MARYSVILLE Taking leave meant taking stock for the Marysville-Pilchuck High School Class of 2007 valedictorian Dane Hansen, who started his day each morning four years ago checking the news.
As the states record-longest teachers strike stretched into late October, Hansen would tune into the TV news each morning to see if he should put on his coat and go to school.
It will forever remain the most gripping television season, Hansen told his fellow seniors during commencement ceremonies at the Everett Events Center on June 5. More than 500 of the schools 650 graduates took their final walk across the stage as they prepared to meet the real world.
For Hansen the growth in the city of Marysville paralleled the growth in the new graduates as they began their young lives. The closeness of the campus didnt feel like he was attending one of the states largest campuses, he said.
Think of Marysville as nurturing soil, Hansen said. Weve grown into beautiful strawberries. We owe it to our community to do great things. Marysville will continue to grow and so will you.
Student speaker Ally Algas said she hoped that her peers would try to be the anomaly and the exception, noting that M-P grads should be leading and not led by others.
For senior class president Megan Crenshaw it was a poignant moment when her mother Sherri climbed onstage to hand her a diploma. Mom is a Marysville School Board director and a former teacher who was thrilled to be able to hug her eldest child at her graduation.
My daughters done a fantastic job throughout her entire K-12 experience and I was honored to be able to giver her her diploma, Crenshaw said.
Principal Tracy Suchan Toothaker told her fledglings that the years will offer them so many opportunities to follow their passions, quoting Joseph Campbell with a gentle reminder: Follow your bliss and dont be afraid.