Local high school seniors graduate

Among the smiles and “congratulations” for Grand Forks high school graduates Sunday were also memories and thoughts of moving forward.
About 480 seniors graduated from Grand Forks Public Schools this year, with 255 graduating from Red River High School and 182 from Central High School Sunday, said Tracy Jentz, school district communications coordinator.
An additional 47 students graduated from Community High School Thursday, she said.
“If I were to pull one thing away from my senior year, it would be to work hard even at the end of your journey,” Central High School graduate Justin Borgen said in a speech to his peers at the graduation ceremony in the Alerus Center Sunday.
“The way that you finish one journey is the way you begin another,” he said.
The Alerus Center was filled with parents, grandparents and friends for the graduation ceremonies. One Central High School student’s father who is deployed in the Air Force was able to attend her graduation, said Tim Lamb, School Board member.
Looking back on high school for the graduates shows a time of learning and growing, preparing for the next steps, said Ivy McGurran, another graduate speaking at Central High School’s ceremony.
“(From high school), some of you see the best four years of your lives and some of you see hardship,” she said, “but whatever it is, it’s beautiful.”

1/5: Sacred Heart Catholic School seniors are joined parents, administration, and faculty in prayer prior to graduation Sunday. (Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)

2/5: Grand Forks Red River honor student Casey DeBeltz gets some help from her mom, Marian DeBeltz, with her mortarboard prior to graduation Sunday at the Alerus Center. (Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)

3/5: Grand Forks Central High School seniors (L-R) Alec Selnes, Jadyn Cox, Ivy McGurran and Benjamin Breidenbach sing the National Anthem at Sunday's ceremony. (Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)

4/5: East Grand Forks Sacred Heart Catholic School seniors Nathan Kraft, left, and Dashiell Lewis-Smart make the sign of the cross as they get ready for the graduation ceremony at Sacred Heart Sunday. (Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)

5/5: Red River graduates Christian Hogness and Lindsay Koopman pose for a classmate before Sunday's ceremony at the Alerus Center. (Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald)