Dorchester Times: DHS Graduates 26 Seniors

Saturday, May 10, 2008

DHS Graduates 26 Seniors

On Saturday afternoon, 26 DHS seniors received their diplomas, marking what will be the last class in Dorchester history to complete all their schooling in the 1927 building. At least 19 0f this year's seniors plan to continue their education or serve in the Armed Forces.

Here is the list of the DHS Class of 2008 and their post graduation plans as reported by the Dorchester School newsletter:

Lucas Apfelbeck: Pre-Pharmacy, Doane College.
Dustin Brown: Enter the workforce.
Andrea Hansen: Nebraska Methodist College.
Dylan Harris: Enter the workforce.
Estaphon Hoffmaster: ROTC, Liberty University.
Nathaniel Holly: UNL.
Josh Inderlied: U.S. Army.
Curtis Johnson: Undecided.
Brent Kasl: Undecided.
Katlin Lawver: SCC-Lincoln.
Dusty Leeper: SCC & U.S. Army Reserve.
Logan Mead: Creative Center, Omaha.
Paige Moreno: College of Hair Design.
Chuck Parks: SCC-Milford.
Angela Roth: SCC-Beatrice.
Tonya Roth: UNL.
Logan Sand: Pre-Dentistry at UNL.
Richie Schelhorn: Enter the workforce.
Jason Sherman: Military.
Kalyn Shipley: Undecided.
Kaci Smith: SCC-Lincoln.
Morgan Spanyers: Nebraska Methodist College.
Chelsea Stilwagon: SCC-Lincoln.
David Strilkivsky: Enter the workforce.
Tiffany Wade: SCC-Milford.
Logan Waldron: SCC-Milford.

Our congratulations and best wishes to the newest Longhorn graduates.

6 comments:

AnonymousMay 11, 2008 at 10:11 PM
Nice job, ladies and gentlemen. I hope some of you will consider moving back here when you complete your education or training. We need you and your vision.
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousMay 14, 2008 at 3:36 PM
CONGRATS TO ALL THE SENIORS AND GOOD LUCK!
HOWEVER YOU MAY WANT TO CHECK UP ON THE CORRECT NUMBER OF STUDENTS THAT ACTUALLY GRADUATED THIS PAST WEEKEND. I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO KNOW WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME DORCHESTER HIGH SCHOOL HAD 5 SENIORS NOT WALK DOWN THE ISLE? THEN I HEAR OF A SENIOR THAT FOUND OUT THE WEEK BEFORE GRADUATION HE WAS A FEW CREDITS SHORT OF GRADUATING AND HE COULDN'T WALK DOWN THE ISLE WITH THE REST OF HIS CLASS. I'M NOT SAYING ANYBODY SHOULD HAVE BEEN PASSED BECAUSE THAT IS SOMETHING YOU HAVE TO EARN. BUT TO NOT LET A STUDENT WHO HAS BEEN GOING TO CLASS ALL YEAR NOT WALK BECAUSE OF A FEW CREDITS IS WRONG. REALLY, THINK OF THE IMPACT LEFT FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIFE! WHAT WOULD IT HAVE HURT? TO THE BOARD MEMBERS. DIDN'T HAVE ANY PROBLEMS CHEERING THIS STUDENT ON WHEN HE WAS REPRESENTING DORCHESTER HIGH SCHOOL IN THE STATE WRESTLING MEET, OR MAKING TACKLES ALL YEAR IN FOOTBALL DID YOU!
ON ANOTHER NOTE, JUST ONE MORE QUESTION. DID THE COUNTY RUN OUT OF GRAVEL? PRETTY BAD WHEN COUNTRY ROADS ARE BETTER THEN THE ONES IN TOWN DON'T YOU THINK!
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousMay 15, 2008 at 9:50 PM
heck...........

if UN-L had graduation rates like that for the football team they would run out the whole staff
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousMay 15, 2008 at 11:05 PM
To anonymous:

There is no reason any of the seniors should not have graduated unless there was lack of effort or motivation on their part. As I understand these seniors did not graduate because of one class. During the course of the year, the students had the option to retake any test, any number of times until they achieved the grade they wanted. They could have retaken the tests until the received a 100%. Did these seniors take advantage of this option? Did they put forth the effort necessary to pass the class and graduate? No. Also, this teacher is at school every day by 7:15. Did any of these students come in for extra help? No. A diploma is earned not just given because you attend class all year. The seniors meet with the guidance counselor several times throughout the year and their high school career. They are aware of how many credits they have and how many they need at the beginning of the year. They also know their grades at semester to know if they have passed and earned the credits for that semester. Also, parents are sent deficiency notes each week a student is failing so they too are aware of the situation. Hopefully, students will learn that a diploma is not just handed over and they must work and complete passing work in order to earn their diploma.
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousMay 15, 2008 at 11:19 PM
Thanks for the clarification above. I, for one, stand behind the decisions of the teachers and administration of the school.

Back in my day, if you got in trouble with a teacher or the principal, you got it ten times worse at home. Parents always backed the teachers. These days, parents everywhere are the first ones to come crying and make excuses, screaming "Not my kid!" It's gotta end. Standards .... live by 'em. The sooner your kid learns it's a world of hard knocks, the better off he/she is!
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousMay 16, 2008 at 11:28 PM
It is too bad that not all of the members of the senior class wasn't able to walk down the aisle. But there are requirements that must be met -- this is real life, mom and dad, the number of credits needed to graduate is not a secret. The kids had more than enough opportunities to complete those requirements -- the school bent over backwards to help those individuals. Was the teacher suppose to pick up those kids from home, drive them to school, put the pen in their hands and then help them write in the answers? Come on people. It's called personal responsibility and consequences. Maybe those parents and families should have cheered their children on to study when they came home from those football games, state wrestling, etc. It's time to wake up, mom and dad!
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Village Dweller checks all reader comments to determine if they are appropriate for print.

Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."