Havre High graduated Class of 2017

Parents, friends, teachers and fellow students packed into the Havre High School gymnasium Sunday afternoon to celebrate the 108 students who made up the graduating Class of 2017.

The gymnasium had few seats left by 4 p.m. Students in cap and gown began filling in shortly afterward, while the Havre High symphonic band played the processional in the background.

"Today is a good day," Superintendent Andy Carlson told everyone from the podium.

Carlson said graduation was unique in that every student has their own story, yet everyone's stories are intertwined, and therein lies the uniqueness.

"My advice to all of you is to abandon the selfie," he said, rousing laughter.

History teacher and Montana Hall of Fame wrestling coach Scott Filius gave a short graduation address.

"I'm going ahead and giving you guys some some coach talk," he said, before giving a speech filled with practical steps about how to win in life.

Life keeps score, he said.

"Are you a good son, a good father - good at what you do?" he said.

He then gave three steps to improving one's life score.

The first way to do so, he said, is "you work at it." Then, if you work at it, he said, and you combine that with a good attitude, improvement will follow. On top of working at it with a good attitude, he said, the third step is to put other people above oneself.

"If you put people above yourselves, you'll be rewarded," he said.

The presentation of the diplomas followed.

First-year Principal Mike Haugen  said after the commencement that the Class of 2017 is a group that is "incredibly kind to each other." It's also a diverse group with many interests and talents.

Once the commencement finished, everyone poured out into the parking lot and all around the school building. Graduates were taking pictures and conversing with loved ones.

Graduate Kennedy Black said the hardest part about getting to graduation day was the homework, the assignments, all those years. And, although her junior year was the most difficult, high school overall wasn't that hard, she said.

Black is off to Montana State University-Northern for her generals, she said, adding that she's still undecided where she'll go after that.

Staying focused, Emilio Bautista said, was the hardest part about getting to graduation day. But he, too, thought high school was pretty easy.

Bautista said four years doesn't seem that long until he looked back and realized all the social changes, the different friendships he developed, and sometimes dissolved, over that time.

Bautista is off to fulfill his Mormon mission, he said, after which he plans to attend Brigham Young University.