Friday evening’s high school graduation ceremonies will mark the conclusion of years of study, homework, sports, school activities and hallway chatter.

It also will mark the end of a weeklong schedule of activities for the 20 seniors in this year’s graduating class.

The ceremonies are scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Friday, May 15, in the high school gym.

Each graduate is given 10 tickets for family to watch the event from chairs. The general public can watch from the risers that will be set up in the gym, said Dacee Gustafson, senior class co-adviser.

The ceremony will be livestreamed on the school district YouTube channel, she said, at youtube.com/@WPSD_Streaming.

Laura Davies, who teaches science, math and computer science at Stikine Middle School, will be commencement speaker. Davies started teaching at Evergreen Elementary School in 2007. She also has worked the past several years with students who produce Stikine Stories video documentaries.

School Board Member Angela Allen will hand out the diplomas, and the high school pep band will play the grand march, Gustafson said.

Class valedictorian is Ben Houser; Clara Edens is the salutatorian.

Graduation activities started more than a week ago, with the May 3 softball game between seniors and their parents — the parents won, Gustafson said.

Graduates put on their caps and gowns May 7 to walk through the elementary school, showing the younger students “this is what you’re working for,” she said.

The traditional senior Skip Day was Friday, May 8, when “we pull them out of bed before they are awake,” Gustafson said. Parents made breakfast and the students had planned to go on a Stikine River trip for the day, but poor weather diverted them to the bowling lanes at the Elks Lodge.

One tradition that is changing this year is the all-night party parents put on for the graduates after the formal cap-and-gown ceremony. Friday’s party will end earlier, Gustafson said.

“We actually have seven fishermen. They have to get up early to go out on the boats.”

Helping out with the events is a family affair for Gustafson, who has been a class adviser since this year’s graduates were freshmen. She has a daughter, a nephew and “a bunch of cousins” in the graduating class, and her co-adviser, Michelle Meissner, is a cousin.

The seniors last day of class was Tuesday, May 12, as they prepare for the final events. A baccalaureate service will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 13, at Harbor Light Church.

School ends for all other students the morning of Thursday, May 21, according to the school district calendar.

The new school year will start for students on Aug. 25.