While Coupeville High School is small, the 370-student school provided graduates with the necessary groundwork for a fruitful future.

Now that the school year is over, members of the Class of 2005 are busy preparing for the next chapter of their lives whether it is attending college, entering the workforce or enlisting in the military.

Before that happens, however, the 89 students in this year’s class celebrated their 12 years of school during a graduation ceremony Friday evening at the high school gymnasium.

Teachers, families and friends joined the graduates in the dimly-lit gymnasium for the two-hour ceremony that featured student speeches, musical performances and a visit from a popular former teacher.

Mindy Horr, Kelsi Franzen and Andrea Larson graduated with perfect 4.0 grade point averages and shared the valedictorian honors. They spoke along with salutatorian Taniel Lamb. They talked about classmates, what they learned from teachers and expressed appreciation for the time they spent at the high school.

Larson regretted not getting to know more of her classmates, and said, “Don’t be afraid to show someone who you are.”

Franzen said even though some classmates defined Coupeville as “the middle of nowhere,” she enjoyed the familiarity of a small town.

“I feel blessed to see all of the same faces almost every day,” Franzen said. “We will always be a part of this community wherever we go.”

People attending the ceremony heard several performances of graduating musicians. Darren Harttman played his saxophone during the prelude and Rose Bergdoll sang “Leaving on a Jet Plane” during the ceremony. Fellow graduate Janiece Jenkins sang the National Anthem and then joined graduate Kent Turner in singing “Waiting.”

The class normally invites a teacher to speak at graduation. This year, they invited former teacher Rod Merrell to speak. He last taught at Coupeville High School last year and he is currently an assistant principal at Mountlake Terrace High School.

He reminisced about his first year as a teacher at Franklin High School. One day during a class he was teaching, he had his lesson plan curtailed by a floorboard that made the sound of passing wind when he stepped on it.

“I learned that being a good teacher is being human,” Merrell said, adding he also had to learn to improvise to be an effective teacher.

Merrell also highlighted what he learned from the graduates of Coupeville High School. He learned that 32 freshman can fit into a Volkswagon Bug but it doesn’t work too well for sophomores. He also learned even sophomores get “senioritis,” Huey Lewis and REO Speedwagon never go out of style and that nicknames have a tendency to stick.

“The nickname “Beans” can follow you for a really long time. Even to your next school,” Merrell said.

With their graduation, students are spending the summer working and preparing for their next step in life. for example, Mandi Curtin is heading to Whitworth College in Spokane where she will major in Psychology and Andrew Mauw will spend two years at Skagit Valley College before moving on to Washington State University. He hopes to become either a personal trainer or major in sports medicine.

Of the 89 students who graduated Friday, 35 are heading to four-year colleges. Twenty-five students are attending colleges in Washington while 10 are going to out-of-state schools. Another 33 student are attending two-year colleges, 10 are working full time, eight are attending technical schools and three are entering the military.

Principal Phyllis Textor said the graduating class’s average GPA was 3.06 and 47 students earned honors. The graduating class of 2005 also earned $357,105 worth of scholarships.