For more than 150 students across the county, high school is now in the rearview mirror. This year’s graduating classes ranged from 12 seniors at Northport Public School to 46 at Glen Lake Community Schools. Like the classes immediately preceding them, this year’s contended with the COVID-19 pandemic, but also enjoyed dances, sports, concerts, and much more. The Ticker showcases just a few who caught our eye.

Joey Schwindt, Glen Lake
Born in Montana and spending his early years in Nevada, Joey began school at Glen Lake in 5th grade. He enjoyed the fact the elementary, middle and high schools are all housed in the same building. “I could run into a middle school teacher – they get to watch you grow up. And the small (class) size and the same students. We have shared experiences for so long.”
High School Highlight: This winter when I announced my first basketball game. It was easy and I enjoyed the support of the community. Broadcasting is an interest.”
Plans for summer and beyond: “I’m dipping into journalism and interning for the Leelanau Enterprise. I’m going to Lansing Community College this fall for journalism and marketing, and running cross country and track.”

Amelia Dunham, Lake Leelanau St. Mary
“I enjoy the one-on-one with the teachers. Because it’s such a small school, they care about you.” Another draw for the small school is it allowed her to play four sports: cross country, volleyball, basketball and softball. “I’m always busy.”
Highlight: “Last year’s softball team made it all the way to the regional finals. I was named all-district catcher.”
Plans: She will be working at Tiffany’s Ice Cream in Empire this summer (owned by one of her teachers, Mark Dunphy). In the fall she will be attending the University of Michigan to pursue a nursing degree, then graduate school after that.

Jack Glynn, Lake Leelanau St. Mary
“I started at St. Mary in 1st grade when my Mom became principal. Mom used to be a teacher at St. Elizabeth Ann Seaton and I went to kindergarten at Holy Angels,” he says. He played soccer growing up, but in high school opted for basketball and baseball, as well as football at Suttons Bay (the schools have a cooperative agreement for some sports). He enjoyed the fact there were only 20 kids in his graduating class, “and everyone is friends. We’re tight with each other.”
Highlight: “When the basketball team went to Breslin and played in the state semifinals. I went on a campus tour – it was the first time seeing campus.”
Plans: This summer he will be working at the Leland Lodge. Then it’s off to college at the University of Miami, Florida. “I want to see the world. I wanted to go to a big school in another state.”

Madi Johnston, The Leelanau School
She began at The Leelanau School last year as a junior. Having lived in Chicago and New York, it was an adjustment going to a small school in northern Michigan, as was then returning to the big city. “It was completely different going back home. I love the scenery here,” she says. Madi says the closeness of the students and the staff was very appealing. “I enjoyed it because of the staff, how much they believed in me and gave me a helping hand. They’re willing to help with anything.” She also enjoyed hanging out with her friends, reading, and drawing. “I was always busy.”
Highlight: “The most recent trip to South Manitou with the senior class. I got really close with my two best friends.”
Plans: “This summer I’ll be a camp counselor for ten weeks in Decatur, Michigan. I’m going to Hope College in the fall. In school I realized I do a lot better in a smaller environment. Hope is like the Leelanau School – it’s small and you can get close to the professors.”

Laura Christianson, Northport
She says the friendships she forged with staff and students helped her throughout her school years. “I’ve enjoyed making a bunch of personal connections at school. They can help me when I’m in need,” she says.
Highlight: She says school events helped her and others. “I remember one during COVID. I was part of student government and we put together a “Feel Better” (event), with glow-in-the-dark capture the flag, glowing facepaint. We’d just gotten back (to school).”
Plans: “This summer I’m working at the Tribune. Then I’m getting ready to go to U of M to study English on a pre-law track. I’ve always wanted to make a difference in the world, and law has always been interesting to me.”

Leila Robertson, Northport
Leila began attending Northport in 3rd grade after moving from Texas. She enjoyed English and writing papers, though she “was iffy about the books they forced me to read,” she admits. She enjoyed being a member of the National Art Honor Society. “You have to be a part of an art class and have a B or better average.”
Highlight: “Joining NAHS. It changed a lot for me. I’m quiet and I hadn’t ventured out of my comfort zone. It was good to get to know other people. I knew everybody in my class, but I was that kid that sat alone. I didn’t enjoy talking to a lot of people, and decided to crawl out of my comfort zone.
Plans: “This summer I will work at the Tribune with Laura. I’m going to NMC for culinary. And I’m working on getting certified in floral design. I took an agriscience class at the Career Tech Center.”

Emma Nelson, Leland
The co-valedictorian, she’s been attending school at Leland since 3rd grade. She was thrilled when she discovered all the students at the school were assigned an iPad. “I thought that was the coolest thing,” she says. She started playing violin in kindergarten, and as Leland doesn’t have an orchestra program, she ended up joining the Traverse Symphony Orchestra Civic String Orchestra. “That was a really good experience.”
Highlight: The recent senior trip. “I’m on the student council and we planned the senior trip to Chicago. It was the first one since COVID. It made us all closer.”
Plans: This summer she will be working at Tampico gift shop and Bogey’s 19th Hole at the Leland Lodge. Come fall, she will be off to the University of Michigan. “I’m leaning toward mathematics (as a major),” she says. “I did decent in most of my classes, but math is what I understood the most, the linear way of solving things.”

Adeline LaCross, Leland
The other class valedictorian, she too has been attending the school since 3rd grade. “Both my brothers went there, and I had a lot of friends in my grade and the grade above and below.” Adeline says she and Emma have been best friends since middle school, which is also when she began training as an equestrian. “It’s five days a week. It’s challenging, and I’m always up for a challenge, and it's cool my partner is an animal. My dad has draft horses and I’ve never been afraid of them.
Highlight: “The senior trip was really great, especially because this was the first year without any COVID restrictions. Everyone got to hang out. I feel like I was able to talk to a lot of people I hadn’t before.”
Plans: This summer she will be working as part of her father’s landscaping crew. She will also continue her equestrian activities. This fall she will be attending the University of Michigan to study biology. “My interest is in medicine,” she says. Plus there’s the draw of her best friend Emma, who wanted her to go to the same school as she attended.

Brendon Grant, Suttons Bay
“I know everyone, see them every day. You’ve got to get along with everyone,” he says. The president of the school’s National Honor Society, he’s also been a soccer player “pretty much my whole life” and recently took up golf. “I’m not very good but I enjoy it.” He’s also worked as part of the tech crew for the school musical and been part of Cru, a non-denominational Christian group.
Highlight: Not any one experience, but those he’s experienced it with. “The friends I’ve made and hanging out with them. CTC (the Career Tech Center) has been part of my high school (experience) and I’ve made friends from other schools.”
Plans: This summer he’ll be working harvest for cherries, including driving a hi-lo tractor. Come August he’ll be working at the Cherry Capital Airport for American Airlines. And he will be taking flying lessons at Northwestern Michigan College. “I love to travel, and I always love getting the window seat.”

Vincent Ruiz, Suttons Bay
“It’s a small school, and everybody knows each other. In town too,” he says. He’s been a three-sport athlete, playing football, basketball and baseball. Vincent has also enjoyed learning at the CTC, where he has not only gained skill in welding but made friendships and experiences beyond the confines of his own school: “Meeting people from a different town that have the same interests, and getting different views.”
Highlight: Like Brendon, he says he’s gained more from his classmates than from any one experience. He also looks at his school years as a time when he didn’t have the responsibilities he knows he’ll face in his future. “The best experience has been being able to be carefree, and making friends.”
Plans: This summer he is working at Knot Just A Bar and helping with his father’s construction business. Beginning in late June, Vincent will be part of the Young Professionals Program for Welding through Michigan Works! “It’s a government program that teaches you how to weld,” he says.