Numbers add up to bright future for grads

SANDPOINT — "I spent 22 years as a math teacher, so I thought I would describe this class to you using numbers," said Sandpoint High School Principal Tom Albertson at Friday's commencement ceremony.

He began with one, referring to a top student's SAT score, and ended with 162,000, the dollar total of the local scholarships awarded to SHS seniors this year. Number seven was Sandpoint High School's academic ranking in the state, according to U.S. News. Number 12 was the total of the school's district championship teams while 17 was the number of seniors who would go on to compete at a college level. Thirty-one students in the class of 2016 earned a 4.0 or higher grade point average.

"Eighty-seven percent of the students in this graduating class have applied to and been accepted by colleges, trade schools or the military," Albertson said, and the crowd applauded.

The old grandstand at War Memorial Field, scheduled to be replaced this fall, accommodated a Sandpoint High School graduating class one final time as 225 seniors, clad in red mortarboards and gowns, filed up the steps and took their seats.

Many wore leis of fresh flowers, and a few had customized their caps with items such as pom poms and lace. One senior had glued on a pair of drumsticks. The general mood at the open-air graduation was jubilant, both in the stands and among the parents, family and friends seated beneath tents on the field. Even the weather, rainy for most of the day, had cleared.

As the final seniors crossed the playing field to take their places among their classmates, the strains of "Pomp and Circumstance," played by the high school concert band, faded into the cool, crisp evening. Everyone stood for the national anthem, delivered in a soaring tenor by Jon Brownell, SHS choir director.

Ruby Courser, senior class vice-president, led the lineup of student speakers. She spoke about the untapped potential among her classmates, calling out a number of their names and telling each, "you are more."

Corinne McClelland delivered the salutatory address, lighting up the stage with a bright smile. She focused her speech on the value of love and kindness as she and her fellow graduates move forward.

Valedictorian Caroline Suppiger, also senior class president, emphasized the close relationships enjoyed by her classmates, many of whom had been together since kindergarten, in her speech. She asked the students to close their eyes as she set the scene of a brief grade school romance, reading the note a boy wrote to her that she saved throughout the years.

"He's sitting up there today," she said, gesturing toward her classmates in the grandstands. "And I still love him."

The SHS Chamber Choir, under the direction of Jon Brownell, provided a musical interlude at this point in the commencement ceremony. Seniors Greg Marks and Lily Weishaar sang a duet of "I've Had the Time of My Life," backed up by the choir. Their heartfelt performance radiated across the field to captivate the audience like a warm embrace.

When the time came to award diplomas, several school dignitaries were present on the stage. Lake Pend Oreille District Superintendent Shawn Woodward and Assistant Superintendent Dr. Becky Meyer joined Steve Youngdahl, LPOSD board chairman, and trustee Barbara Oler to assist Albertson in making the awards.

Each senior walked in turn across the stage to receive his or her red-jacketed diploma, completing the symbolic journey from student to graduate. When the rite of passage came to a conclusion, Albertson presented the class of 2016, setting off a red tide of caps that flowed upward into the rafters. The mood was ecstatic as the honorees exited the stadium amid the cacophony of the Victory Bell.