They began their high school careers in the uncertain world of a global pandemic, but even COVID couldn’t slow down the Trinity Christian School (TCS) class of 2024.
The small but mighty group of 14 graduates will be leaving the halls of Trinity with some impressive resumes and heading to the next stages of their life.
Reflecting on the past four years, graduate and senior class president Caelyn Unger described their freshman year as “a bit of a rollercoaster.”
Unger said while virtual learning was not the school start they had envisioned, “we adapted quicky,” she reminded her fellow graduates.
“We’ll always have these moments to look back upon,” she said. “Whether it’s some hilarious story or the chance to have a high school friend stand beside you on your wedding day, we owe a lot to this school and the class of 2024.”
Unger plans to attend WVU in the fall.
Two of this year’s Trinity grads signed on to continue athletic careers at their future schools – Salutatorian Jenna Barnett will run cross-country and track at Glenville State University and William McPherson is headed to Allegany College of Maryland and will play baseball.
During his speech, Valedictorian Carmelo Kniska highlighted the amazing accomplishments of each of his classmates, including a black belt in karate, and pointed out some statistics to show how truly special their achievements are.
He said when the probability of each classmate achieving their great feats are combined, the number is so small the odds are similar to a perfect NCAA March Madness bracket.
The keynote speaker for the ceremony, Tyler Etris, was in the position of the graduates 18 years ago as a Trinity graduate himself. He is now an architect and high school leader at Calvary Chapel in Morgantown.
He told the young men and women embarking on adulthood to stay true to their faith, remember who they are, and keep an active relationship with God, because others will try to change their beliefs.
“Spiritual warfare … it is completely real,” Etris cautioned the grads.
The main event, of course, was saved for last.
As their names were called by TCS Chairman Dave Sharp, all 14 graduates received their diplomas from Superintendent Matthew Chavez and Principal Amanda Darby.
And with that, this year’s class of TCS Warriors were officially sent onto their next missions.
