Lola Breshears was named Valedictorian and Carly Rinehart Salutatorian at North Harrison’s graduation Sunday. 16 North Harrison students graduated. Besides Breshears and Rinehart, graduating were Kami Gibson, Collin Briggs, Kadyn Hukill, Abby Clawson, Aaron Lundy, Grant Claycomb, Nick Mickelson, Emma Craig, Hunter Parkhurst, Brett Emig, Nathan Flowers, Skyler Todd, Rainey Fordyce, and Cruz Ury.
Missouri A+ students were Lola Breshears, Collin Briggs, Abby Clawson, Grant Claycomb, Emma Craig, Brett Emig, Rainey Fordyce, Kami Gibson, Kadyn Hukill, Aaron Lundy, Carly Rinehart, and Cruz Ury. National Honor Society members were Rainey Fordyce, Grant Claycomb, Nick Mickelson, Kami Gibson, Collin Briggs, Aaron Lundy, Lola Breshears, Brett Emig, Carly Rinehart, and Emma Craig. There were over $25,000 worth of local scholarships and over $300,000 of total scholarships given out this year.
Outgoing Superintendent Todd Willhite said that there were a lot of uncertainties, but that the previous year turned out to be close to normal for the students. “Plans don’t always go the way you hope, but you’re never alone,” he said. “We’re all pulling for you.”
The Class Flower was the White Gerber Daisy. The Class Color was Green. Class Officers were Lola Breshears (President), Carly Rinehart (Vice-President), Abby Clawson (Secretary), and Kami Gibson (Treasurer). Class Sponsors were Mrs. Brenda Adcock and Mr. Rob Claycomb. Rainey Fordyce was the Student Council President. Brett Emig was the Student Council Vice President. Emma Craig was the Student Council Representative.
Kevin Hartschen gave an invocation and benediction.
Carly Rinehart came up with an acrostic for what being a Shamrock was all about – Selflessness, Hard working, Active, My goals, Respect, Optimistic, Community, and Kindness.
Lola Breshears said that they had an amazing year full of happiness and accomplishment. She said that there were many times they thought they couldn’t make it, but that they persevered. She said that there was a lot of sadness over leaving the place where they all grew up together. She said her favorite memories were the last four years, including homecomings, pep rallies, the senior trip, and sports. She said they were all heading for great things, and encouraged her classmates to always remember where they came from.
Former Principal Mike Schmidli was the guest speaker. He became a Shamrock 33 years ago, when he taught some of their parents. He did everything from teach class to driving kids to and from school activities and games, to reminding them to clean up trash. He talked about the many accomplishments they had, including winning the North Central Missouri Tournament for the first time ever and handing South Harrison their only two losses of the year in junior high softball, Emma Craig getting fourth all by herself at the HDC Track Meet in junior high, the varsity boys winning 18 games and beating Pattonsburg twice. Brett Emig got his 1,000th career point on a steal and layup that sent the game to overtime in their second win. That same team handed Winston their first loss to an HDC foe in 67 tries, the first since 2013.
Schmidli encouraged the Class of 2021 to learn from their losses, celebrate their wins, and never stop doing what they loved. “If you have a dream, go after it,” he said. He said there were many uncommon people who came out of North Harrison, including doctors, veterinarians, athletes, entrepreneurs. He talked about Jerry Armstrong, who took North Harrison to the 1962 State Championship game and then played on Texas Western’s 1966 National Championship team that was the first team with five Blacks in the starting lineup to do so. He went on to have a successful teaching and coaching career, with 329 wins and induction into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
He talked about Don Edwards, who was All-State from North Harrison in 1974. He went on to coach at Jefferson, where he won 824 games, took six trips to the Final Four, and won three state titles, 18 Platte Valley Conference titles, and 16 district championships, including a 32-0 girls basketball team in 1989. He also won three state championships in girls softball.
He talked about Alan Francis, who came out of Blythedale, and who has won the National Horseshoe Pitch Championship 24 different times and was inducted into that sport’s Hall of Fame in 1996. He talked about Shane Skinner, who excelled in basketball at both North Harrison and Graceland, where he was all-HAAC from 1993 to 1997. Skinner then became a cop, where he has won recognition from the DEA, ATF, FBI, and Department of Justice. He is currently the Karlsbad (NM) Chief of Police. Schmidli talked about Christi Cracraft, who is a data analyst and who is currently working on the James Webb Space Telescope, which is about to launch. He talked about Zach Kennedy, who because a national FFA President and who is now working for Cargill.
Schmidli said that anything is possible with a strong work ethic and motivation. For instance, one kid was playing sixth grade basketball when he discovered that the girls coaches were teaching different concepts from what his own boys coaches. So he asked to practice with the girls as well as the boys, since he would learn even more that way. That kid was Brett Emig, who became a standout basketball player for the Shamrocks.
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