With the Fountain Park Fountain tinted Falcon blue in the background, members of the class of 2023 celebrated the end of their high school careers last Friday, May 26. Many of the graduates had classes together all the way from kindergarten through senior year, and they all capped off their journey at commencement.

Fountain Park was packed before the buses arrived with Fountain Hills High School graduates. Once they arrived, parents were eager to get their first photos of the night as all the students lined up.

Administrators led the graduates down to their seats, and then Fountain Hills High School principal Chris Hartmann led everyone in the pledge and National Anthem. After his welcome, speakers began to address their classmates and audience members alike.

Student Body President Audrey Alcorn and Senior Class President Diana Bos gave the opening remarks as the sun started to set on Fountain Park. Alcorn mentioned several movie references, ranging from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” to “Dead Poets Society,” and she talked about changes she and her class will face moving forward.

While the speakers did not intend to deliver the same message, there was an overall theme imbedded in their comments regarding change. Nearly every speaker made at least one movie reference, too, pleasing cinephiles in attendance.

“Know that throughout change, your roots will remain the same,” Alcorn said. “So today, hug your friends, hug your parents a little longer than you normally would. Today will feel like a movie, some 40 years in the future, however, know that these people will be with you.”

After they spoke, the two Presidents welcomed the 2022-23 Silver Falcon recipient to the stage, Cristine Barsema. Barsema started with math jokes, and then shared results from a senior survey.

According to Barsema, 78% of graduates will attend an in-state college or university, 3% will attend trade school, 11% are going out of state for college, and 5% will go into the military. Barsema also taught 78% of the graduating class at some point in the last four years.

Barsema remembers when the graduates were scared freshmen taking their first steps on the high school campus, and she encouraged them to hold on to the confidence they gained in high school. She gave final pieces of advice, like pay attention, take notes, and ask questions, and ended on a quote from Dr. Seuss, telling the graduates “oh, the places you’ll go.”

“Whether you converge on a path, or diverge on many paths, you will find your calling in life and pursue your dream,” Barsema said.

After the Silver Falcon, Principal Hartmann shared that this year’s senior gift was a $1,000 donation to the band program. He then called on graduates to stand and be recognized for high achievement, as well as those who attended FHUSD schools from kindergarten through high school.

The Valedictorian and Salutatorian addresses followed, and they delivered important messages to their fellow graduates. Valedictorian Sophia Boyce began by thanking her parents and friends, and then she talked about friendships and how they can change.

Boyce said she wished she knew earlier that as she grows, her friends do as well. People grow out of friendships, and they grow into new ones, but Boyce said this is a normal part of life. As the graduates go out on their own life paths, they are sure to meet new people and develop new relationships too.

“We are now starting a new part of our life,” Boyce said. “We might not know exactly what is in store for us next, but I think I can say for all of us, that we are going to make the most of the time we have.”

The only speaker who did not talk about the changes graduates will face chose instead to talk about the changes he’s seen in the graduates themselves. Ryan Winslett, editor of The Fountain Hills Times, started his job as the schools and sports reporter around the time the class of 2023 was born, and he talked about how the Fountain Hills community shaped the graduates in the years that folloed.

“This setting is fitting for your graduation,” Winslett said. “You’re sitting there, eager to receive your diplomas, and the hillsides have you literally surrounded – embraced – by many of the people who have cared for and supported you over the past 18 years.”

Winslett said his biggest piece of advice is for graduates to find their community. As they leave the comfort of their nest in Fountain Hills, the graduates will try to find communities in college and in life, and with new coworkers and new roommates.

It seems the more things change for the graduates; the more things stay the same. That was the exact proverb Paul Russell, Vice President of Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, began his speech with.

Russell used parking spaces as a metaphor for change, and said change is only hard if the graduates let it be hard. Life is about change, and the Falcons should embrace that as they go out into the world.

“You’ll make new friends, you’ll discover new career paths, you’ll visit new places, and you’ll create beautiful families,” Russell said. “The changes you will face tomorrow, next year, and for the rest of your life, are going to create a new reality that will send you off in directions you didn’t even think were possible.”

After the final speech, graduates were called up to the stage to receive their diplomas. Fireworks lit up the night sky as graduates tossed up their hats in celebration, and they finished their night with the annual Falcon Fiesta afterwards.

Now officially done with high school, the class of 2023 Falcons are ready to soar into the world.