BELLE FOURCHE—One by one, the graduates emerged onto the track at Lou Graslie Field on the morning of May 16, dressed in purple or black caps and gowns as they made their final high school walk to their seats.
The sun was shining on the ceremony, although the wind showed up in full force, taking a few of the graduates’ caps with it as it blew. The class color is periwinkle, the class flower is lily, and the class song is “Vienna” by Billy Joel. The motto for the class is, “Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory,” by Dr. Seuss.
The Belle Fourche High School Band, under the direction of Micah Pennel, played “Pomp and Circumstance” for the senior processional. Pennel also directed the senior choir members in singing the National Anthem, accompanied by Lucy Cole.
High school principal Mathew Raba welcomed everyone to the ceremony and discussed how he has seen many of the graduating class grow up over his past 17 years. “Graduates that sit before me today—they are talented athletically, academically, artistically, musically, and have shown the ability to show empathy to their peers and others around them. They are role models, leaders, and will be successful at anything they put their mind to. The future of our community, state, nation, and world is in your hands and I’m confident you will do great things,” he said. “Join me now in recognizing our graduating class, their families, and our faculty with a well-deserved round of applause.”
Raba introduced senior class president Andy Pruitt to give the opening dedication. “Good morning, everyone. Today we celebrate more than grades, awards, or diplomas. We also celebrate growth, determination, and the long path that brought us here. As Annette Funicello once said, ‘Life does not have to be perfect to be wonderful,’” he shared. He went on to congratulate the Class of 2026.
Superintendent Orion Thompson gave the official welcome address. “First of all, I want to thank everybody here for coming and supporting these fine graduates. This is as much your day as it is theirs, and I think it is amazing to see this type of representation as we go through this commencement.” He went on to remind the graduates it took 12-plus years to get to this day, so enjoy it to the fullest.
The Belle Fourche High School Choir, under the direction of Pennel, sang “Someday Is Today” by Andre J. Thomas. Cole provided piano accompaniment.
Special recognition was given to each of the honor groups as Raba called individual names and asked students to stand for the following honor groups:
Honor Graduates—who have maintained a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 throughout their high school career; High Honor Graduates—who have maintained a cumulative grade point average of 4.0 throughout their high school career; National Honor Society members—selection to the National Honor Society is a prestigious achievement, and members are chosen by a faculty committee at Belle Fourche High School. Selection is based on their demonstration of excellence in the four foundational pillars of scholarship, service, leadership, and character; and finally, the Regent Scholars—this is a significant academic achievement. To earn this distinction, students must complete a rigorous course of study, including four units of English, four units of math, four units of science, three units of social science, two consecutive years of the same foreign language or two years of career technical education coursework, and one unit of fine arts. In addition to meeting these requirements, students must complete all coursework with no grade lower than a C and maintain a cumulative B average throughout high school.
This year’s salutatorian was Denali Larson with a grade point average of 4.235. She plans to attend the University of Wyoming and major in psychology. She addressed the audience, letting them know that she was terrified of public speaking and warned of the possibility of breaking out in hives as a result. She shared, “I know everyone here had a different journey in high school and each struggled through their own experiences. We will probably never fully understand the journey that every one of us is on. So, congratulations for enduring on your own and getting to this point. While all our paths look different, every single one of them matters.”
Valedictorian this year was Tegan Fredericksen with a grade point average of 4.24. He plans to attend Oberlin College in Ohio and study chemistry and biochemistry. Fredericksen addressed his fellow graduates and told them how now that they have reached the end of their high school career they can start to see how much the past four years have changed them. “These last few days and even weeks have been surreal, to say the least. And I don’t think it was until today that it finally hit me, this morning is the last time that I can say I’m a high school student,” he shared. “I cannot put into words how special these four years have been for me. I am thankful for each and every one of you, for all the experiences I have had and all the things I have learned.”
Raba made the presentation of the Class of 2026 and School Board President Nita Justice made the presentation of diplomas to 86 graduating seniors.
After all of the graduates received their diplomas and found their way back to their seats, they changed their tassels from the right to the left to signify graduation, and then a few of them tossed their graduation caps into the air in celebration. Family and friends made their way to the graduates to celebrate the accomplishments with them.
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