COMANCHE — A moment, 12 years in the making, ran a gauntlet of emotions for 69 Comanche High School students.

Tears were shed. Laughter was released. And memories were shared.

And Friday night, the CHS seniors created one more memory with one another — graduation. The ceremony, which was held in Harley-Barnett Stadium, gave the students a firm push into adulthood.

Once the students were in place, Caylee Powers, class president, gave her welcoming speech and directed her attention toward her fellow commencement candidates.

“We’re about to embark on a new journey,” Powers said. “I challenge you all to keep in contact. Let’s try to keep this tight bond we have.”

To celebrate this end to adolescence and the beginning of their post-high school lives, the seniors, led by the valedictorians and salutatorians, decided to show parents, teachers and administrators the life lessons they learned through Comanche schools.

Each val and sal was given a chance to talk about a word, whether “persistence,” “respect,” “integrity,” “devotion” or “expectation.” The speeches and these words worked together to give an overall view of what the CHS Class of 2008 represents and the “pride” each student takes in Comanche.

The first of two valedictorians, Cortney Stephens, spoke on “persistence.”

“Each of us will face obstacles (when we’re) trying to reach the goals we have set,” Stephens said.

She said everyone should have persistence to overcome odds when striving to reach goals. It is from this repetition success emerges, she said.

The other valedictorian was Kirk Prucha, whose word was “respect.” Prucha said “respect” may sound like a simple word, but it’s similar to a diamond in that it is more complex than it initially looks.

“The only way to respect yourself is by first respecting others,” he said. “Once respect is destroyed, it is harder to rebuild.”

Prucha said respect has tightened the bonds of the seniors and will continue to do so.

“Thank you to all my peers,” he said. “We stared this journey as a group. Now, we are a family.”

He then turned his attention toward parents and teachers.

“Please give us the respect we have earned,” Prucha said. “See us as adult instead of mere high school students.”

Following the valedictorian speeches, the three salutatorians were also given a chance to speak.

Abby Presgrove’s word was “integrity.”

“Always strive for absolute integrity,” Presgrove said.

During her speech, she touched on the big-picture word — pride, which she said summed up the Class of 2008.

“We couldn’t have picked a better word,” Presgrove said.

The next salutatorian to talk was Madison McCauley. McCauley spoke about “devotion.”

She said devotion is something easy to come by, but choosing the correct thing to be devoted to is the challenge life presents.

“Devotion can lead to a long successful life,” McCauley said. “Everyone can devote themselves. But it has to be done in the right way.”

Wrapping up the speeches was salutatorian McKotah Smith, who discussed “expectations.” Smith said the seniors were about to enter into a world of expectations, but knowing how to properly deal with these is just another right-of-passage into adulthood.

“Don’t lower your expectations to meet performance,” Smith said. “Increase your performance to reach your expectations.”

He said commencement is the right time to prepared to have some expectations reached and to set even more.

“There’s no one there but you to reach these expectations,” Smith said. “Don’t blink because we are at the point to reach these expectations.”

When the speeches given by the top students in the senior class had ended, Principal Steven Dunham recognized two students as Mr. and Miss CHS. Those students were Matt McCord and salutatorian McCauley.

Once McCord and McCauley had rejoined their peers after receiving their awards, Jason Aldean’s “Laugh Until We Cried” was played over the loud speaker.

During this time, the seniors joined hands and sang along to the song’s lyrics. As the song ended, the students rejoiced with cheering and hugging.

This was then followed with the presentation of the class and the dispersing of diplomas. With diploma in their hands, the seniors were then instructed to move their tassels to the appropriate side to signify the end of high school and the true beginning of adulthood.

Durham gave a closing speech before the students left their seats to throw their mortar boards in the air. His speech was that of congratulations and the bittersweet realization that the students had successfully completed high school.

“You would think this would get easier after 15 years,” he said. “But as I said, all classes have their own personalities. And boy does this one have one.”