior year as an AP Chemistry student she entered the US Chemistry Olympiad to gain more exposure to real-life problems involving chemistry and passed a local exam. In the Fall at UNC-Chapel Hill she will major in either Bio-Chemistry or Pre-Pharmacy.
“My uncle, a proud father of a current Yale University student, always told me that knowledge is power. I took his advice and ran with it,” she said.
At KMHS Emily took challenge classes “simply because I wanted to learn more.”
Poeng dedicated her salutatory speech to the Class of 2021, spoke of class colors and her pride of the regional football championship game as a highlight of their lives.
‘While writing my speech I couldn’t help but think about how as children we all begin as “unpolished clay blocks’’ and even as freshmen were s till very much unpolished and naïve in the ways of high school and the experiences it brought. To me we had yet to be “confidently ‘standing statues’ because of the many lessons we had yet to learn from high school before being thrust into the real world.
“Additionally, these four years of high school are only a small puzzle to be a bigger picture of who we are- a missing shard of clay found out of several million, if you will,’’ Emily said. “We are all constantly trying to understand ourselves and who we are as we move into the next chapter of our lives,’’ she added.
“As each new school year opened and a new year started there were times when we were placed into the “licks of fire in the kiln, hardship that can only strengthen or break our stature similar to h ow a clay structure can withstand the heat or crack. The “pinching and rolling” the people in our lives have bestowed upon us are the lessons we have learned that have shaped and molded us and were put to the test to see if we could withstand “the blaze.”
Emily added, “From 2020 to 2021 our class experienced the uncertainty of the future and safety, something I consider hardening of us, yet also tempting, to crack under pressure. Without this invaluable gift, the experiences high school gave us, none of us students would be the people we are today.”
