Class representative Seth Waldo’s commencement address drew laughter as he shredded his speech and threw it across the gym, recited a tongue twister and quoted popular Game of Thrones character Jon Snow. The ceremony celebrated the 21 graduates from the Haines High School Class of 2018.
Molly Ekstrom, class Valedictorian, graduated early and is commercial fishing.
Salutatorian Tulsi Zahnow opened the program. “Up to this point, our paths have all virtually followed the same direction with our differences blended,” Zahnow said. “Now it’s the time to make our differences stand out. It’s time to blossom into our own unique forms, and add our own colors to the world. We will not go through the motions of life. We will be the life, forever fluctuating with it, not getting dictated by it, but by choosing how we respond to it.”
Later in his commencement address, Waldo moved the crowd with alternating humor and sentimentalism. “I slit the sheet, the sheet I slit, and on the slitted sheet I sit,” Waldo said. “I always wanted to do that in front of a big crowd. I literally got adrenaline just typing it.”
Waldo became emotional when quoting senior classmate Karl Schulze, who graduated early and is serving in the U.S. Army. “I want to wish everyone in the graduating class the best of luck in the next step of their lives, and tell them to never stop laughing because I’m pretty sure that’s what we were best at,” Waldo said, quoting Schulze.
Commencement speaker Rachelle Galinski began work at Haines School eight years ago, assisting with a class of fourth graders. Galinski said on her first day in class one girl asked, “Who in the world are you?” while another student whispered, “I think she’s nice. Maybe.”
“That fourth-grade class is the Class of 2018, sitting before us today,” Galinski said. “That little girl was Brittney and that little boy was Hudson. Today is a bittersweet day for me. This was my first class to work with, and I find it hard to imagine this school without your familiar faces in it.”
Galinski said what stands out most about the class was how they inspired others. She said the students reached out to struggling peers, pulled them into their circle and “let them know they mattered.”
Musical interludes included performances of “Happy Together” and “One Call Away” by the concert choir with Keegan Palmieri as soloist. The man choir, which included seniors Dalton Klinger, Keegan Palmieri and Marty Fowler, sang “Stand by Me.”
Scholarships awarded to graduates and alumni included: University of Alaska Scholars, $12,000 over four years: Tulsi Zahnow and Molly Ekstrom; Alaska Performance Scholarship: Parker Blair, Brittney Bradford, Tulsi Zahnow, Dalton Klinger, Hudson Sage, Keegan Palmieri, Molly Ekstrom, Tailer Olsson; Lewis-Clark State, Idaho, $9,308: Brittney Bradford; American Legion, $1,000: Brittney Bradford, Tailer Olsson, Cameron Bauer, Parker Blair, Dalton Klinger, Nikolas Mackowiak; American Legion Auxiliary, $500: Brittney Bradford and Dalton Klinger; Haines Animal Rescue Kennel, $500: Tailer Olsson; Haines Volunteer Fire Department, $1,000: Brittney Bradford and Keegan Palmieri, $500, Nikolas Mackowiak, Madeline Andriesen, Jenae Larson and Kayley Swinton; Lynn Canal Conservation, $500: Seth Waldo; Uglys of Haines, $5,000: Cameron Bauer, $2,000: Parker Blair, $1,000: Chevy Fowler, Brittney Bradford and Seth Waldo; Alaska Native Sisterhood, $1,000: Rodney Williamson and Dalton Klinger, $500: Kelsey Taylor; Haines Women’s Club Alumni, $1,000: Jenae Larson; Mildred Hermann, $1,000: Rodney Williamson; Pat Jones Memorial, $1,000: Megan Whitermore; Chilkat Valley News Raymond Menaker Writing Award, $1,000: Parker Blair; Juneau Lions Club, $1,000: Dalton Klinger; Haines Education Association and School Staff, $600: Keegan Palmieri, $500: Kayley Swinton and Jenae Larson; Delta Western, $12,000 over four years: Seth Waldo; New Hope Fellowship, $4,360: Parker Blair; Chilkat Valley Community Foundation Art Jess Scholarship, $1,000: Jenae Larson and Rodney Williamson; Haines Sportsman’s Association Barbara Campbell Memorial, $500: Chevy Fowler and Kayley Swinton; Eric McDowell Award: Hudson Sage and Makayla Crager.