For about 250 high school seniors, this month marks a grand transition.

No longer are they beholden to an 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. commitment five days a week. There’s no more cramming for tests, no projects to consider, no homework to lengthen the night.

After walking across the stage and turning their tassels, graduates this month have just one focus — starting the rest of their lives.

The two largest schools in our coverage area, Cassville and Southwest, have already held their commencement ceremonies. Purdy’s is Saturday, and Wheaton and Exeter seniors walk next Thursday and Friday, respectively.

THIS may be repetitive of my previous graduation-themed columns, but coming from such a large high school (graduating class of 650), I am always delighted to attend and capture these seminal moments in the lives of our area teenagers.

Small schools do it better, and I’ll tell you why.

My Little Rock Central High School graduation was held in Simmons Bank Arena (Verizon Arena way back in 2006), an 18,000 seat stadium that made me feel pretty small sitting in my chair on the event floor. Nearly 20 years later, the four-hour ceremony holds little space in my memory. I do not recall our valedictorian’s name, nor a single snippet of his speech. About the only thing that still holds weight is the actual walk across the stage. I can still hear my family’s loud shouting and my dad’s patented two-finger whistle, which pierced not only the arena, but also my nerves.

I also recall enjoying the mortarboard hat toss, though with 650 of us and no personalization allowed, I’m only about 80% sure the hat I picked up was actually the one I had on my head at the start of the night.

It was a big moment — and I enjoyed it — but the process was impersonal, all pomp with little circumstance.

Here in Barry County, it’s the opposite. Smaller schools with fewer graduates have more opportunity to showcase them. At Southwest, for example, senior band members leave their seats twice to play with the ensemble one last time, with a few solos sprinkled in.

The flower presentation and slide show may be my favorite 10 minutes. Athletic events aside, It’s not often a room in Barry County is filled with so much energy and emotion. It’s so thick you can sense it.

Graduates now also have a knack for pranking their principal on stage. Each of the Trojans graced Principal Rusty Roe, in his first year at the position, with a Hawaiian lei. With most around his neck, one on is head and a few bracelets for good measure, the final graduate who walked gifted a pair of giant pink sunglasses to complete the look.

My graduation was not even close to half that fun.

Some Cassville students pulled a similar jest with Principal Tyler Willis. With the graduation on May 4, also known as Star Wars Day, a dozen or more students presented Willis with lightsabers, figurines or other merch from the film franchise. The nerd in me grinned ear to ear when that first lightsaber was swung for maximum effect.

Cassville’s graduation is a bit more straight forward, but the fact it’s held on the field at Wildcat Stadium gives it a unique feel, and the weather on Sunday was absolutely perfect (unlike 2024’s downpour forcing the event into the middle school gym).

The salutatorian and valedictorian speeches both stood out to me, as well. Battling through a pair of microphones that struggled to maintain connection, Salutatorian Elly Ramaeker delivered a heartfelt, humorous, relatable speech that brought many smiles. I chuckled the most at her honesty regarding Book Fairs. My daughter is in fourth grade and still scours the Fair solely for items with extra toys, pens or bookmarks.

Valedictorian Elizabeth Butler channeled her mother — who was valedictorian of her high school class — and snuck in a sweet treat. Near the end of her speech, she asked graduates to check under their seats to find a funsize Snickers taped to the frame. The four layers, she said, each symbolized part of their collective journey.

“The peanuts symbolize all the bumps in the road; the caramel signifies all the sticky situations we found ourselves in; the nougat illustrates the fun moments we have all experienced; and the chocolate outer layer represents through all these ups and downs, we are held together as the Cassville Class of 2025,” she said.

The sentiment was a fun one, and speaking for my graduating class, I would have given anything for a Snickers halfway through my commencement.

Barry County has some incredible seniors moving on to the “real world” this month, and there is no doubt they will accomplish plenty of great things academically and athletically in the next handful of years.

Some will find themselves returning home with a new skillset to put to use in our community, and others will find their own paths away from the small town from whence they came.

To all our graduates, here is my advice: follow your heart and take things one day at a time. Don’t let setbacks or failures define you, and don’t allow progress or success to overshadow your humility.

It’s a big world out there, and your path awaits. Good luck, graduates.

Kyle Troutman has served as editor of the Cassville Democrat since 2014 and owner/publisher since 2023. He was named William E. James/Missouri Outstanding Young Journalist for daily newspapers in 2017, and he is a twotime ISWNE Golden Dozen award winner. He may be reached at 417-847-2610 or ktroutman@cassville-democrat.com.