By John McLoone

PRESCOTT – The Prescott High School Class of 2022 packed the gym Friday night at the school district's commencement cere – mony. It was the first time in three years that attendance hasn't been restricted at the event. Judging by the crowd, these 112 gradu –

ating seniors have the support of their fam – ily, friends and community as they leave the friendly confines of PHS to take on the world. At the outset of the ceremony, Prescott High School Principal Josh Fiege asked any – one in the crowded gym to stand if they lent any kind of support to a graduate. Fiege then had the graduates glance around at the num –

ber of people standing.

"I'd like you to look around at the com – munity of support that you and your peers have. Find the people who have supported you, who comforted you when you were sad, celebrated you when things went well, dusted you ou when you fell and helped you when times were tough.

"This is perhaps the first major milestone in your life. Your journey has largely been scripted," said Fiege. "But after this moment tonight, after you graduate, all future mo –

ments are based on your choices. Your op – tions are infinite. Some of you are going to choose to continue to go to school. Some of you are going to choose to go right to work. Some of you might take a gap year and trav – el. Some of you might become apprentices or go into the military. Some of you might start a career. Some of you might start a family. The point is, the choice is yours." The two graduation speakers were chosen from among the 13 students who achieved highest honors, Summa Cum Laude. Students had to provide an outline of the speech and a video of their speaking abilities. Earning the honor were Mallory Boles and Shayanne Stenroos.

Boles described the senior class as a closeknit family.

"The Oxford Dictionary defines family, 'As a group of one or more parents and

See PHS GRADS, Page 13 PHS grads

from Page 1

their children living together as a unit.’ My apologies to the Oxford Dictionary. I would have to say that I could not disagree with the definition more. As I stand here looking upon my classmates, I only see one thing. I see a family. We may not all share the same parents and live in the same house, but we are still a family in every sense of the word,” she said. “The past 13 years, we have remained as one unit, sticking by each other for the good times and the bad, bonding over the memories we have made together and growing up side by side into the astounding young adults we’ve all become. Together we have faced not only the terrifying perils of middle school but we survived and continued to survive a global pandemic.”

She pointed to the athletic and academic achievements of the senior class.

“We have raised the bar academically,” she said. “Our grade has the second-highest ACT composite score in the Middle Border Conference as well as the highest AP pass rate our school has ever seen. I could not be prouder of the group in front of me today.”

Stenroos recalled being told as an underclassman to cherish the high school years.

“Every single year, the seniors tell the freshmen that high school goes by too fast. Every single year, the seniors tell them to cherish their time, because before they know it, it will be over. Every single year, the seniors hope that their advice will help thet underclassmen take advantage of time, but every single year, without fail, the freshmen don’t believe them,” she said. “I was one of those freshmen. All my classmates here were those freshmen. Sometimes I wonder if we had known what our high school career would entail, would we have taken advantage of our time? Would we have cherished it more? Or is it simply a lesson we must learn the hard way? As kids, we didn’t know how valuable time was. We couldn’t wait to grow up, and we were always looking for the next milestone.”

The graduates became a closer unit, working through COVID education protocols and leaning on each other when classmate Josh Gergen passed away last year.

“COVID taught us to not take the time that we have with each other for granted.

We only surely understood that after losing a classmate almost one year ago. We didn’t know our time with Josh would be so short,” she said. “As a class, we came together and started cherishing every single second together. We checked in with teach other because we never knew when it would be the last time.”

Closing remarks were made by student council president Anna Thomley, who urged students to embrace change, ending with, "One final change, please move your tassels from the right side of your cap to the left side,” she said. “Congratulations guys. We are now ovcially high school gradu ates.”

Prescott High School senior band students performed one last time at their commencement ceremony Friday night.Photo by John McLoone

Korbin Rumeliote leaves the stage with his Prescott High School diploma in hand at the school’s commencement ceremony Friday night. Photo by John McLoone

Makenzie Wallin was all smiles after being congratulated by administration at the Prescott High School graduation ceremony Friday night. Photo by John McLoone

New graduates of Prescott High School checked out their diplomas at the school’s commencement ceremony Friday night in the high school gymnasium. Photo by John McLoone