Whitehall High School celebrates 2025 graduation ceremony

WHITEHALL — The Whitehall Class of 2025 officially became Viking alumni last Thursday evening in a graduation ceremony at the Viking Athletic Center.

The event featured four student speakers - the senior class's officers. Brady Tate, Cami Kraai, Tyler Van Antwerp and Grace McDowell each stepped to the podium to reflect on the school that shaped so much of who they've become.

Each is taking a different path going forward - Tate is going to the University of Michigan, McDowell to Michigan State, Kraai to Hope College, and Van Antwerp will do his first two years of college at Muskegon Community College - and each took a different tack in their graduation addresses.

Tate, first to speak, invoked the late Ava Vanderstelt, who passed away in 2022 and would have graduated this year. A seat in the front row was left vacant, apart from a photo of her, in her honor. He spoke of Vanderstelt's love for others as an example for his class to follow.

"The world doesn't need more polished resumes or highlight reels," Tate said. "It needs more people brave enough to love freely, loudly and without apologies... Love is the bravest way to live."

Kraai rhetorically asked her classmates what they missed out on in their impatience to "be a big kid," and noted that those of her class that did their entire schooling at Whitehall first stepped into the district 4,645 days prior to graduation.

Van Antwerp used some of his time to thank the "unsung heroes" of the district, such as those in transportation, food service and custodians, who do so much background work to ensure the district functions smoothly. He said he looked forward to seeing his classmates in the news - "for good reasons, of course."

McDowell talked about driveways and how, to her, they represent more than merely the path connecting home to street. She implored her classmates to "enjoy that journey" as they embark on their next challenge.

It's a challenge the graduating class seems equipped to meet. According to the district, 104 of the 154 graduating students qualified to utilize the Muskegon Promise scholarship, which grants free tuition at MCC, Baker College or a trade school to county students who achieve at least a 3.0 grade point average (or graduate in the top 30% of their class). Thirty-four of those 104 will utilize the scholarship. In all, 113 grads are attending college or trade school (with help from a combined $3.326 million in scholarship money), 17 are pursuing trades or apprenticeships, 16 are joining the workforce, and eight are enlisting in the military.

Before school board president Rachel Fekken officially declared the graduates as alumni, superintendent CJ Van Wieren also took the podium. He declared to the class that the district is better now because of the time, effort and energy they put into their studies and activities.

He asked the class to carry "the true spirit of a Viking" with them - "bold, unafraid to face the unknown."

"Be different. Be positive," Van Wieren said. "Be a force for good in whatever community you choose to call home."