COLEMAN – The Coleman High School Class of 2023 will graduate at 8 p.m. Friday, May 26 at the high school gymnasium as valedictorian Hogan Johnson and salutatorian Dayden Hunter will be recognized as the top two graduates.

“This award means a lot to me as I have continuously studied over the course of high school and worked hard to gain this title,” Johnson said of the valedictorian honor. “I wasn’t surprised by the award as the salutatorian and I have been competing since fifth grade.”

“To me personally, it’s nice to be recognized for putting in the effort that I did,” Hunter said of earning the salutatorian accolade. “That’s not to say that others didn’t put in effort as well, but I’m just glad that all my hard work paid off in this way. Hogan and I have been best friends since before kindergarten and have always managed to stay number one and two in our class the whole time. However, there was one year when I bested him and took number one for a bit, but that only lasted until the end of the semester because of my lack of focus on dual credit at the time. Nevertheless, I fully expected to be the salutatorian of my class.”

Johnson, the son of Clint and Michelle Burkey, plans to Texas A&M business school. Hunter, the son of Duwayne and Adel Hunter, intends to major in Computer Engineering at Texas A&M.

Both students were involved in multiple extracurricular activities during their time at Coleman High School.

“I was involved in basketball, football, track, tennis, Junior Chamber, FCA, student council,” Johnson said. “My favorite subject was History as our teacher was a really down to earth guy and never really had problems with anyone.”

Hunter said, “Well, it’s gonna be hard to give a short answer for this one,” Johnson said. “I was involved in Student Council for all 4 years of high school as the Head of Safety and Health junior and senior years, NHS where I was secretary (two years), FCA for seven years total (four in high school), Junior Chamber of Commerce for all four years of high school where I participated in a multitude of fundraisers and community service projects, Sacred Heart Catholic Church Youth Group since fourth grade, and many other individual community service projects.”

Regarding favorite teachers and subjects, Hunter said, “I can’t really say I have a single favorite teacher, but the one’s that I think I formed the best relationships with were Mr. Strickland, Mr. Habiger, Mrs. Norris, and Mr. Ailshie. Mr. Ailshie is definitely one of the most laid back teachers we have in our school. That’s probably why most everyone comes to like him eventually. As for my favorite subject, I love math. There’s and extent to that love, of course. I’m not mentally insane. However, math has always been something I was pretty decent at, so the more I did, the more I came to like the subject. To me, math is a more rewarding subject than the rest strictly because you are always looking for a solution.”

Asked how Coleman has prepared the students for college life, Johnson said, “I feel that Coleman has taught me how to live a small town life. The type of life where you have to be okay with everyone knowing everyone and everything.”

Hunter added, “I believe that Coleman High School gave me a chance to not only grow academically, but allowed me to grow socially and form relationships with amazing people I might not have otherwise had the courage to talk to in a bigger school. In this way, I feel like it has prepared me for both of those aspects of college that I will have to face.”

Looking down the road 10 years, Johnson plans “to either work for a corporation or own my own business.”

Hunter said, “Though I can’t say for certain what’s to come in the future, at this moment, my plan is to complete my engineering courses, become a computer engineer, and become successful in my field of study. Coming from a family of eight, I understand from watching my siblings’ successes and failures that my path will not be an easy one. I fully intend to become something great that my family can be proud of, and I also hope for a job that will allow me to provide for my family as they have for me.”

Both graduates wanted to express thanks to those who helped them along their journey.

“I would like to thank my parents for caring enough to keep me on the same path throughout high school,” Johnson said. “Without them I don’t know where I would be.”

Hunter added, “I would like to thank my parents for providing me with so many great opportunities and raising me to become the man I am today. I am extremely grateful for all that they’ve done for me and even more proud to call them my parents.”