CFHS graduation a family affair
—Photo by LYNNE HALEY Rose Lily Wu Levy receives her diploma from Phil Kemink, Clark Fork High School principal.
-- Photo by Lynne Haley Clark Fork High School's class of 2016, left to right: Catherine Bistline, Rose Levy, Leslie Kiebert, Samantha Martin, Sunny Koivu, Veronica Dake, Niko Icardo, Derek Lowry, James Cope, Tyler Hammack, Garrett Pomerleau and Eich Anderson.
-- Photo by LYNNE HALEY Co-valedictorian Derek Lowry speaks to his classmates on graduation night at Clark Fork High School.
-- Photo by LYNNE HALEY Clark Fork Junior/Senior High School principal Phil Kemink hands Garrett Pomerleau his diploma.
-- Photo by LYNNE HALEY Clark Fork co-valedictorian Niko Icardo gives a speech at Wednesday's graduation ceremony.
-- Photo by LYNNE HALEY Leslie Kiebert, left, and Rose Wu Levy, right, enter the Clark Fork gym on their graduation night. The graduates carried yellow rose bouquets they later gave to their parents.
CLARK FORK — "We are one huge extended family," Phil Kemink told the crowd assembled in the high school gym Wednesday evening. Teachers, family and friends were gathered to give the senior class a spectacular send-off as the students strode into the auditorium in pairs to the tune of "Pomp and Circumstance."
The 12 members of the class of 2016 each held a fresh flower as they took their seats beneath the mural of a Wampus cat, their school mascot. The reader board above the row of chairs spelled out each graduate's name in 3-inch letters.
As the welcoming applause from the audience died down, the CFHS choir, decked out in brass-buttoned uniforms and hats, sang the national anthem. Principal Kemink took the podium to deliver his opening remarks.
“Small schools are special. Everyone in the community supports one another and knows one another. A lot of the (seniors) on this stage were just starting school when I came here 12 years ago," he said.
He presented National Honor Society chords to three of the students, and then introduced the first speaker, co-valedictorian Derek Lowry. CFHS had two valedictorians this year because there was on about 1/1,000th of a difference in the top students' GPAs, Kemink said. Co-valedictorian Niko Icardo followed Lowry with a speech of his own.
"I want to be the person who looks back on his life and says ‘I'm proud of what I’ve done,'" he told his classmates, "and I hope all the rest of you can say that, too.”
English teacher Rebecca Palmer, the popular choice for keynote speaker, stepped up to the podium next. She prefaced her remarks with a surprising caveat. She told the students that it is not true that they can accomplish anything they set out to do.
"You can’t do anything you want, and you can’t conquer (anything) unless you listen to those around you,” she said.
Palmer named each graduate and pointed out his or her unique strengths. She summed up with some words of advice.
"You need to offer each person you meet compassion and leniency … I think you will be able to change this world into a better place,” she said.
Before receiving their diplomas, the seniors shared a slideshow with the audience. Each of the 12 had created a segment with photos of family, friends and activities combined with a favorite song.
The slide show included a 13th segment in honor of a classmate who was not able to make it to the ceremony. Hayden Kistler had died in 2011 from glioblastoma brain cancer.
Barbara Oler and Geraldine Lewis, LPOSD board trustees, assisted Kemink in conferring diplomas. After the students had resumed their seats, the principal introduced the graduates of the class of '16, and as applause rose from bleachers to rafters, the honorees flung their caps into the air.