Rain fails to dampen SHS graduation

SANDPOINT — Forget sunshine, Sandpoint High School graduates celebrated a “true North Idaho graduation” with plenty of pomp and celebration — and the steady drizzle of rain.

But, while it may have been cloudy and the rain didn’t let up all day,  families and friends packed Memorial Field to celebrate the school’s 105th commencement with the class of 2012.

In coming up with her speech, class president Courtney Windju said it took her a while to come up with a speech that was both served as “a meaningful and impossible farewell all the while introducing a new beginning” to their lives.

She decided to pass along four lessons she’s learned over the years: perfectionism isn’t everything, everything happens for a reason, anything worth doing is worth doing well and remove all blocks that keep you from loving yourself and others.

“Take a moment, close your eyes and time travel back to every major event in your life,” she told her classmates. “Look even deeper. It is the little moments in life which define who we are.”

She encouraged her fellow graduates to “live in the now and not think about the coulda, woulda, shouldas” of life. Windju also paid tribute to two classmates — Will Johnson and Elisabeth Cole — who were missing from graduation.

“Thank you for touching our lives in such an extraordinary way,” she added.

She closed her speech by quoting Dr. Seuss, reading a portion of his poem “Oh, the Places You’ll Go” and adding her own ending.

“What exactly will you be? This is what I wish for you to see. You shall have revelations honestly discovering and all I can hope is that you’ll see, this is me.”

Salutatorian Ryan Schwartz told classmates he realized he didn’t need his speech, and proceeded to rip it in half, saying it came from the heart and tapping his chest — before pulling a second copy from underneath his graduation robe to laughter and applause.

He compared their education to an airplane ride, saying they’ve soared higher and higher and been on a “wild adventure” together. Over the years, there have been many highlights and shared the story

of his dad, who told him he couldn’t score with his right foot any more “because apparently I liked scoring a little too much.”

“How was I supposed to satisfy my craving for scoring with my previously neglected left foot?” he asked. “The answer is quite simple, I kicked it with my left foot and the ball went into the goal.”

The lesson? “Sometimes trying new things results in achievements that are life-changing,” he added.

He closed his speech by quoting a wise man by the name of Albus Dumbledore: “Happiness can be found in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light.”

“You have the power to choose to turn on a brighter attitude in any situation,” he told fellow graduates. “Once you do that, you have control.”

Valedictorian Matthew Pfeifer opened his speech with a shout out to Lake Pend Oreille School Board Chairman Vickie Pfeifer — and his mom — for all she has done for him and his classmates through the years.

“This is the greatest group of people, I could every hope to spend my childhood with and to fortunately graduate with,” he said. “When I look at my peers, my friends, and my classmates, I see a brilliant future. I see some of the smartest and most talented individuals of any age. I see fearless dreamers who will stop at nothing to accomplish their goals and, most of all, I see diversity.

“I see no two of us are the same and I see infinitely many number of possibilities for every single one of us and, as I look around, I know that we overcome any problem that we or even the world will ever face.”

He closed his speech with an impersonation, complete with emphatic pounding of the podium and arm gestures — much to the delight and laughter of fellow graduates.

“We are Bulldogs, seniors of Sandpoint High School. I ask you,” he said pounding on the podium twice, “once more, rise and be worthy of this historical hour.”

“No revolution is worth anything,” he said pounding on the podium again, “unless it can defend itself.”

“ I say, seniors of Sandpoint High School, unite. We must never acquiesce for it is together, together that we will prevail,” he said, letting the last word trail off.