Star of the North Secondary School holds fourth graduation in school history
Published Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Caitlin Moseley’s high school education came full circle during Star of the North Secondary School’s commencement ceremony Monday.
The ceremony was held at West Valley High School, the same high school Moseley wanted to drop out of in 10th grade. Instead, she enrolled at Star of the North, graduated a year early, and this fall she will start her college career at the University of Alaska Fairbanks with the intention of becoming a social worker.
“I am thankful Star of the North was there for me and was very welcoming,” she told the audience during her speech.
Moseley was one of four student speakers, but unlike traditional high school ceremonies, none were valedictorians or salutatorians. Annie Keep-Barnes, head teacher at the school’s North Pole campus, said the academic titles don’t exist because every student works hard at the school and it would be unfair to distinguish just two when everyone has worked hard.
The school is also untraditional in other ways. Star of the North, the largest charter school in the community, has more than 200 students, including some in special situations such as working full-time or serving in the military.
Jaboha Lanigan, a student speaker, said it was a struggle to get through high school before Star of the North but now she is planning to attend UAF thanks to five private scholarships and being named a University of Alaska scholar.
“Traditional high school didn’t work for them,” Keep-Barnes said. “They needed a more personal touch and they found that with us.”
Star of the North’s class of 2008 had 59 graduates and is the school’s fourth graduating class. In attendance were school board members Jennifer Schmidt, Wendy Dominique, Sharon McConnell Gillis and Superintendent Nancy Wagner. The ceremony was Wagner’s first as superintendent of the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District.
“Everyone here is ready to face the future with vigor and enthusiasm,” Wagner told the graduates.
Keep-Barnes said the student speakers were either asked to speak or volunteered because they had something to say. Along with Mosely and Lanigan, Chayna Azlin and Lucas Cronce addressed their graduating classmates.
Azlin urged the graduates to remember graduation wasn’t the end of the journey — just a milestone.
Cronce graduated on Monday and this time next year will graduating from the UAF Fast Track Training Program with a degree in instrumentation. He reminded graduates to thank their parents for making them who they are today. He also highlighted the dedication of Star of the North’s teachers. He said the support from the Star of the North staff was one of the best things about his high school years and said everyone was very close-knit, almost family-like.
“We are overcome with pride, they are wonderful students,” Keep-Barnes said of the class of 2008.
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That is amazing to see these people pick up where they left off and pursue something they really want to do. In high school I saw so many friends give up too early (1 dropped out a semester from graduating!), and many of them probably never finished high school. Way to go Class of 2008!
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