Arlee graduates 32 seniors
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ARLEE — Thirty two of Arlee’s best and brightest moved on to the next chapter of their lives Sunday as they graduated from Arlee High School during a moving and passionate ceremony.
Superintendent George Linthicum began the ceremony with a few brief words from the heart, eliciting a chorus of cheers from the hundreds of friends and family packed into Arlee’s school gymnasium.
“Before we get going, I want to say thank you to everyone who helped to make this possible. One thing we quickly learn too late in life is that there are so many people that help to make us who we are and what we are, but this is a milestone we can celebrate that we will always look back on,” he said. “On this memorial day weekend, we especially want to remember those men and women who have sacrificed everything so we can be here and celebrate these graduations.”
Arlee students combined for hundreds of thousands of dollars in college scholarships this year, a feat which underscores the cause of the strange mix of emotions like fear, excitement, sadness and joy felt by all seniors on graduation day — the ending of a chapter, and the beginning of a new one.
Class Valedictorian Tiffany Cierra O’Neill illustrated this idea with her speech.
“Today we say goodbye,” O’Neill said. “Goodbye to a group of people we’ve spent most of our lives with. I could go on about how sad it is and how we’ve learned so much here, but we’ve all heard that before. I’ve instead decided to give some advice to my classmates as they make their way to the next chapters of their lives;
“don’t give up, beginnings are always the hardest; don’t count your chickens before they hatch; you cannot get to the top by sitting on our bottom; education is what you get when you read the fine print, but experience is what you get when you don’t; and even if you are on the right side, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”
After some good-natured ribbing of her fellow classmates, O’Neill addressed her class as a whole, extolling the final bit of advice and wisdom they would hear as high school students.
“Before I leave, I have one more thing to say: find a passion, don’t let anyone take it from you. If it’s important to you, you’ll find a way. If it’s not, you’ll find an excuse.”
Arlee High School graduating class of 2013
Justin Thomas Adams
Kristyn Victoria Adams
Kya-Rae Dede Ross Arthur
Hannah Belle Kendal Arvidson
Karleigh Brooke Bolin
Logan Dale Boushie
Michael Louis Brown
Zachary Conko Camel
Christian Andrew Charette-Haynes
Darian Jordan Charlo
Tayla Dine’ Desjarlais
Cameron Skott Dominick
Jessica Mikaila Dunlop
Jasmine Michele Etuckmelra
Anthony Thomas Ewell
Austin Robert Lee Harris
Mahalia Ann Hendren
Tomas Junior Heredia
Vance Emmaunel Home Gun
Samantha Irene Leonard
Kenneth Blaine Lewis
Tiffany Cierra O’Neill
Skyla Elizabeth Perry
Reece James Pierce
Albert Francis Plant
Jordan Alexander Rautio
Austin Gabriel Rubel
Stevi Kay Seidel
Nakeya La’rae Senecal
Antonio Francisco Torres
Mary Helen Trimble
Rowan Lane Wilson
