by marlys good
Tyler Anne Brown, daughter of Randi Noble of Basin and Mitch Brown of Greybull, and Mat Coronado, son of Dave and Deb Coronado of Greybull,  share valedictory honors for the Class of 2010. 
As co-valedictorians, it’s fitting they’ll be giving a “co-speech” at graduation exercises May 23 in the GHS auditorium.
“Mat and I are going to have a combined effort,” Tyler said, “like memories, things we’ve done; we want to make it kind of fun.” To which Mat adds,  “We’ll kind of focus on life lessons we’ve learned in our classes — the things that have happened to us.”
The two have maintained 4.0 GPAs while participating in a wide variety of school activities. Mat names speech, the musical and drama productions, choir, National Honor Society and Student Council, while Tyler Anne, also in NHS and Student Council, lists basketball, volleyball and serving as a class officer all four years to her list of activities.
Mat’s best memory of GHS is being named to the All-State Choir his junior year. “Because I had to work so hard to get there and it was so much fun to perform with such a huge choir.” It’s’ not surprising that the teacher having the biggest impact on him was the late Darci Weydeveld. “She was so persistent, had this never give-up attitude and taught me to love music, too. There were a few others, probably Mr. Menke. He taught me how to be responsible and how to think on my feet.”
Thinking for a minute, Tyler says she believes Jim Prather has had the most impact on her.  “He is always willing to give me advice on stuff, even it if has nothing to do with school. If I have a problem I can ask him about it and he gives me good advice — makes me think twice about what I might decide.”
Mat plans on working this summer, spending a lot of time singing and playing piano, marking time until he enters Mesa State College in Grand Junction this fall where he plans to major in vocal performance.
Tyler will work at the Basin Co-op for part of the summer, then “take it a little easier and spend time with my family.” This fall she’ll attend the University of Wyoming, seeking a major in elementary education.  “It’s something I’ve thought about a lot. I thought I wanted to be a physical therapist, then debated about (majoring) in special education versus elementary, but I think elementary education is a better fit for me; I can still volunteer in special ed. My little brother Landon is 4 years old and he was a major factor in my decision.”
What advice would the two have for younger students?
“Be punctual,” is Mat’s immediate advice. “That’s been my biggest downfall. If you’re not punctual you miss a lot of stuff; get lessons, homework in on time and you learn how to budget your time.” He’s still a work in progress, he admits.
Tyler  said she would advise young people to “work hard from the very beginning, it pays off in the end — even though it might not seem like it the first two years.”
Salutatorian Miranda Archibald, daughter of Barb and Lyle Archibald of Greybull, has maintained a GPA of 3.9, just a shade off the top two slots. She’s in the National Honor Society, Art Club, was in the Science Club for two years and is active in Big Brothers Big Sisters.
But her main interest is in art. “Since I was in the sixth grade,” she said. “I did a lot of two-dimensional pencil work and discovered I had a knack for it.” That “knack” has brought her many awards, including a $500 purchase award, two blue ribbons and the 2-D Student Choice Award at the Wyoming High School Art Symposium in Casper.
Art Instructor Karyne Dunbar has had a lot of influence on Miranda. “I know that we’ve led kind of similar lives to this point. And she is always there to give good points — good technical advice.”
Regarding her excellent GPA, Miranda admits, “I think I’ve always been academically-minded, I’ve always wanted to improve myself. I want to do everything better — better is the best way to go.”
She will always remember high school for “probably just all the fun moments with the kids in my class — not necessarily your best friends,  just all the kids.”
To young people just entering high school, Miranda advises: “Definitely get all your ducks in a row first off. It’s hard to be disorganized and accomplish anything.”
Miranda plans to attend Northwest College and major in art. “I’ll start there and then go where the wind leads me,” she said with a smile in her voice. Looking down the road 20 years, she admits, “I don’t know job-wise what I’ll be doing, but I know I’ll be creating my own personal art work, regardless of what I do for a living.”