GRAND ISLAND, Neb. -- When Kenny Morales took the stage on Sunday to give his commencement speech, nobody expected him to say what he did.

He titled it ‘Pandora’s Box’ and in it he criticized Grand Island Senior High. It wasn’t just the fights he mentioned, but also many issues he feels are part of the current culture at the school. 

“Of course, it’s going to make the school look bad, but if people don’t know, how can we as a community address that?” he said.

Students who wish to speak at graduation may submit their speeches. School staff reviews them and scores them blindly before the principal makes the final decision on who will speak.

On Sunday, Morales went off script from his selected speech, but he said he had a good reason.

“I think there’s a comfort knowing that things aren’t perfect, you know," Morales said. "Because if you go around pretending like everything’s perfect, you know, you’re kind of hiding from it. But, when you know something’s not perfect, it's kind of, it's better because you have something to work towards and that kind of what I want to get at." 

He said he had tried to make his voice heard at school, but nothing had changed. Morales said there’s little accountability and the expectations aren’t high enough. 

News Channel Nebraska reached out to Grand Island Senior High, but they didn't comment aside from the speech selection process. 

Morales hopes the speech will trigger a change. 

“The speech itself is not going to change everything," he said. "It’s just words, but hopefully someone finds the hope in that speech and causes the change."

In the past year, Grand Island Public Schools have gone through significant changes. The district has a new superintendent after the last one resigned. The Board of Education also has three new members who won election as write-in candidates.

Morales hopes the school will eventually demand more out of its students. 

“That’s kind of what I wanna get at. The school itself you have to set those standards and the kids will follow,” he said.

Morales wants people to know that, despite his public critiques, he’s still grateful for the education he received. He plans to attend UNL in the fall and major in software engineering.