Class of 2015: Richmond-Burton Community High School class 'one of the best', principal says

RICHMOND – The Richmond-Burton Community High School graduating class may look ordinary from the outside, class president Jillian Townsend told her fellow graduates on Sunday.

“But nobody else will ever be able to say they were part of the Richmond-Burton Class of 2015,” she said to the crowded high school gym.

Those that can say it should say it with pride, though, as Principal Tom Lind called the class “one of the best” shortly after the ceremony, which lasted about an hour.

“The Class of 2015, for us, has actually been one of the best, academically, athletically – they’ve just been superior,” Lind said. “And we’ve had almost no issues with discipline. It’s actually one of the best classes in my 20 years”

Whether it was the students boisterous cheering for their fellow Rockets or the roses given to all the parents in the audience, community and appreciation for that community was emphasized throughout the ceremony. Lind said it’s a trait he thinks is immediately evident in the Richmond-Burton graduates, the students at large and throughout the school in general.

“What stands out right away is the community involvement,” he said. “We have a tremendous amount of support from parents and board members.

“We’re not so big that we lose touch with everybody, but we’re not so small that we don’t get the resources we need. It’s really a community high school.”

That’s what graduate Janelle Rietschel will miss most. Minutes after walking out of the gym, the 18-year-old bound for the University of Missouri was already feeling nostalgic about leaving the school and the people inside.

Being raised in a somewhat smaller town meant growing close with her classmates, she said. Leaving all that for a wider, more unknown world will be a bittersweet move, she added.

“There’s just an overwhelming flow of emotions going through me right now,” Rietschel said. “I’m excited for the future, but also sad because that was the last time our whole class will be all together, and there’s so many memories from growing up with all of them.”

Of the 192 graduates, 52 were members of the National Honor Society, according to the ceremony program.