The 119th graduating class of Medora High School will pass through the doors of one of the state’s smallest schools as students on Thursday.
Many of them have been classmates since kindergarten.
At least one, however, is a newcomer, but she’s glad she made the move five years ago.
“I used to go to the Bedford schools, and then I moved in with my grandfather (David Abner) and started going here in eighth grade,” Morgan Dunn said.
The 18-year-old said she’s glad she left a larger school and went to Medora.
“I like it at Medora,” Dunn said earlier this week. “Since there are not a lot of kids, you can get extra help.”
She said she never worried about graduating.
“It’s just crazy that it’s here now,” Dunn said. “I just think I’m going to miss all of my class, for sure, because it’s so small. There’s only 16 people. We’re basically like a little family.”
While she has a lot of favorite teachers, two in particular stand out.
“I like the math teacher and the art teacher,” she said.
Dunn said math was not exactly her best subject in school, but math teacher Mackenzie Donovan was always helpful and encouraged her to push herself to do better.
“I like art because it was a creative outlet,” she said of that class taught by Abbie Showecker.
Her advice to those children just starting school is pretty simple — just go with the flow.
“You’re going to have a lot of troubles along the way, even here, and you’re going to lose friends, and then you are going to make friends, so don’t let that faze you too much,” she said.
Dunn has spent the past three years playing volleyball for the Hornets and was the setter her senior year. She joined at the prodding of some of her friends, and she said playing helped her make a lot more friends.
Dunn also is a member of the Beta Club, an honorary organization for students who earn all A’s and B’s.
As senior class president, Dunn will play a role in the school’s 119th commencement that begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the school gymnasium, welcoming everyone, including her classmates, to the event.
Gwyneth Morris will give the salutatorian address, and Kailen Flynn will give the valedictorian address, while senior class Treasurer Judd Fish will lead the Pledge of Allegiance, and senior class Vice President Grace Cobb will lead the prayer.
Once she walks out the door of Medora High School for good as a student, Dunn has a pretty solid plan in place.
“I’ve been accepted to IUS (Indiana University Southeast), and I am going to move to New Albany in August,” she said.
She plans to study nursing but hasn’t decided if a career in that field might bring her back to Medora and Jackson County or find her going somewhere else.
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What: Medora High School’s 119th commencement
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Gymnasium at the school, 82 S. George St., Medora
Who: 16 seniors will graduate
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