Payton Craig was named Valedictorian and Audry Briggs Salutatorian Sunday as North Harrison graduated 20 students from school. Graduating were Audry Briggs, Collin Castleberry, Payton Craig, Jonathan Crowder, Brennan Gilliland, Cameron Hamaker, Bobby Hutton, Sarah Jalas, Ryan Jones, Joshua Joyce, Daniel Martinez, Lucas McChesney, Heather Musser, Emma Passmore, Brandy Rivet, Vici Stellpflug, Connor Stobbe, Ryan Thomsen, Casey Thurman, and Hannah Whitmire.
The Class Motto was, “Our lives are before us, our past is behind us, our memories are forever with us.” The Class flower was the red carnation. The class color was red. Class officers were Payton Craig (President), Daniel Martinez (Vice-President), Lucas McChesney (Secretary), and Heather Musser (Treasurer). Student Council President was Audry Briggs. Student Council Vice-President was Bobby Hutton. Student Council Representative was Hannah Whitmire.
The North Harrison Band playing “Pomp and Circumstance.” Pastor Jason Laxton gave the opening and closing prayers. Superintendent Dr. Todd Willhite gave the opening welcome. Mrs. Kara Smith presented the awards. The High School Choir sang “Omnia Sol.” Principal Mike Schmidli presented the class. Board member Kirk Emig presented the diplomas. The students showed a video presentation of all 20 of the students.
Officers of the National Honor Society this year were Payton Craig (President), Bobby Hutton (Vice-President), Hannah Whitmire (Secretary), and Audry Briggs (Treasurer). Other members were Sarah Jalas, Lucas McChesney, Heather Musser, and Brandy Rivet.
A variety of awards were handed out during the ceremony. The US Army Reserve Scholar-Athlete Award went to Payton Craig. The GRM Scholarship went to Audrey Briggs. GRM also was part of a national scholarship committee that selected 53 students nationally. Selected from North Harrison was Bobby Hutton, who was awarded a $2,500 scholarship.
The Alma Johnson Award, which goes to North Harrison students pursuing a degree in education, went to Audry Briggs and Brandy Rivet. The Eagleville American Legion Scholarships went to Payton Craig and Audry Briggs. The Americanism award went to Craig. Cameron Hamaker was recognized for having enlisted in the Missouri Army National Guard. It will include a full ride to go to any Missouri public university.
The Leah Wilcoxson Trullinger and Howard Trullinger scholarships went to Brandy Rivet and Heather Musser. The Toll Family Scholarship went to Payton Craig. The Cracraft Construction Scholarship went to Brandy Rivet and Heather Musser. The MFA Scholarship went to Payton Craig. The Elks Lodge #125 Scholarship went to Heather Musser. The Harrison County Farm Bureau Scholarship went to Payton Craig. The Class of 1976 Scholarship went to Audry Briggs.
Salutatorian Audry Briggs will attend Graceland University, where she intends to pursue a Music Education Degree. She said that there were 1,371 days since they became freshmen; she challenged her classmates to think about where they would be 1,371 days from now. She said that each day was precious and encouraged them to pursue things that would make them happy.
Valedictorian Payton Craig will go to North Central Missouri College in Trenton, where she will play softball; she plans to transfer to Northwest Missouri State, where she will pursue a degree in Ag Business. She told stories about their times in school, including the time Audry brought her baby sister Katelyn to show and tell, the time they were able to watch baby chicks hatch in class, the time they rode horses, Bobby Hutton voraciously reading every single book he could find on dinosaurs and quoting off facts about them to everyone who would listen, riding horses, doing a word search that had no words, dodgeball rivalries on the playground between the boys and girls, and discovering a snake in the classroom.
Danica Stoll, a 2008 North Harrison grad and now a science teacher there, was the speaker. She was the class Salutatorian and went to Graceland. She wove a compelling personal story along with encouragement and words of wisdom. She lived in New York City at one point and was in a process of discovering herself. Then, she was diagnosed with a degenerative neuromuscular disorder. Despite her condition, she was one of a few students to go to Africa with a non-profit organization; the other students were all from wealthy families.
“Don’t limit yourselves,” she said. “If you don’t believe in yourselves, you’ll never accomplish your goals.” Originally, she didn’t plan on teaching, but she learned to love it and came home to teach science at North Harrison. “You will never know where you will wind up,” she said. “Your version of success will be different than others’. Never stop growing. Every situation you encounter is another chance to grow. There are many in your corner; just look at all these people who showed up for 20 of you.”
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