One hundred five students received diplomas in the ceremony, conducted by BFHS principal Tim Gering, and attended by Superintendent Richard Conley and school board Trustees Ron MacDonald and David Brinkman, and several hundreds of community members and visitors, who filled the home side bleachers and spilled across the football field on lawn chairs and blankets. Hundreds more were logged in to watch the ceremony on the internet where it was broadcast live on local community website Boundary County Live.
The graduation service opened with our National Anthem, sung by a quintet of students which included Anika Blackmore, Kaitlin Crump, Linden Roop, Sean Varelman, and Brook Wilson.
Five students gave short talks at the ceremony. The guest speaker, invited by members of the Clas of 2014, was Gina Brown, a teacher at the high school.
Christian Trocke, Senior Class President, spoke of how, even though high school can be difficult and a challenge at times, the class should look back on it as a blessing, a place of nourishment for education and friendship.
"Where else in life," said Trocke, "will you be able to freely receive an education along side with some of the best friends you'll ever have."
Gina Brown, guest speaker, told the graduating class that happiness in life takes a lot more than money, it takes the right combination of a lot of things. In a way, she said, preparing for a happy life can be compared to cooking. The most important thing when it comes to cooking is the quality of the ingredients. She gave three recommended ingredients for a happy life:
1. Find a career you love. Don't have a job you dread going to. She quoted Jim Fox as saying "Find a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life."
2. Find the right person to spend your life with. Stay away from people who are toxic.
"Find someone," said Brown, "who brings out the best in you, and someone you bring out the best in."
3. She quoted Judy Garland who said, "Always be a first rate version of yourself, and not a second rate version of someone else."
Happiness, she said, doesn't just happen, you have to prepare and plan for it.
Four valedictorians gave short addresses.
Valedictorian Camille Awbrey listed 11 things she said graduates should have learned in the 12 years of their formal education:
1. Respect your elders. We may not always understand or agree with them, she said, but they know more than we do.
2. Always keep a dollar in your pocket.
3. There is a time and a place for everything, for both fun and to be serious.
4. Don't shush people.
5. Take responsibility for your actions.
6. Speak your mind, but do it tactfully.
7. Be yourself. You'll never regret acting real.
8. Always play dodgeball if it is an option.
9. Your music taste will change for the better as you get older. Everything will change as you get older, hopefully for the better.
10. Careful with swag--carry yourself with confidence, not swag. YOLO (You Only Live Once)--don't use this excuse to do crazy things, instead use it to make a difference.
11. You're never too old, make every moment count.
"In the end," said Awbrey, "there is something that matters more than homecoming, even more than the Pythagorean Theorem, and even more than throwing these awkward little hats up in the air. All that matters in life is how you live it."
Valedictorian McKenzie MacDonald spoke about positive things gained from having grown up in Bonners Ferry. She said that many her age wonder what it would have been like to have grown up in a larger community. And sometimes "We've all talked tough, saying how much we wanted to get out of here, but for most of us, Bonners Ferry means more than we often care to admit."
MacDonald said that no matter where all the graduates end up at, all have shared growing up together in Bonners Ferry. The graduates will always have one thing in common: "Bonners Ferry is our home and it always will be. Bonners Ferry High School only has one Class of 2014, and we are it. To this community I would like to say thank you for raising us."
Valedictorian Robert Swanson spoke of how we can change the world even through little things. He pointed out an analogy made by Gordon B. Hinckley, who said that the small movement made by the hinge of a farm gate causes great movement at the other end of the gate. Swanson used this to illustrate how by doing small and simple things, such as helping someone out, one can make the world a better place.
Swanson also commented, "As you go through life, don't forget your roots. Anyone can bleed red. But it takes a special someone to bleed blue, white, and silver all at once."
Valedictorian Brook Wilson said "Graduation is the mark of the beginning of our lives as independent adults," regardless of what path graduates take in the future.
"I hope that in each of our futures, we find the strength to follow what inspires us, take the lessons life brings and learn from them, and never lose curiosity for the world around us."
Top Ten students of the BFHS Class of 2014 are Camille Awbrey, Anika Blackmore, Collin Cossairt, Gabriel Fioravanti, Dalin Hubbard, McKenzie MacDonald, Sierra Spangler, Robert Swanson, Krista Waalkens, Brook Wilson, and Cameron Woods.
Those same Top Ten students all graduated with High Honors Diplomas.
Students graduating with Honors Diplomas are Connor Bennett, Jessica Betancourt, Kylie Byars, Collin Luther, Eamonn McCoy, Jake Perez, Joshua Pluid, Brandy Schuman, Christian Trocke, and Kate Wood.