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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Dying teenager gets her graduation wish

High school holds special commencement

Teacher Jane Wiles helps Liz Evett walk onstage to receive her diploma during a graduation Wednesday in West Richland.  (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
By LAURA KATE ZAICHKIN Tri-City Herald

WEST RICHLAND – The graduation ceremony at Hanford High School on Wednesday almost seemed like any other.

The school’s band played the fight song, the program listed the class of 2009’s motto and flower, and the snapping shutters of disposable cameras recorded it all.

But it is November. And the ceremony was far from typical. A squirt of hand sanitizer was mandatory at the door. Boxes of tissues were scattered throughout the auditorium. And there was but one honored graduate.

Liz Evett was met by nearly 650 cheering peers, relatives and teachers as she was wheeled into the auditorium wearing a purple cap and gown.

“When we came in the auditorium and we saw all the people – whoa,” said Evett, who was diagnosed with leukemia three years ago and relapsed in April. “I am so thankful.”

The West Richland 18-year-old stopped responding to chemotherapy in June and was given weeks to months to live. She immediately began checking things off her list of things she wants to do before she dies.

She has fed giraffes at San Diego Zoo’s Wild Kingdom, watched favorite movies again and met Mary Alice Yeskey, of Baltimore’s Charm City Cakes, who appears on TV’s “Ace of Cakes.”

But as Evett’s health faltered in recent weeks, it looked as if she wouldn’t make it to one of her goals: graduation. “When we identified her as terminal, we didn’t think she would make it to her 18th birthday (in August), let alone the end of the school year,” said Evett’s stepfather, Lyle Ivey. “She has days.”

But, like many other items on her list that seemed far-fetched, Evett received her diploma Wednesday.

“You have graduated from becoming a student to becoming a teacher,” said Todd Baddley, her former high school and elementary school principal and current director of student services at the Richland School District. “You are making a difference in the lives of others,” he added, noting her bravery and her enthusiasm for life and learning. “I want to thank you personally for the lessons you taught me. Keep teaching us those lessons.”

Evett stood from her wheelchair and walked to the stage with the help of her teacher, Jane Wiles, to accept her diploma.

After she received it, Baddley and others at the side of the stage called, “Liz, Liz!” and began motioning to her. Realizing what they meant, she reached up, moved her tassel from the right side of her cap to the left and threw her hands into the air.