North Star graduation proves light-hearted

North Star High School celebrated 13 seniors' graduations and 14 eighth-grade graduates in a light-hearted ceremony Saturday afternoon in the school gym.

North Star School Superintendent Bart Hawkins congratulated the seniors for moving on to new surroundings and experiences and joked that the eighth-grade graduates will be walking the same halls next year as they did this school year.

Gavin Spinler, who received about $65,000 in scholarships, gave the salutatorian address.

He first said his class was made up of kids who liked to read, some who read the books they had to and others who liked to blow up books. Among the classmates he mentioned, he said anyone looking for someone to hunt, fish or blow stuff up with, Payton Peterson "was your guy" and that Samantha Pester was the only senior who only could tell time by reading a digital clock.

Peterson received five scholarships.

Valedictorian Graysen Spicher let Tim McGraw's song "Humble and Kind" speak for her. Spicher received five scholarships.

She said the song is about "a path we should follow." Don't lie or cheat, work hard and realize everything is not going to be given and live for others, she reiterated.

Substitute and retired teacher Laurel Walker gave the commencement speech.

She told the students to be in the moment, fully engaged, and to always treasure parents and other family members, spiritual leaders, their community and the teachers who have supported them. She hoped the excitement of learning new things never left the graduates.

"You are not the best and the brightest," she said, pausing for a second before adding, "not yet. It's coming."

She told the students to look forward to the future and not fear but be prepared for all kinds of changes, to never discount experience and to never cease from reading and learning.

"You will need big, scary events and ideas to challenge you," she said.

Walker quoted former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia: "The only thing in the world not for sale is your character."

She told the students to never blame others for their shortcomings and to be aware of the most dangerous phrase in any language: "We've always done it this way."

The senior graduates received certificates and diplomas after which they sat on the floor in front of the projector to watch picture slides of themselves. After the slides, comical videos the students had made of what their lives would be in a few years were showed. Among the hypothetical future careers were motivational speakers, survival show hosts, ghost hunters and one of the bachelors on the TV show of that name.

The other graduates of North Star High School Class of 2016 were Kaylee Brewster, who received a scholarship, Chase Donaldson, William Gilead, Matthew Helmbrecht, who received four scholarships, Jalissa Horinek, Megan Kurtz, who received five scholarships, Kiera Miller, who received seven scholarships, Sheridan O'Neil, who received eight scholarships and Hunter Wicks.