26 Graduation Season Begins -- Dates, Places And Students With Top Honors

There will be speeches, parties, balloons, goodbyes, flowers, diplomas, gifts, congratulations and frequent reminders that they not only will live in the future but that they are the future.

The Class of 1997, with the usual mix of relief and apprehension, is about to embark.

Beginning with Eastside Catholic seniors yesterday, hundreds of students will graduate this month from Eastside high schools. Following are commencement exercise dates and locations, as well as students who earned top academic honors:

Bellevue Christian: 7 p.m. June 19 at Westminster Chapel. Valedictorian: Hope Donovan. Salutatorians: Carissa Hockema, Andrea Voss. Top graduates: Michael Chu, Hope Donovan, Sarah Evans, Katherine Faw, Carissa Hockema, Michelle Nienaber, Tracy Pheifer, Michael Schadler, Annie Sieberson and Andrea Voss.

Bellevue High School: 7:30 p.m. June 13 at Bellevue High School Stadium. Valedictorians: Katrina Bassett, Valentina Cabrera-Stagno, Anne Chen, David Forsythe, Tracy Ho, Keaton Hubbert, Dustin Lane, Whitney Petrie, F. Robert Tonkin, Elizabeth Tutmarc, Cameron Wheeler and Daniel Zook. Salutatorian: Julie Anne Jones. Class speakers: Emily Andrews and Christopher Davis.

B.E.S.T. Alternative: 7:30 p.m. June 10 at Eastlake High School's Theater.

Bothell: 8 p.m. June 11 at the Mercer Arena at Seattle Center. Valedictorians: Heidi Herzog, Srida Joisa, Kristin McArthur, Megan Norberg, Brianne Philips, Chi Phung, Jeffrey Thompson, Jennifer Thompson, Lesley Wells and Jennifer Wilkin. Salutatorian: Marcus Templin. Class speakers: Srida Joisa and Kari Peterson.

Cedarcrest: 7 p.m. June 12 at Cedarcrest High School's gymnasium. Valedictorian: Kevin Berdan. Salutatorian: Benjamin Skoropinski. Class speakers: Karen King, Mark Lovre, Katie Scharer and Robert Scharer. Top graduates: Kevin Berdan, Benjamin Skoropinski, Brittany Jones, Emily Jones, Michael Hudson, Rachel Sjavik, Kelly Barrett, Eric Irion, Ryan Byram and Phillip Krieble.

Chrysalis School: 1 and 5 p.m. June 21 at the Woodinville school. Class speakers: Ivan Lenoir, Allison Colby and Alison Smith. Top graduates: Alison Smith, Ivan Lenoir, Alli Dunn, Beth Kirschbaum, Zach Fogle, Jennifer Hughes, Allison Colby and Cheryl Jenkins.

Eastlake: 7 p.m. June 11 at Eastlake High School's gymnasium. Top graduates: Katie Baicy, Elizabeth Browning, Marcus Byeman, John Clendenin, Christopher Czajka, Michael Fairchild, Evan Gardner, Katie Goodeve, Emily Johnson, Jamie McKee, Elisa Steele, Ayumi Sugiyama and Sean Sylvis.

Eastside Catholic: 5 p.m. yesterday at Bellevue Community College. Valedictorians: Bria Coates, Dana Early and Katherine Williams. Salutatorian: Adam Rohde. Class speakers: James Woods, Bria Coates, Dana Early, Katherine Williams and Adam Rohde. Top graduates: Bria Coates, Dana Early, Katherine Williams, Adam Rohde, Blakely Sullivan, Karyn McKelvey, Katie Medley, Scott McMurray, Teresa von Fuchs and Joe Schwab.

Forest Ridge School: 8 p.m. June 11 at St. Madeleine Sophie Church. Valedictorian: Elizabeth Cronin. Salutatorian: Erin Whittington. Top graduates: Ing-Yuh "Janet" Chou, Elizabeth Cronin, Lindsay Davis, Katherine Herold, Josephine Lee, Keiko Nakano, Diane Rondeau, Shoko Sasaki, Jennifer Sonstelie and Krysta Svore.

Inglemoor High School: 7 p.m. June 12 at the Mercer Arena at Seattle Center. Valedictorians: Vicki Ashmun, Mark Dunn, Max Kay, Rupa Raman, Princy Rekhi, Thomas Robertson, Kurtis Sherwood, Ashutosh Somani, Paritosh Somani, Rachel Thomas and Jennifer Yang. Salutatorians: Olivia Allen, Clara Lo and Nicholas Ryan-Lang. Class speakers: Chanda Hall and Casey Schoolcraft.

Interlake: 7 p.m. June 14 at Bellevue Community College. Top graduates: Lauren Cooper, Bryan Hulen, Christopher Johnson, Amie Karkainen, Kay Kurashige, Douglas Ludlow, Sara Luttio, Michael McGee, Erika Ross, James Steele, Nancy Stoaks and Michelle Su.

Issaquah: 7:30 p.m. June 16 at the University of Washington's Edmundson Pavilion. Valedictorians: Sarah Beal, Shawn Collins, Shirley Gaw, Jorunn Grobey, Jennifer Jenkins, Jennifer Johnson, Nelson Lau, Brenda Martin, Jeffrey Miller, Christopher Powell, Paige Randall and Shirley Sun. Class speaker: Sean Flynn.

Juanita: 7 p.m. June 11 at the Juanita High School Fieldhouse. Class speakers: Travis Bruggeman and Crystal Elliot. Top graduates: Bryce Bennett, Crystal Elliot, Jennifer Ingersol, Kevin Maki, Jocelyn Manangan, Marci Martin, Jayme Rios, Kelley Shinabarger, Rachel Tritz and John VanVelthuyzen.

Lake Washington: 7:30 p.m. June 13 at the Juanita High School Fieldhouse. Top graduates: Breanne Botch, Lindsay Jones, Kimberly Lynn, Melissa Manke, Jessica McMorrow, Alina Morris, Vinay Narotam, Satoshi Ogawa, Brant Robertson, Camille Scalise and Jacqueline Wong.

Mercer Island: 7 p.m. June 16 at Meydenbauer Center. Valedictorians: Carla Fowler, Emily Howe, Megan Van der Burch and Sarah Yates. Salutatorians: Nicholas Connolly and Daniel Corey. Class speakers: Nathan Bahner, Carla Fowler, Emily Howe, Megan Van der Burch, Sarah Yates, Ryan Clake, Ryan Evans, Tyson Kidder and Nikolai Jankovich. Top graduates: Carla Fowler, Emily Howe, Megan Van der Burch, Sarah Yates, Nicholas Connolly, Daniel Corey, Katy King, Jonathan Mormino, John Sunwoo and Melissa Schmelzer.

Mount Si: 7:30 p.m. June 13 at Mount Si High School's gymnasium. Valedictorian: Sarah Easley. Salutatorian: Wendy Thompson. Class speakers: Aubrey Fowler, John W. Nelson, Elizabeth Schomber and Robyn Mueller. Top graduates: Sarah Easley, Wendy Thompson, Karen Boers, Casey Berkebile, Ryan Craig, Alahna Mulligan, Aubrey Fowler, Karin Green, Summer Sherrid and Joel Everett.

Newport: 7 p.m. June 15 at Bellevue Community College. Class speakers: Annie Brown, Geoff Brown and Amy Peretzman. Top graduates: Katherine Wai May Siew, Julie Clark, Cynthia Fisher, Mark Haizlip, Erin Kilpatrick, Kyle Smits, Ellen Sukovich, Amy Peretzman, Elisabeth Hupp, Chris Winter, David Lee, Brian Peck, Je Vonne McDonald and Loala Terry-Pantenberg.

Northwest Yeshiva: 7:30 p.m. June 16 at Sephardic Bikur Holim. Valedictorians and class speakers: Ariella Genauer and Igor Volynskiy. Top graduates: Ariella Genauer, Igor Volynskiy, Nancy Almo, Lilly Almo, Ilana Balint, Ben Maslan, Rebecca Angel, Aviva Walls, Michail Borozdin and Sally Varon.

The Overlake School: 4 p.m. Sunday at the school gymnasium. Valedictorian: Nicholas Dankers. Salutatorian: Dan Barghelame. Class speakers: Patick Marr, Renee Visich and Ted Lewis. Top graduates: Robert Long, Nick Livingston, Megan Gaudette, Renee Visich, Eric Hanson, Mollie Atwater, Kerstin Barker, Jessica Gigot and Matthew Riesenberg.

Redmond: 7:30 p.m. June 12 at Juanita High School's Fieldhouse. Class speakers: Kate Burdon and Corinne Woodward. Top graduates: Barbara Bockelman, Brittany Fridenstine, Lisa Gottgetreu, Alicia Upton-Rowley, Corinne Woodward, Andrew Shin, David Macdonald, Sara Wolbrecht, Rebecca Lee and Erin Friesen. Presidential scholar: Jessie Hirsch.

Sammamish: 7 p.m. June 18 at Bellevue Community College. Class speakers: Aaron Fell, Easton Harvey, Kelci Karl, Druery Klein and Maile Beck. Top graduates: Benjamin Grable, Janice Wu, Jeffrey Stoner, Victor Scapa, Maile Beck, Frederick Hong, Michelle Mizumori, Kelci Karl, Ildi Sztonak, Maia McChan and Jennifer Carr.

Secondary Alternative High School: 7 p.m. June 10 at the W.A. Anderson School cafeteria. Class speaker: LaJuana Simpson. Student recognition: Joni Anderson, LaJuana Simpson, Heather Siereveld, Don Anderson and Melissa Perez.

Skykomish: 7 p.m. Friday at Skykomish High School's gymnasium. Valedictorian: Jennifer Pence. Salutatorian: Catherine Janasz.

Woodinville: 7:30 p.m. June 13 at the Mercer Arena at Seattle Center. Valedictorians: Rodney Anderson, Margaret Campbell, Jillian Sell, Jennifer Toone, Rebecca Weinz, Laurel Koons, Eric Carlson, Kimberly Cozzetto and Megan Gaz. Salutatorian: Mary Swain. Class speakers: Rodney Anderson and Keri Baker.