Wynter Thorne didn’t want the evening to end.

Clutching a bouquet of roses, Thorne was the last of 60 Coupeville High School graduates to leave the gymnasium last Friday night as she savored every last moment.

“It doesn’t sink in until you’re walking out the door with everything in your hand and you’re saying goodbye to your friends,” Thorne said, her voice trembling. “That’s when it hit.”

Thorne and others who are part of Coupeville’s 115th graduating class called the experience of leaving high school for the final time “surreal” with the sense that life would never be quite the same again.

“It’s hard leaving this community behind, but I guess you never really leave it behind because you carry it with you,” said McKayla Bailey, who’s headed to Central Washington University.

Bailey, whose family on Central Whidbey runs several generations deep, was involved in one tearful embrace after another after senior class president Amanda Hoesman-Foley took the microphone and announced to her classmates that they were now graduates.

Not everyone threw their caps into the air in celebration. The focus was more on congratulating each other and sharing laughs, tears and plenty of hugs.

A large number of Coupeville’s small class has never attended another school district.

“It’s going to be weird not having all these guys around,” said Aaron Trumbull, who’s bound for Olympic College in Bremerton, where he’ll continue his baseball career. “We’ve got probably 40 kids that I’ve grown up with since kindergarten. It’s going to be weird not being able to see those guys every day. I think that’s what I’m going to miss the most.”

Outgoing principal Larry Walsh congratulated the graduating class and introduced Hoesman-Foley, the first of four valedictorians with perfect 4.0 grade-point averages to address the crowded gym.

The other valedictorians were Erin Rosenkranz, Michael Kelly and Kylie Burdge, who also delivered a song with Trumbull and Isaac Vargas strumming guitars.

Marisa Etzell gave the salutatorian address.

Ron Bagby and Patsi Waller spoke on behalf of the faculty. Waller shared how living with purpose, having a grateful heart and laughter are key traits to getting the most out of life.

“Our purpose is to live a life of integrity and of authenticity,” Waller said. “This can be done regardless of your occupation or standing. My classroom motto this year is on a little plaque I found that says, ‘Believe there is good in the world.’ The words, ‘be the good’ are highlighted. Isn’t that it? Be the good.”

School board president Chris Chan and vice president Glenda Merwine awarded diplomas to students.

An exception was made when Superintendent Jim Shank was allowed to hand a diploma to his son Matthew.

“I’m privileged to have the opportunity to get my diploma from my dad,” said Matthew, who has been accepted to the University of Utah, where he will study pre-medicine.

“It really was a special moment for our family,” Jim Shank said.

Jim Shank called Coupeville’s 2015 class “outstanding” with “some of the finest young men and women I have worked with” and said they will be missed.

“They are not only a very intelligent, talented and capable group, they are kind, well mannered, generous and care for others,” Shank said.

Vargas said he wouldn’t trade growing up in Coupeville for anything, sentiments echoed by Trumbull.

Many classmates grew strong bonds since early childhood, making the time to go separate ways all the more difficult.

“It’s definitely shaky but exciting to move on,” said Thorne, who is off to pursue a degree in art at Western Washington University. “I’m really happy to be a part of the community here on Whidbey. That’s shaped me to be the person I am today and I’m happy to be graduating from this high school.’ ”