The rows of students that filed into Lawrence High School’s commencement ceremony were future teachers, engineers, Army Rangers and graphic artists. They dreamed of one day owning a day care center, joining the Marines Corps or just becoming millionaires.

Ashlee Bourdon-Hixson told her classmates Sunday afternoon that she expected to see some of them on television or hear them on the radio “doing something amazing.”

“When I’m in basic training for the U.S. Army this year, I will be thinking of you all. And when I hear your stories, I seriously hope they top Free State’s,” Bourdon-Hixson said as she spoke in front of more than 350 fellow graduates. “Let’s show the world what Lions are made of.”

In near perfect Kansas weather, LHS seniors and their families celebrated with air horns, beach balls, backflips and a few chest bumps.

Lawrence school board President Mark Bradford, whose son Zachary was graduating from LHS, had words of fatherly wisdom for the graduates.

“Punctuate your work with excellence, always do more than what is expected, play fair, work hard, be nice, don’t hit people, and don’t drink and text while you drive,” he said. “Always remember to clean up your mess. Leave things a little bit better than you found them, especially your bedroom. Live so people think (that) fairness, caring, integrity and all those things are a reflection of you. And last but not least, call your mom.”

Megan Brock will leave LHS with fond memories and plans to return someday as a teacher. She is going on to Kansas University to study education.

“It has been the best time of my life,” Brock said of her three years at LHS.

Andrew Stussie might be one of the fellow classmates that Bourdon-Hixson will see on television, or at least behind the scenes of what is being filmed. He plans to go on to study film and theater, and work on movies.

“Overall, I’m pretty excited. But I’m also kind of sad,” Stussie said of graduation. “It’s the last time I’ll see the friends I’ve made in high school.”

As for Andrew Denny, he’ll be taking classes at Johnson County Community College and then he’d like to become an Army Ranger. He was ready to graduate.

“It’s good to be done and start the summer that is never really going to end,” he said.