— The parents of Homer High School graduate Justin Smith when asked what Justin would be doing next
“At 10 there are no irrational mood swings, no family drama and absolutely no hair in funny places. A 10-year-old sees every day as a day of adventure. Ten-year-olds feel no shame. They will run after that butterfly. Never forget you were a 10-year-old.”
— Emma Rose, in her valedictory speech at Homer High School, asserting that being 10 years old was better than high school or college years“
“I don’t have a clue.”
— Igor Muroro, foreign exchange student< at Homer High School when asked what he would be doing next
“These folks have been waiting for me to stop talking for three years.”
— Karen Wessel, Flex School principal, of keeping her commencement remarks brief
“I like the Flex mascot of the phoenix. What I didn’t expect was I’d experience my own beginning, and my own source of heat.”
— Nancy Vait on her first year as a teacher at Flex School
“They’re funny, they’re smart, they’re creative. These guys stretch me. They make me laugh. They make me cry.”
— MaryClare Foecke, presenting the Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic scholarships at Flex School
“I do best at things people tell me I can’t do. I have a little bit of a harder time doing things people say ‘You can do this, Owen.’ I’ve finally done one of those things I was told I can do.”
— Owen Bauer, Flex School graduate
“…Right now I’m just so burnt out. I just want to get it done and over with.”
— Samantha Evans, Ninilchik graduate
“It’s the first day of the rest of my life. It’s a big transition. Tomorrow, I’m moving to Seldovia … and, like, I already have two jobs lined out.”
—Angela Singh, Ninilchik graduate
“Now I can live on my own!”
— Courtney Schnabl, Ninilchik graduate
“It’s taken a long time, 15 years!”
—Alicia Oskolkoff, Ninilchik graduate
“Twenty-two minutes and I’ll be out of here!”
— Mikhail Skrypchyk, Ninilchik graduate
“I look at all of you, and I see me. … I have to wonder, is this your graduation or mine?”
— Penny Valda, English teacher retiring after 28 years at Ninilchik, 32 years as a teacher
“We grew up together … most importantly, we stayed together.”
— Olivia Tipikin, Nikolaevsk graduate
“I have never met a person who went through high school and said they regretted it. I have heard vice versa.”
— Fektista Ana B. Kuzmin, Nikolaevsk graduate
“You will be remembered for what you have done for others, rather than what you have.”
— Jerry Bernhardt, substitute teacher for nine years, guest speaker, Nikolaevsk
“Because they’ve been in a small school, everyone shines in a different way.”
— Linda Harris, tutor for 17 years at Nikolaevsk School. Harris is being transferred to Chapman School in the fall.
“When she was little I remember thinking this day would never come.”
— Mary Yakunin, mother of Nikolaevsk graduate Lekonida Yakunin
“Look back at where you came from and never be ashamed. You came from a very, very, very special people.”
— Bob Moore, guest speaker, Razdolna High School. While researching his master’s thesis on Old Believers, Moore learned that 20 million Old Believers had been exterminated over a 20-year period of time.
“Learning doesn’t stop when you get out of school. ‘Commencement’ means the start of something.’”
— Ed Frink, guest speaker, Kachemak Selo
“Well, here I am finally. I’m speechless. I had to pinch myself this morning.”
— Kornily Polushkin, Voznesenka graduate
“(You have) the gift of diversity. Use it. Value it. It will serve you well.”
— Sharon Conley, Nikolaevsk principal
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