13 graduate from Big Sandy High School

As the high school band struck up "Pomp and Circumstance," the 13 graduating seniors at Big Sandy High School walked in the back door of the gymnasium.

One by one, they processed slowly as pictures were taken. They walked to the front and took the seats that had been reserved for them.

Following close behind, 13 sets of parents marched in, also guests of honor at the ceremony.

Relatives sat in special folding chairs, while friends filled the bleachers.

Parents took part throughout the ceremony.

When Superintendent Brad Moore introduced the valedictorian and salutatorian, he gave the medals to the parents, and the parents presented them to the students. Parents put the honor cords around their children's necks.

Valedictorian Madison Reichelt promised the audience that her speech "will be like my seventh-grade self - short."

She compared her high school experience to a 1,600-meter race - four laps over four years.

The first lap, her freshman year, was terrifying, she said.

Her second year was dominated by sports, math and stress.

The third lap was always the most difficult, her coach once told her, and her junior year was not that easy.

In her senior year, "you are looking down the home stretch," she said.

"Today you are here to celebrate the end of the race," she said.

But, she said, as the Class of 2016 goes through life, "I hope we will always be running," she said.

She urged classmates to become involved in the community around them, and to continue to be themselves.

"Be kind, be generous," she urged.

Salutatorian Cheyenne Pegar called her years at Big Sandy "an interesting journey," and added, "we have so much to look forward to."

She said many people have told her that her high school years will be "the best ofr her life."

"I genuinely hope that I haven't seen the best yet," she said.

Students had prepared a PowerPoint presentation that briefly told the story of each of the graduates, showing pictures of their youngest years and following their development.

The graduates also wrote brief thank you notes to friends, family and the Big Sandy community for their support.

One graduate thanked her mom for being both parents to her, "teaching me to gut a deer one day and make cinnamon rolls the next."

Another thanked the Big Sandy community for continuing its support for the athletic teams.

Even when the teams didn't perform very well, they could always count on the bleachers being full.

To cap off the ceremonies, the graduates presented their class advisers, veteran teachers Christine and Larry Brumwell, with a mug that read "Thank you for putting up with 37 years of BS," meaning Bog Sandy, of course, vice president Eric Schwarzbach said.

As the proceedings came to a close, the blue and white balloons that were above the stages were dropped down onto the graduates as mortarboards were thrown skyward.

Proceedings were adjourned to a post-graduation reception.