Martin Guerrero and Jessica Walch formed a small graduating class for Griffin Bay High School (last year, there were three), but a crowd of 75 people filled the Friday Harbor Middle School Commons to honor their accomplishments and wish them well as they headed off into the future.

Each grad addressed the assembled crowd. Martin, who will be attending culinary school in Arizona, thanked his family, especially his brother, for their help, and quoted Irving Stone: “Talent is cheap; dedication is expensive. It will cost you your life.”

Jessica, who wants to be a criminologist, alluded to her choice of Griffin Bay and her independent streak in choosing her future with a quote from Albert Einstein: “The woman who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The woman who walks alone is likely to find herself in places no one has ever been before.”

In a brief commencement address to the graduates, current School Board member and former Friday Harbor High School principal Ralph Hahn praised the two graduates, telling them he was honored to see them graduate, saying, “You two are my inspiration and an inspiration to all of us here.”

Both Guerrero and Walch received scholarship awards. Superintendent Richard Thompson presented Aurthur MacGavran scholarships to the two members of Griffin Bay’s Class of 2013; Detective Brent Johnson presented the Sheriff’s Guild scholarship to Walch.

After school board member Jack McKenna presented the diplomas and Guerrero and Walch moved their mortarboard tassels from left to right, the new graduates were inundated with friends and relatives extending hugs, best wishes and, of course, a few tears of joy.