Closing the book on another chapter

Bretteny Jensen with her fellow grads last Monday inside the RHS gymnasium as part of the RHS graduation ceremony.

By Jonathan Guignard

Guij26@gmail.com

Another school year has a officially wrapped up in Raymond and Monday night was spent celebrating the graduating class.

Raymond High School’s graduation took place inside the gym as family, friends and faculty gathered to take part in the ceremony.

Principal Jim Ralph is saying goodbye to RHS and is getting ready for retirement after 34 years of service.

The moment is a little bit surreal for him, but he’s always happy to see his students graduate.

“It’s good see these graduates move on in their lives and prepared to do so. It’s always a good feeling. With this year being the last one for me, it’s a little more emotional than other times,” said Ralph.

Celebrating their accomplishment is extremely important to Ralph and he hopes it encourages them for the future.

“You hope they can take away the things that will help them in life. It’s a time where there is a lot of things on their minds. They’re excited because it’s over and they have the summer to enjoy,” said Ralph.

Ralph has seen a number of graduations in his time, but will always remember this group.

“They were a very enjoyable class and were a lot of fun. They created a culture that we appreciated, they brought a personality to the school that we enjoyed and they’ll be remembered for that,” said Ralph.

Emma Tatlow was one of the graduates and is feeling relieved to be done high school, but at the same time is feeling the pressure of what’s to come.

“All the stress of high school rolls off your shoulders, but then there is the stress of graduating then having to figure out what to do with your life,” said Tatlow.

Tatlow will definitely miss everyone she has met over the years and feels like it’s a special group of people.

“There are lot of people who are unique, a lot of us have different characteristics , but we love bing a community. Being in a small town, our graduating class got to be really close,” said Tatlow.

Fellow graduate, Preston Martens plans on pursuing a medical degree and said the teachers at RHS did a great job in supporting him.

“They were very good. It was awesome getting to learn from them. They are always around when you needed them and they would help you anyway possible,” said Martens.

Ralph gave a speech to the graduates and hopes they remember some important points.

“Be excited about the future, embrace it and always have hope,” said Ralph.

The students wrapped up their in school celebrations with a fashion show on Tuesday displaying sharp suits and gorgeous gowns.