Seven seniors from Central Christian School graduated during the school’s 25th graduation ceremony at Mountainview Fellowship Church on June 3. This year’s graduates brings the total number to 221 students to graduate from Central Christian.

“It’s exciting and surreal,” said Noah Fitzsimmons, a 2017 Central Christian graduate. “It doesn’t feel like we’ve graduated yet.”

Other 2017 graduates include Sydney Clark, the class valedictorian, Jesse Delamarter, Jodi Greenshield, Carl McNeely, Brennin Palfrey, and Victor Wei. The class had an average GPA of 3.5, with four students having a 4.0. More than $350,000 in merit scholarships have been awarded between the seven graduates for further education.

“Everything we’ve worked up to has come down to this, and we did it,” Palfrey said. “It’s exciting to be done with the first major chapter of our lives and to move on to the next chapter.”

Central Christian has a 100 percent graduation rate during its 25 years in operation. Sarah Remlinger, the school’s guidance counselor, attributes the school’s success to the small class size. The ability for students to often receive one-on-one attention from educators leads to a personalized teaching plan for each student. Remlinger said the atmosphere of the school is one that scaffolds around each student to provide each what they need to be successful students.

This school year’s theme was “Identity in Christ,” which was evident from the focus of both the valedictorian speech by Clark and the commencement address by Elisa Carlson, the school’s head administrator. The 2017 class asked Carlson to give the address, which was her first time doing so. Both speakers focused on remaining identified in Christ through the next chapter of their lives. Clark’s speech included multiple “Lord of the Rings” quotes as well as a “Star Wars” quote. Even the class motto comes from J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings”: “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” The ceremony was well attended, nearly filling the auditorium at Mountainview Fellowship.

“It’s honoring because a lot of the people here were involved in the our education and to have everyone here is meaningful,” Fitzsimmons said.

This year’s student body for the whole school was 68, including the graduating class. The school also held graduations for kindergarten and eighth grade.

Multiple graduates plan to attend the University of Oregon. Others look forward to George Fox University and Biola University.

“It’s an honor to be able to celebrate with those closest to us,” Palfrey said.

— Reporter, 541-548-2185, cbrown@redmondspokesman.com