The Fountain Hills High School class of 2020 gathered on the football field Friday evening, June 12, to take part in a graduation commencement ceremony.

The event was a little different from years past, with students accompanied by their parents for a ceremony that accommodated health restrictions due to COVID-19. This capped off an equally unusual school year, with the final months of classes moved online due to the worldwide pandemic.

As part of the ceremony, local graduates received some words of encouragement from keynote speaker Dwight Johnson. A retired Chrysler Corporation marketing executive, Johnson is also the president of the Verne C. Johnson Family Foundation, an organization that has contributed to local schools and various community activities benefitting youth for many years. Johnson has also been deeply involved with organizations including the PTO, Junior Achievement and the Fountain Hills Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition, to name a few.

Using a golf metaphor, Johnson congratulated this year’s seniors on their big night, achieving their goals while playing from the rough.

“You did more than graduate this spring,” he said. “As you battled through the challenging path of your senior year, you successfully played the ball exactly where it dropped. And that’s an even bigger accomplishment.”

Johnson explained that everyone must face challenges and “play the ball exactly where it lies,” relating his own story of being diagnosed with and learning to live with being bipolar. After struggling a long time with the diagnosis, Johnson committed to the changes in his life necessary to tackle the disease head-on.

“Today, I consider myself a high functioning bipolar person who has learned to manage my disease and fulfill my purpose,” Johnson said. “…Most importantly, I’ve found peace.”

Johnson said that, no matter what the class of 2020 faces in life, its members need to remember “there is always, always, always hope.”

“Life will have its ups and downs, highs and lows, highways and byways, but please know there is always a path forward to being the best you that you can be,” Johnson added. “…Now, for the first time in your life, you will pick your own ball.

“Up until now, most probably, your parents have picked the ball you have played for the past 18 years. Now you will pick your college, pick your major, pick your friends who will have a huge impact on you. You will pick your own career path and, most importantly, you will pick your spouse should you choose to marry.

“As you’ll be playing your own ball, I wish you the very best, and please know I will be fervently praying for each of you on the sidelines in your most important game of all; I call it ‘the game of life.’

“…There will be times when you have to play out of the rough. When that happens, play it. Play it with all of your heart. Play it with all of your mind. And play it with all of your soul.”