55 Receive Diplomas At 2022 BHS Graduation

Fifty-five students became Bourbon High School graduates Thursday night at the 2022 commencement ceremony.

Plans for an outdoor ceremony were dashed for the second straight year by days of heavy rain showers. 

Friends and family were shoulder-to-shoulder inside the high school gymnasium.

The student speakers — valedictorian Victoria Lane, salutatorian Josie Williamson and class president Kristian Speaks — all credited their teachers in their speeches.

“They were more than our teachers,” Speaks said. “They were friends we could connect with. To my teachers I’ve been with, I give you my dearest thanks. We will miss you guys and the many things you taught us.”

Lane encouraged her fellow graduates to embrace change and take on new challenges.

Top 10%

Assistant principal Jessica Becker presented the top 10% of the class:

Victoria Lane

Josie Williamson

Chloe Cobb

Jackson Rosen

Kallie Harmon

Kristian Speaks

BHS Principal Matt Peregoy closed the ceremony by leaving the graduates with a message.

“You get all kinds of advice. Everyone wants to show you the way to wealth and riches and happiness,” he said. “You’re going to turn that off at some point.”

Peregoy encouraged the graduates to gain wisdom through experiences.

“You need to experience the world and what it offers,” he said. “Understand those experiences.”

He also encouraged them not to take the easy way out.

“Nobody got what they wanted on their own merits by taking the easy way,” he said. “Life can try to break you down…but it can be beautiful. You have to be willing to do some hard things. Each time you take on a challenge, it conditions you to take on another challenge.

“If you’re tenacious and give it your all, you guys are going to succeed,” he said. “You can be whatever you want to be, but whatever you choose to do, do the hard things.

“Nobody left a legacy worth leaving by taking the easy way out.”