by Nathan Ellermeier |

The class of 2011, unique in its size and personality alike, will be the last class of its size that Liberty will see in a long while. The exact number is 658: the number of students who have fulfilled Liberty High School graduation requirements and will be walking across the stage at Bartle Hall on May 21.

The seniors of Liberty High School have certainly risen to the task of being an applaudable group of young adults that fills these certain “spots” in academics as well as atheletics.

“The adjective that comes to mind for the senior class is ‘resilience,” Adams said. “This particular class just has a positive energy that motivates them to do good.”
Part of the achievement of the class of 2011 comes from the sentiment of being the final full class.

“I think it’s really cool that our class gets to be the last class to stay together. It’s fun to tell people that I graduated in a class of seven-hundred. And I also think the reunion is going to be awesome and fun,” LHS senior Taylor Stansell said.

And through strength in numbers and high levels of initiative and involvement, the class of 2011 has made a name for itself not simply due to its unique situation but also because of its enterprise.

But the seven-hundred young people who will begin a new exciting chapter in their lives are not the only significance of this year’s graduation.

Along with the departure of the final united class of Liberty High School, some community traditions will be dismissed, while other new traditions will be ushered in. One of the most prominent traditions is the Homecoming parade.

“I really do believe this year was the last year for the homecoming
parade,” said Liberty High School principal, Dr. Adams, “But on the flip side of that, we get to do something new. Sometimes it’s okay to put a tradition to rest.”

But this kind of change in tradition and location for Liberty students has happened before. In 1973, the current LHS building became the official Liberty High School, moving from Liberty Junior High.

Wanda Neth, Homecoming queen (Fall of 1972) and a member of the class of 1973, remembers the change, “It was awesome to be the very first senior class,” she said. “Although it was sad that we had to leave the ‘old’ school, it was so exciting to be the first class in the ‘new’ high school.”

In the same position as Neth, Lincoln McCoy, a sophomore at Liberty North High School explains, “Being in the first class in a brand new school is just straight up cool mainly because you know that you get to create something that’s going to last for a long time.”

Yet different than 1973, today’s Liberty students face many other changes in the current splitting of th schools.

“As a result of the split, the community as a whole becomes bigger because there are more opportunities for kids; more experiences for families,” Adams said. “But as separate schools, it has made Liberty smaller. Because we’ve split, there are less students trying out for the same number of spots in activities.”

But as the final year of Liberty High School’s full senior class draws to a close, their resonance is evident.

“We have such amazing young people that are going off to do incredible things in our world,” Adams said, “And I can’t wait because I do believe that there will be some top leadership coming out of this class that will affect change in our world.”