Warren G. Harding grads reflect on past, share goals

By Ed Runyan

runyan@vindy.com

WARREN

New Warren G. Harding High School graduate Jesse Kilpatrick made a name for himself as news anchor for the school’s broadcast channel and communications program.

But what he hopes to do in his career is solve crimes as a forensic investigator.

“We’ve had a few students who’ve been killed. It’s caused me to want to give some peace or resolution, to try to figure out what happened, to put a peaceful end to it,” he said Friday at a post-commencement picnic at Packard Park organized by the school. Harding’s commencement was Thursday.

“They’ve lost so much. They deserve to at least know what happened,” he said of crime victims.

Kilpatrick plans to attend Bowling Green State University in the fall and will see whether he’ll be able to fit broadcasting or film studies into his schedule.

For the past four years, broadcasting and video have been important to him as a participant in the Warren Student Communication Network channel, which broadcasts news, short films and music videos to fellow students at the end of the school day.

He anchored the news and did play-by-play commentary for Harding basketball games for WSCN. The productions are popular with Harding students, Kilpatrick said, partly because they are shown during the last 15 minutes of the school day, when school work is done and people are in a good mood.

“Everybody looks forward to it. It gives people an opportunity to do something fun,” he said. “I had a great time.”

Fellow graduate Briana Jenkins has been involved in a lot of activities through her high-school career, including choir, National Honor Society and Upward Bound.

But one of the things that sets Jenkins apart from others is her desire to help people, and it’s led her to choose psychology as a major when she begins college at Kent State University this fall.

“I’m the type of person I like to help people. I like to help people solve their problems. If I see you frowning, I have to help you put a smile on your face,” she said. “I’m always smiling. I’m a happy type of person.”

Jenkins said she received a good education at Harding. “We have good academic programs, like [advanced placement] classes and stuff like that,” she said.