BANGS – The Bangs High School graduation ceremony for the Class of 2025 will take place at 8 p.m. Friday, May 23 at Dragon Memorial Stadium.
Jackson Moore, son of Jerry Moore and Jamie Moore, is the valedictorian while Darrell Lance III, son of Darrell Lance Jr. and Jessica Lance, is the salutatorian.
“I’ve had the position since freshman year, so it’s a big achievement,” Moore said of the valedictorian accolade. “Freshman year I didn’t realize I could do it, but then I had it and I wanted to continue on with it. And I also get my first year of tuition free going to a state school, so it was definitely a big incentive and benefit. It’s a high honor to hold and it means a lot to me personally.”
Lance said of receiving the honor of salutatorian, “This means a lot to me. Finishing second in your class is pretty good, I’d like to think. I was ranked 20th my freshman and sophomore years and I was able to get up to second, so I think that’s pretty cool.”
Moore is headed to Tarleton to pursue a degree in Engineering and Cyber Security.
“When I went to visit Tarleton it felt like a very friendly, open place, and has a lot of benefits I like that fit with me like free doctor’s visits, little stuff like that,” Moore said. “And then I feel like my brain has always been geared toward engineering and the way everything works and sticking with facts. The cyber security part, I like coding, I tried coding in our classes and it stuck with me.”
Career-wise, Moore intends to, “make security systems for companies. I’ve heard of people getting paid to try to break into companies, trying to steal key cards and duplicate them, so stopping that would be a lot of fun, along with telling them ways to improve.”
Lance is also Tarleton bound with his eyes on a degree in Business.
“I chose Tarleton because I took a tour and it looked really nice, it’s not too far away, and it’s a bigger school,” Lance said. “I chose Business because I feel like that’s a good trade to know.”
After college, Lance already has career plans.
“The job I have set out is for Warren CAT,” Lance said, which is a heavy equipment sales company providing new and used equipment and parts, as well as offering rentals, based in Texas and Oklahoma.
When it comes to going from Bangs to Tarleton, both honor graduates feel they’ll handle the adjustment well.
“It’ll be a big adjustment, but a very welcomed one,” Moore said. “Sometimes change is good, sometimes it’s bad, and sometimes you just have to figure it out.”
Lance added, “In comparison with Tarleton being much larger than Bangs, I think by the end of the first semester we’ll be acclimated.”
Regarding their fondest memories of high school and what they will miss most, Moore said, “Really the different communities, with each sport you have your own little group and you change groups throughout the year. Basketball season, the rides back from the games, especially when we won, were really fun. We’re not a huge school so everybody knows everybody, I hear about other schools where everybody hates everybody, but here we’re always friendly and nice.”
Lance chimed in, “I’ll really miss hanging out with my friends because we’re all going to go our separate ways after high school. Looking back, my friends are definitely going to be among my fondest memories.”
When it comes to favorite teachers at Bangs, Moore said, “Ms. Saucedo always really cares about the kids and you can tell. I also liked Coach Williams, he’s honestly a fun guy and you can tell he cares about the things that he does. He’s into track 100 percent and with teaching he always gives his best. My mom’s also a teacher here, so having her for a class was pretty nice.”
Lance echoed some of Moore’s sentiments, stating, “I liked Ms. Saucedo as well. She’s the History teacher and is really nice. She helps the students out a lot, even makes note cards for everyone. I also want to say everyone, or I think almost everyone passed the STARR test with flying colors. My other favorite teacher is Mr. Gamblin, the Ag teacher. I had him for four years and he’s a super great guy.”