The Haines High School Class of 2025 gathered Tuesday night to receive their diplomas in the high school gym, surrounded by two packed walls of bleachers filled with family, teachers, and friends. The ceremony, which included three speakers and musical performances from both students and faculty, was in a familiar setting with familiar faces.
The volume of tears and hugs, however, was beyond the average basketball game, and as class salutatorian Ari’el Godinez-Long pointed out, the unfamiliar outfits – caps and gowns – underscored that it was a once-in-a-lifetime few hours for the graduates.
Valedictorian Willa Stuart’s address recounted a decade-long path graduates had traveled together, starting in kindergarten for many of them. Stuart called back to shared moments, from kindergarten and middle school memories, like a plastic bag ban (“not sure what happened to that,” Stuart joked), to high school teachers and inside jokes. Stuart also described the challenges they had faced together, big and small: COVID-19and social distancing, as well as “making it through a year of first period math.”
Even with COVID coming up multiple times, it was the small, unspectacular moments that took center stage in Stuart’s address. Stuart posed a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote – “what if we only saw the stars once every thousand years?” – to her audience, before encouraging classmates to appreciate the community, scenery, and friends in Haines that many will be leaving behind. “Maybe we should take the time to soak in beautiful things a little more.”
Looking forward, Stuart spoke of big hopes for the class. “Forget that this task of planet saving is not possible in the time required,” Stuart said, quoting environmentalist Paul Hawken. “Do what needs to be done, and check to see if it is possible only after you are done.”
But both Stuart and salutatorian Godinez-Long closed with hopes for the class slightly smaller than saving the planet, encouraging classmates to treasure their few remaining moments before going their own separate ways.
The commencement speaker, shop teacher Darwin Feakes, said he remembered being a graduate “like it was yesterday,” though, in reality, it was exactly 45 years and two days ago, he said. Feakes is retiring as of the end of the school year, so while student speakers spoke of uncertainty in the future, Feakes had a different perspective.
“I’ve worn many hats in my life,” said Feakes. “But the one thing they all have in common is service.” Feakes encouraged graduates to chase their passions, rather than money.
“I often tell students, find a job you love, and then figure out how you’re going to live on that wage,” Feakes said. “If I had to do it all over again I don’t think I would change anything.”
After diplomas were handed out, graduates paraded in vehicles down Main Street, throwing candy out to the crowd that had moved from the gym to line both sides of the road. Vehicles included a truck/hot-tub hybrid and a four-wheeler. A wind ensemble led by Matt Davis serenaded the paraders, including with an electric rendition of Don’t Stop Believin’. Though the vehicles drove at walking pace, the parade was over quickly; with the band’s last notes still bouncing around, families packed up cameras, little siblings retrieved the last of the Smarties and Hershey’s still in the street, and the graduates turned past the small-boat harbor and out of sight.