On a partition wall, 46 pieces of cardboard bore the names of the students leaving Nikiski High School and everything from jokes to Edgar Allen Poe quotes.

Jeanalee Stock’s quote — “Spend a little more time trying to make something of yourself and a little less time trying to impress people,” a line from the Breakfast Club — underlines her intentions after leaving high school.

Stock, who said she has lived in Nikiski since she was in the third grade, graduated from Nikiski High School with 45 of her classmates Monday evening. She’s headed for Idaho State University in Pocatello, close to family in Montana and the university where she intends to study business. Her goal is to climb all the way to the top of a company one day, she said.

“I’m not sure what kind of company yet,” Stock said.

Some are staying a little closer to home. Lauren O’Brien and Ryder Payment are both headed to Kenai Peninsula College for its nursing program. They won’t be alone — several others are also headed to the local college, either to clear some credits out of the way or to get an associate’s degree.

Hallie Riddall is one of the students head to Kenai Peninsula College next year to get her associate’s degree.

“I’m not really sure what for yet, but I’m going to go and take some classes,” she said.

Others were more certain. Logan Griffel — whose quote read, “Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness” — plans to work for the summer and then transition into an electrician apprenticeship in the fall. He plans to stay on the peninsula, he said.

Under a bedazzled cap, Mikaila Colton watched the hallway fill with her graduating classmates. As the senior class vice president, she knows most of their names and where they’re headed. Colton herself is headed for Seward to study culinary arts at Alaska Vocational Technical Center. Ultimately, she said she wants to work on a cruise liner.

“It would be really cool to be able to work on the ship and then be able to stop off when the ship docks and explore the city that way,” Colton said.

Her classmate Lorilee Whitcomb also has plans to go into the food industry. She’s starting off at Kenai Peninsula College, then plans to transfer to the University of Alaska Anchorage. Her goal is to start up a cafe of her own on the Kenai Peninsula.

“I’ve always been interested in food, so I’d really like to own a cafe of my own one day,” Whitcomb said.

She may have some help from Hannah Love, who’s headed out of state for Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton, Oregon to study hospitality management. Eventually, she said she hopes to come back and work with Whitcomb on her idea for the cafe.

Daisy Schwenke is headed out of state, too — to Missouri for basic training. Schwenke is entering the U.S. Army, with the hopes of becoming a military police officer.

The cap on nearly every graduate was decorated with everything from a small plastic basketball to little electric lights around the rim. Under the brim of Schwenke’s cap, a demure banner bore the name of the U.S. Army. On the top of Payment’s hat, a screencap drawn from the cartoon “Spongebob Squarepants” paid tribute to the course of his education, reading, “12 years later.”

It lined up with the placard bearing his quote on the wall nearby: “The only person you need to be better than is the person you were yesterday.”

Reach Elizabeth Earl at elizabeth.earl@peninsulaclarion.com.

Dennis Cade Anderson

Justin Rex Berry

Chloe Annalise Braun

George Frederick Brown

Christopher Jay Carr

Nathan Mitchel Carstens

Mikaila Lee Colton

Zykiah Lee Cooney

Corin James Christopher Cooper

Aubrey Ann Coreson

Evangeline Ruth Cox

Marguerite Ruth Cox

Thomas John Cox

Sarah Beth England

Christina Marie Gonion

Logan Jay Griffel

Ross Mitchell Halliday

Matthew Bryce Hollinger

Hunter Harrison Fossoy
Holloway

Tyler Allen Jagd

Luke Hayden Johnson

Bryce Macih Leighton

Hannah Marie Love

Richard William Lynch

Justin Wayne Mason

Jonathon William McCormick

Lauren Elizabeth O’Brien

Dylan Mathew
O’Reagan-Broussard

Destiny Elizabeth Sydney Owens

Javon Lerome Wiley Pamplin

Arianne Lakura Parrish

Ryder Kennedy Payment

Brittany Marie Perry

Shayne Lilly Pope

Hallie Morgen Riddall

Alexa teivi WahHong Poki’i
Leimomilani Schmidt

Daisy May Schwenke

Ruben Sepeda

Jeanelee Fusillero Stock

Alexis Makaela Isabelle Stormer

Samuel Dallas Tauriainen

Lorilee Ann Whitcomb

Haley Shay Wik

Onnahlee Llewana Wilson

Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion Lauren O’Brien snaps a photo of Logan Griffel and Hallie Riddall before the Nikiski Middle-High School graduation in Nikiski, Alaska, on Monday, May 16, 2016.

Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion Daisy Schwenke (left) helps Hallie Riddall with her cap before the Nikiski Middle-High School graduation in Nikiski, Alaska, on Monday, May 16, 2016.