Moises Garcia addressed his fellow graduates, their parents and families at Sunday’s Marshalltown High School Commencement Ceremony. Facing the Class of 2018, he spoke about perseverance as he and his peers entered the next stage of life. Graduating seniors Luke Pedersen and Daytona Sorlaesith also addressed the packed MHS Roundhouse.

Hundreds of Marshalltown High School seniors walked across a stage to receive their hard-earned high school diplomas Sunday, surrounded by bleachers packed with family and friends.

“High school doesn’t make you successful, high school sets you up for success,” said MHS graduate Luke Pedersen during the 143rd Annual Marshalltown High School Commencement ceremony. “What makes you the most successful is you.”

Cheers, whistles, shouts and clapping erupted from the audience periodically during the proceedings as their graduates, dressed in Bobcat red and blue, were recognized. MHS Principal Jacque Wyant announced a total of 345 students graduated Sunday.

Along with Pedersen, graduates Moises Garcia and Daytona Sorlaesith addressed their Class of 2018 peers.

“This is the first time when, once you leave those doors, we aren’t required to go back again,” Sorlaesith said. “I want all of you to take a second and look to your left and to your right, and see that this is the first and last time we will all share a moment together.”

Garcia used a short Spanish phrase during his speech with the goal of inspiring graduates to be steadfast in the face of life’s challenges after high school.

“If you take anything from what I say to you today, I hope it is this message: sí se puede; yes, you can,” he said. “This small phrase has power and meaning, this phrase can give you the strength to accept nothing less than success in life and in your higher education.”

Marshalltown Schools Superintendent Theron Schutte thanked students for their perseverance.

“The diploma you are receiving today represents years of hard work doing rigorous assignments, papers and tests, and likely a few late nights doing so,” he said. “The opportunities and challenges ahead require well-educated minds, and you and your parents should feel confident that you have been provided a solid educational foundation from which to launch yourself into the next phase of your life journey.”

Several groups of graduating students were given special recognition at the ceremony, including silver cord awardees, National Honor Society members, class officers, those who took dual-credit courses, and honor students earning a 3.5 GPA or higher.

Six of the graduates were able to maintain a 4.0 GPA through all eight semesters of high school. Pedersen, Matthew Bohan, Ryan Bohan, Ciara Feldman, Emily Hass and McKenna Major were celebrated for the achievement.

Other graduates to address the audience were Anna Marie Carlson, Aye M Paw and Julieta Cano, and Lucas Thiessen and Hadley Wagner gave a duet performance of Marta Keen’s “Homeward Bound.”

The podium at which all speakers addressed the audience had a bouquet laid before it in remembrance of late student Luis Carranza, who took his own life. He would have graduated this year.

Garcia said the commencement should not be seen as an end, but as a beginning.

“You are sitting here today, ready to receive your diploma to signify your completion of one of life’s many milestones,” he said. “No matter where we end up, we will always be Bobcats from Marshalltown High School.”

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Contact Adam Sodders at (641) 753-6611 or asodders@timesrepublican.com