Area schools set graduation dates

SANDPOINT — Graduation ceremonies for area high schools are scheduled this week between Thursday and Saturday.

Lake Pend Oreille High School will graduate 31 students this year with 24 participating in its Thursday evening ceremony, office manager Belinda Wilson said.

The class of 2010 is the largest graduating class in four years, she said.

That means this year’s senior dinner will be a full house.

“Each year we have a dinner for parents, staff and graduates prior to graduation,” she said.

As a farewell from the senior class advisors Belinda Wilson and Colleen Ross, the women also invite the graduates to breakfast the day of graduation.

This year’s ceremony starts at 7 p.m. at the Sandpoint Events Center.

Commencement on the east side of the district, at Clark Fork High School, is set Friday at 7 p.m. in the high school gymnasium.

The 20 students in this year’s graduating class received $152,000 in scholarships, Pam Hewitt of CFHS said.

Bryce Bare is the class valedictorian and Nathaniel Christensen is salutatorian.

Cookies and punch are served and graduates will present a slide show of their lives that includes images from their childhood and school years accompanied by music.

The slide show is an annual event and makes the Clark Fork ceremony unique, Hewitt said.

“That’s what is really special,” she said. “Often the whole class gets a box of Kleenix and goes to the front and watches. Being a small school, we can do those kind of special things.”

Sandpoint High School’s graduation at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in Memorial Field will commence regardless of the weather.

The 2010 class is comprised of 249 graduates. Nikolaus Thorell and Hope Woodruff are valedictorians and Thomas Jacobs is the class salutatorian.

The school expects a larger than average turnout and has set new rules this year for the ceremony: Reserved seats will be held no later than 4 p.m.