CFHS grads set to go forth
(Photo by MARY MALONE) Clark Fork High School graduates Ellie Lambert, Grace Shelton, Doshia Beltran and Lucy Selph get a good laugh in during their graduation ceremony on Wednesday.
(Photo by MARY MALONE) Clark Fork High School salutatorian Brooke Stevens gets emotional when talking about the school staff who helped her and her classmates succeed.
(Photo by MARY MALONE) Clark Fork High School graduate Grace Shelton, right, celebrates after receiving her diploma Wednesday.
(Photo by MARY MALONE) Clark Fork High School graduate Ellie Lambert was surrounded by youngsters after Wednesday's graduation ceremony.
(Photo by MARY MALONE) Clark Fork High School graduates Lily Simko, Ellie Lambert and Grace Shelton smile during Wednesday's graduation ceremony.
(Photo by MARY MALONE) Clark Fork High School graduates Lily Simko, Ellie Lambert and Grace Shelton celebrate after Wednesday's graduation ceremony.
(Photo by MARY MALONE) Clark Fork High School principle Phil Kemink flips over graduate Ellie Lambert's tassle during Wednesday's graduation ceremony.
(Photo by MARY MALONE) Clark Fork High School graduate and valedictorian Lily Simko recieves her diploma during Wednesday's graduation ceremony.
(Photo by MARY MALONE) Clark Fork High School graduate Niko Holborn give Lake Pend Oreille School District trustee Purley Decker a big hug on his way down to receive his diploma Wednesday night.
(Photo by MARY MALONE) Clark Fork High School graduates celebrate as Wednesday's ceremony came to a close.
(Photo by MARY MALONE)Clark Fork High School graduates enter the gym during Wednesday's graduation ceremony.
(Photo by MARY MALONE)Clark Fork High School graduates enter the gym during Wednesday's graduation ceremony.
(Photo by MARY MALONE)Clark Fork High School graduates enter the gym during Wednesday's graduation ceremony.
(Photo by MARY MALONE)Clark Fork High School graduates enter the gym during Wednesday's graduation ceremony.
(Photo by MARY MALONE)Clark Fork High School's 17 graduates take the stage during Wednesday's graduation ceremony.
CLARK FORK — Looking at the graduates of Clark Fork High School’s class of 2019, “power class” were the first words that came to mind for CFHS Principal Phil Kemink.
“This is absolutely one of the strongest classes that has gone through this school,” Kemink said during Wednesday’s graduation ceremony.
As Kemink prepared to hand out honor cords to eight of the 17 graduates, he said it was the most honors he’d awarded to a single class. Also a show of their strength and determination, the class garnered a total of $348,000 in scholarships, with the majority of them heading to universities in the fall.
Most of the CFHS seniors attended school together since their early years at Hope Elementary. Some of them, including valedictorian Lily Simko and salutatorian Brooke Stevens, have been friends since their preschool days. While some things are a choice, others happen by circumstance, Simko told her classmates during her valedictorian speech.
“I think today, the 17 of us are a combination of our circumstance and our choice,” she said. “You all have been who I spent the majority of my life with, besides my family — months, days, years, almost a decade and a half for some of us. We’ve not only grown up around each other, but with each other.”
While some of the classmates will stay close and others will drift apart, Simko said, what matters is that they are all “here today.” She quoted Abraham Maslow that “the sacred is in the ordinary. It is to be found in one’s daily life, in one’s neighbors, friends, and family, in one’s own backyard.”
“So I just wanted to tell you all it has been an honor to have you all as my friends and classmates,” Simko said.
In her salutatorian speech, Stevens chose to address the staff, as she said it is because of them she and her classmates have been given “countless opportunities.” Their dedication to the students has prepared them all for the future, she said, addressing a few in particular.
“I could go on and on about you guys and everything you do for me, but that would take a million years,” Stevens said, choking up as the tears began to form. “So I just want to say I love you all and thank you for everything.”
It was just as emotional for the staff, particularly English teacher Becca Palmer, who was chosen almost unanimously by the graduates to speak on their behalf during the ceremony. It was a bittersweet moment for Palmer who, in her 18 years of teaching, only came to Clark Fork six years ago. The students in the class of 2019 are the first she has taught each year since they came in as seventh-graders.
Initially, she said, her speech was going to be a short one — “I change my mind, you don’t get to graduate.” Instead, Palmer talked about each of the 17 graduates, from those early days when seventh-grade Michael Myers “literally” ran to every class with his notebook clutched in his hand, and Stevens and Hailey Bristol giggling in the back of the class, to qualities that will lead them into the future, such as Ali Sutton’s desire to help everyone around her, and Tessa Sutton’s loyalty to all.
“Class of 2019, look around you,” Palmer said as she concluded her speech. “You are surrounded by friends, family, classmates and staff members who have stood by you from day one. This is very likely the last day you will all be together. Appreciate what each person has brought to your life, what each has taught you. From that, I encourage you to determine what is most important to you and to stay true to that. You have a legacy to maintain, so go forth and do good things — we are all counting on you.”
Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.