A Sad Graduation

by Nicole Kane
(Hartford, South Dakota, USA)

Dustin Holter

May 20,2006 was the day of graduation at West Central High School in Hartford, SD. It was supposed to be a time of celebrating new beginnings, instead it was a time of mourning. WC Senior Dustin Holter, 18, of Humboldt,SD, was killed early that morning on the way home from a senior party. Alcohol and high speed were involved. He flipped his car in a field where another student found him and called 911. The EMT's were too late to save him, Sherriff Milstead identified Dustin as he was a classmate to the Sherriff's son. There was an empty chair at the ceremony that afternoon in honor of Dustin. No one could really believe he was gone, he had been in classes with everyone only days before. After that accident drinking around WC has gone down drastically. We all thought it would never happen to us, but it did and it woke us up to reality.