Graduation celebrated at RCHS

by Richard Lamb– Advance Editor

With a flip of the tassel and a squirt of silly string, the RCHS class of 2008 set off into the world as high school graduates. As class president Cynthia Belusar read the names of the graduates, her classmates were congratulated by high school principal Jamie Huber and superintendent Dan Byrne, each in their first year, before school board superintendent Michael Marx handed out the diplomas. When all had worked through the line, hats and strings few through the air in celebration.

Before diplomas were awarded, co-valedictorians Morgan Schuiteman and Dustin Hein address the audience, as did the salutatorian. Salutatorian Jessie LaLonde said she and her classmates realize that their high school experience was the time of their lives. She reminded her class of the experiences, which brought them to this point in their lives, from entering RCHS as freshmen, the joy of snow days, proms, decorating floats, to graduation day. ?These are the joys of high school that we will never get back,? she said. ?Throughout the past four years of high school, our class has set precedence and we have been leaders. We have proved to be very academic with an outstanding number of honor students?over half. We have also dominated outside of the classroom in sporting activities.? She thanked teachers, administrators, and parents for helping her classmates reach their goals. ?We came into this school four years ago as a group of 75 students, but leave it today as one group of friends,? she said.

CO-VALEDICTORIAN Morgan Schuiteman said that the word ?change? kept popping into her mind as she composed her address. ?As I sat thinking about the word change and what it meant to me, I realized that even the word change and its meaning seemed to continually change,? she said. Their school career changed from preschool to elementary to junior high finally to high school. ?The past few years have been pretty constant. We have had basically the same teachers, similar classes and one common goal?which is to get out. Now as our time together is coming to an end, we will face plenty of changes as we move on to the next phases of our life,? she said. She said she is confident that each and every one of her classmates is ready for change and to face the world.

Dustin Hein used song titles and phrases to highlight his address. ?We have had good times, bad times, and times where we were simply dazed and confused,? he said. During trying times, he said, there have always been people willing to help get the students through, including teachers and coaches who helped along the way.

?I don?t know what the future holds for everyone, but I do know that we can always call Rogers City High School home sweet home,? he said.

BYRNE HAD a few words of advise for the graduates, as he joked about his own high school graduation some 19 years ago. He wondered then, what was next for him and offered some thoughts on making and reaching goals to the graduates.

?I remember ever since I was in kindergarten, I said when I grow up I want to be a school superintendent,? Byrne said, drawing laughs from the students on his career choice. ?The only way to get there was to go one day at a time, one peak at a time, just like it was for you to get here today,? he said. ?Work hard and be persistent, just like you did to get here today.?

He quoted Thomas Freedman who said keys to life include do what you like, be a good listener, learn how to learn, don?t get carr

ied away with gadgets, always remember there is a difference between skepticism and cynicism, and lesson number six ?call your mom.?

?And I will add my own number seven, make it a great life or not, the choice is yours,? Byrne said.

Huber, in presenting the class to Marx, congratulated the graduates and reminded them to commit to memory all that being a student at RCHS meant. ?Your time and the experiences you have gained, will be the foundation of all you will build on in the future,? he said. The foundation built can be the underlying strength used to build great things as they embark on the world, he said.

The high school band, joined by the eighth grade students, performed the processional, the alma mater, and ?Come Sail Away,? under the direction of Edward Wilbert.

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