{"id":1320266,"date":"2020-05-29T14:39:54","date_gmt":"2020-05-29T20:39:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vaildaily.com\/?p=478621"},"modified":"2020-05-30T07:27:15","modified_gmt":"2020-05-30T13:27:15","slug":"class-of-2020-is-red-canyon-high-schools-class-of-the-strong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/class-of-2020-is-red-canyon-high-schools-class-of-the-strong\/","title":{"rendered":"Class of 2020 is Red Canyon High School\u2019s \u2018class of the strong\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.8131416837782\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-478621-253\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled gallery-container\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.vaildaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/RedCanyonGraduation-vdn-053020-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.vaildaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/RedCanyonGraduation-vdn-053020-1-683x1024.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Special to the Daily | Hoyt Benson belted out the National Anthem on his electric guitar to open Red Canyon High School's commencement. When he graduated, Benson's teachers said, \u201cSome say Hoyt Benson has a creative gift. I say Hoyt Benson is a creative gift.\" class=\"swift-gallery-slide h-100\" readability=\"0\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11\">\n<p><strong>Hoyt Benson belted out the National Anthem on his electric guitar to open Red Canyon High School&#8217;s commencement. When he graduated, Benson&#8217;s teachers said, \u201cSome say Hoyt Benson has a creative gift. I say Hoyt Benson is a creative gift.&#8221;<\/strong><br \/>Special to the Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.vaildaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/RedCanyonGraduation-vdn-053020-1-683x1024.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Hoyt Benson belted out the National Anthem on his electric guitar to open Red Canyon High School's commencement. When he graduated, Benson's teachers said, \u201cSome say Hoyt Benson has a creative gift. I say Hoyt Benson is a creative gift.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.vaildaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/RedCanyonGraduation-vdn-053020-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.vaildaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/RedCanyonGraduation-vdn-053020-2-682x1024.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Special to the Daily | In her commencement address, Miranda Hammer said the Class of 2020 has overcome all kinds of obstacles, and will continue to do so.\" class=\"swift-gallery-slide h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>In her commencement address, Miranda Hammer said the Class of 2020 has overcome all kinds of obstacles, and will continue to do so.<\/strong><br \/>Special to the Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.vaildaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/RedCanyonGraduation-vdn-053020-2-682x1024.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"In her commencement address, Miranda Hammer said the Class of 2020 has overcome all kinds of obstacles, and will continue to do so.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.vaildaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/RedCanyonGraduation-vdn-053020-3-150x150.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.vaildaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/RedCanyonGraduation-vdn-053020-3-1024x627.png\" data-sub-html=\"Special to the Daily | Martin Velazco was one of the student speakers for Red Canyon High School's virtual commencement.\" class=\"swift-gallery-slide h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Martin Velazco was one of the student speakers for Red Canyon High School&#8217;s virtual commencement.<\/strong><br \/>Special to the Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.vaildaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/RedCanyonGraduation-vdn-053020-3-1024x627.png\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Martin Velazco was one of the student speakers for Red Canyon High School's virtual commencement.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.vaildaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/RedCanyonGraduation-vdn-053020-4-150x150.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.vaildaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/RedCanyonGraduation-vdn-053020-4-1024x659.png\" data-sub-html=\"Special to the Daily | Tom Gladitsch taught at Red Canyon more than 15 years. In his keynote address he said Red Canyon students have learned adaptability, possibly life's most important lesson.\" class=\"swift-gallery-slide h-100\" readability=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9\">\n<p><strong>Tom Gladitsch taught at Red Canyon more than 15 years. In his keynote address he said Red Canyon students have learned adaptability, possibly life&#8217;s most important lesson.<\/strong><br \/>Special to the Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.vaildaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/RedCanyonGraduation-vdn-053020-4-1024x659.png\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Tom Gladitsch taught at Red Canyon more than 15 years. In his keynote address he said Red Canyon students have learned adaptability, possibly life's most important lesson.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.vaildaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/RedCanyonGraduation-vdn-053020-5-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.vaildaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/RedCanyonGraduation-vdn-053020-5-698x1024.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Special to the Daily | Bibiana Serna Chavez said her only regret is not coming to Red Canyon sooner.\" class=\"swift-gallery-slide h-100\" readability=\"-2\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"7\">\n<p><strong>Bibiana Serna Chavez said her only regret is not coming to Red Canyon sooner.<\/strong><br \/>Special to the Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.vaildaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/RedCanyonGraduation-vdn-053020-5-698x1024.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Bibiana Serna Chavez said her only regret is not coming to Red Canyon sooner.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.vaildaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/RedCanyonGraduation-vdn-053020-6-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.vaildaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/RedCanyonGraduation-vdn-053020-6-827x1024.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Special to the Daily | Mandilyn Kay Laidman said Red Canyon\/World Academy was the best place for her\" crazy unplanned class=\"swift-gallery-slide h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Mandilyn Kay Laidman said Red Canyon\/World Academy was the best place for her &#8220;crazy unplanned life.&#8221;<\/strong><br \/>Special to the Daily<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.vaildaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/RedCanyonGraduation-vdn-053020-6-827x1024.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Mandilyn Kay Laidman said Red Canyon\/World Academy was the best place for her \" crazy unplanned><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vaildaily.com\/news\/class-of-2020-is-red-canyons-class-of-the-strong\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vaildaily.com\/news\/class-of-2020-is-red-canyons-class-of-the-strong\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Like its Dragon mascot, Red Canyon High School is magical.<\/p>\n<p>Red Canyon and World Academy graduates celebrate commencement, opening with a heavy metal version of the \u201cPomp and Circumstance\u201d processional and shifting to the national anthem \u2014 this year played flawlessly by Hoyt Benson on his electric guitar. One year Austen Davis played it on a banjo.<\/p>\n<h3>Rising to their lives\u2019 challenges<\/h3>\n<p>Life can be challenging in most years, and certainly for the Class of 2020, Miranda Hammer said in her commencement address. Graduates were born in the wake of 9\/11, started elementary school as the economy crashed in 2007, and hit middle school just after the Boston Marathon bombing. They started high school as school shootings became abnormally normal. And now they finish their senior year amid a worldwide pandemic, Hammer said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThrough every hardship and struggle we\u2019ve gotten stronger, we\u2019ve stayed positive, and we\u2019ve grown. Some believe that bruises and scars diminish one\u2019s strength, but to us, it\u2019s a sign of strength,\u201d Hammer said. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen some trying times in our lives, but whatever life throws at us we can get through it.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\" readability=\"6\">\n<div class=\"row vail-donation vail-donation-mobile p-0\" readability=\"7\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.vaildaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/03\/VD-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.vaildaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/03\/VD-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\" onclick=\"handleDonationButtonClickMidArticle()\">Donate<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Martin Velazco is looking at the bright side. \u201cWe can say we\u2019re the first to virtually graduate, the first to have a 5-month long summer vacation and first to realize that being in a classroom is pretty cool! And never in a million years will I say that again.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Adaptability: The most important skill<\/h3>\n<p>All that coupled with their Red Canyon education taught them adaptability, probably the most important skill they can carry into their futures, Tom Gladitsch said in his keynote address.<\/p>\n<p>Gladitsch taught at Red Canyon for more than a decade and a half, and said COVID-19 virus changed everything.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou are good at dealing with change and it will make you good at life after high school,\u201d Gladitsch said. \u201cThere is one thing I\u2019m certain of. Red Canyon graduates are uniquely positioned to take advantage of this new normal, because you have mastered the art of adapting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bibiana Serna Chavez shifted seamlessly back and forth between English and Spanish as she spoke to graduates and their families, reminding them to never give up, to look up and keep moving forward. She said her only regret is not coming to Red Canyon sooner. She made the move as a junior when she became a mother, and said her Red Canyon family made her a better mother.<\/p>\n<p>Red Canyon and World Academy teachers might or might not hold your hand, but they\u2019ll always have your back, Mandilyn Laidman said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis graduation fits right into my crazy unplanned life,\u201d Laidman said. \u201cNo one planned to graduate virtually, but we\u2019re making the best of it, and no matter what obstacles you face for the rest of your life, make the best of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The faculty and staff presented the graduates, offering praise and encouragement about each one as the graduates\u2019 pictures <a href=\"https:\/\/www.highfivemedia.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">flashed across the screen.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith high school in the rearview, you\u2019re now the \u2018Mister\u2019 and \u2018Miss\u2019 of your life lessons,\u201d Blake Wiehe said as he and Jeff Duggan gave the charge to the Class of 2020.<\/p>\n<p>Red Canyon started in the Berry Creek Middle School building at nights and on weekends. Mark Strakbein started it. Wade Hill ran it for 17 years and added online school World Academy, before taking over Vail Ski and Snowboard Academy. Red Canyon graduations are special, Principal Troy Dudley said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour belief in what we do makes this special day possible,\u201d Dudley said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Class of 2020 will be the class of the strong \u2026 don\u2019t let anyone tear you down,\u201d Alex Perez Ramirez said.<\/p>\n<p>And with that they turned their tassels from right to left, and strode confidently into the rest of their lives.<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vaildaily.com\/news\/class-of-2020-is-red-canyons-class-of-the-strong\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Vail Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hoyt Benson belted out the National Anthem on his electric guitar to open Red Canyon High School&#8217;s commencement. When he graduated, Benson&#8217;s teachers said, \u201cSome say Hoyt Benson has a creative gift. I say Hoyt Benson is a creative gift.&#8221;Special to the Daily In her commencement address, Miranda Hammer said the Class of 2020 has [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1320266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-03 20:40:41","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1320266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1320266"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1320266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1320274,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1320266\/revisions\/1320274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1320266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1320266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1320266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}