Priest River graduates walk the stage after resilient year

PRIEST RIVER — Despite another year filled with challenges, 42 Priest River High graduates overcame numerous obstacles in their way to walk the stage at Saturday’s graduation ceremony.

Priest River Lamanna High Principal Matt George started off the ceremony by thanking Interim Superintendent Joe Kren, the West Bonner County School District Board of Trustees and the graduation committee for all the hard work in making everything possible. George also recognized graduate Jade Best for having already walked the stage at North Idaho College.

“Class of 2024, you have the privilege of leaving Priest River Lamanna High School the way you entered … surrounded by a world and a community in chaos,” George said. “It shouldn’t be this way. It’s not fair. You could have given up and let the world around you beat you down, but you didn’t.”

Whether it was standing up against those who hurt others, leaving negative people behind, or just doing the right thing, George said grit is what all true Spartans possess and is the reason many of Priest River’s graduates were able to receive their diplomas Saturday.

“As I told you yesterday morning, I am very proud, but what I did not say is that you earned my respect,” George said. “Class of 2024, never lose your grit and never stop being Spartans.”

Salutatorian Hayden Bruns with his speech "This is Due Tomorrow" thanked all of Priest River Lamanna’s teachers and faculty for making a lasting impact on his life. Over the many friendships and relationships forged over the years, Bruns said he sees a class that knows themselves better despite adverse circumstances.

“A lot of time, high school students try to ‘fit in’ or ‘blend in’, but now I see a group of individuals who know who they are and aren’t afraid to stand for it,” Bruns said midway through his speech. “A wise man once told me, the hardest choice is usually the right one, and I know those who sit before me have no trouble with that.”

Valedictorian Allyson Barton was next to speak. She started off her speech "Beginning of our Story" by thanking all of West Bonner County’s students, teachers, faculty, friends and family for never giving up, showing hope, and for all their encouragement and support throughout the hard times.

“I have looked at what we have had to overcome to have a ‘normal’ high school experience — the one that was idolized and promised to us since we were kids,” Barton said. “The first two years, when we fought every day to live our lives as we did before. I then looked at our junior year, when our levy didn’t pass, right when we thought we could get a ‘normal’ year, we were thrown yet another curveball … friends left, teachers left, everything changed, which led me to our senior year ‘the best year of our lives.’ It just wasn’t the same, but we kept fighting, fighting our way to the top.”

Barton said she wanted to remind all of the 2024 graduates what they have been through, and encouraged them to keep fighting, because this chapter in their lives was only the beginning of their story.

“It’s our job to wake up every day and continue the journey ahead,” Barton said. “Write your story, Priest River Lamanna Class of 2024, because our journey is just beginning and we have our entire lives ahead of us. Write your story, fight for what you believe, pave your own path, and live each day like it’s your last. Be grateful for every opportunity and thank those who have helped your story … the world awaits us.”

Full list of Graduates

* indicates honors

Kiera Adair, Logan Alexander, Allyson Barton*, Brooklyn Best*, Jade Best*, Colton Brooks, Hayden Bruns*, Marley Burgess-Duquette, Chaelynn Charleston, Pavin Coleman*, Jesse Collins-Brunn, Kemper Dabrowski, Aaron Davis, Jesse Dufek, Ezekiel Duran, Braiden Gaertner, Unity Halcomb, Mara Handeland, Erika Hawks, Rylee Haynes, Dean Hiebert, Ethan Heuer, Stephanie Kawamoto, Savannah Kimmel, Sky King, Zachary Lamberson, Magen Lasley, Adrienne Lindenberg*, Blake Livingston, Collin Magers, Sam Pound, Kayden Reynolds, Laney Rhine, Hayden Sisk, Hayden Strange, Cheyenne Thompson*, Haley Todd, Piper Vargas, Cazzity Watt, Helena White, Shayd Wong-Yeun.