‘We need to change the world’

The 31 graduates of Nikiski Middle/High School on Monday were told to think about their priorities in life, to be kind, and to seek out their exciting futures.

During the 2025 commencement ceremony, Kailey Stynsberg, Nikiski’s salutatorian, told her class that graduating “is not the peak of any of our lives.”

That said, their graduation is a time to celebrate one another and “the highs and lows” of their years of school.

As they look toward the future, Stynsberg said, many of Nikiski’s graduates may be unsure who they want to be, where they want to be, or what they want to do. Whatever they do or wherever they go, she encouraged them to be kind — she said kindness can inspire people to change their perspectives.

“We need to change the world.”

Jennifer Hornung, who teaches science and math at Nikiski, served as commencement speaker. She told the gathered parents that they’d raised “a bunch of GOATs.” Not the farm animals, she said, the “greatest of all time.”

Nikiski’s graduates, Hornung said, are leaders, scholars, athletes, artists, problem-solvers and more. Nikiski Middle/High School will miss them.

“They are MVPs … they are state champs,” she said. “They are future engineers and entrepreneurs. Some will be soldiers. Some will go to college. Most of them just want to work hard.”

As they leave their high school behind, Hornung told the graduates to remember the “unspoken lessons.” Where her lesson on the electronegativity difference of hydrogen and oxygen may not be directly applicable to their future studies or careers, it’s the other things they’ve learned at Nikiski Middle/High that will carry them through life. Hornung told the students to get off their phones, set the bar, have grit, leave something cool behind, read the room, pick the right team, seek out wisdom, continue to learn and — most importantly — prioritize.

Belle Morris, the last to speak during the ceremony, similarly told the Nikiski graduates to consider their priorities. She urged her classmates to think about what they want to give their time to. And to whom. She told them to respect and care for others — “because people are all that we want.”

“Every one of you are all destined for something wonderful,” she said. “I feel it in my bones.”

Valedictorian Wyatt Maguire told his peers that they were lucky to grow up and attend school in Nikiski, with a supportive community eager to teach them to be better students and better people.

Nikiski senior class president Oliver Parrish, similarly, thanked Nikiski’s staff and parents for supporting himself and his peers “not just this evening, but for the better part of our lives.”

As they become adults, he said, they’ll now have to work for things that they’ve once been given.

“As scary as it can be, it’s also extremely exciting,” Parrish said. “We are now in a place to make our own decisions.”

Nikiski Middle/High School 2025 graduates

Kyler Allen #!

Daniel Broussard

Gavin Carmody

Everett Chamberlain

Raycee Daniels

Lynn Deveer

Noah Douglas

Avery Ellis #

Ethan Ellis

McKenzie Flanders

Dylan Hall

James Hemphill

Zachariah Hockema !

Joseph Huntsman

Alexa Iyatunguk

Ethan Keyes

Lincoln Kimbell

Gavin Ley

Kassidy Love

Kevin Love

Wyatt Maguire *#!

Haruna Millington

Belle Morris !

Logan Nicks

Cameron Parrish

Ashlynne Playle !

Logan Price

Allie Spurgeon

Kailey Stynsberg +#!

Jackson Wittmer !

Bradley Young

Key

Valedictorian — *

Salutatorian — +

National Honor Society — #

Honors Diploma — !