BEATRICE – The Class of 2022 has graduated from Beatrice High School. Commencement was held Sunday at the O-Zone gymnasium, honoring a class that Principal Jason Sutter says carries many accomplishments.


"Nine co-valedictorians...36 honor grads....they earned over a thousand hours of college credit...earned many scholarships, been above state and national ACT scores. Some of them have been recognized on academic or scholastic teams, and several of them have earned recognition on the Wall of Fame, for academic accomplishments."


Sutter said the class of 129 also excelled in various athletic competitions, fine arts and other school activities.  The nine students who are co-valedictorians in the graduating class are Devon Busboom, Jaiden Coudeyras, Tagg Deboer, Drew Gleason, Cassie Janzen, Olivia Pfeiffer, Lauren Pieper, Maddie Swanson and Jaidyn Vanschoiack.


One of the student speakers, Taylor Oblinger said the class had to go through a pandemic complete with masks and remote learning through the middle of their high school years but overcame the obstacles to reach graduation.


Thirty-six graduates earned honors by having a cumulative grade-point-average of at least 3.5. Sutter said the graduating class earned a multitude of scholarships and financial support for moving on to higher education.


"This total makes up approximately 43 percent of this class, and I would also like to share that if you take the total dollar amount that they've earned through their scholarships and financial aid packages, that amount exceeds one-point-five million dollars."


Over half of the graduation class were involved in over 400 activities during their four years at BHS, and 73 students logged just over one-thousand college class credit hours prior to leaving Beatrice High School.