DOWAGIAC — With the wind blowing across the bright green of Chris Taylor Alumni Field, students of the Class of 2019 walked across a stage, several holding the flat, black caps atop their heads steady to keep from blowing away, and made the transition from students to alumni Sunday.

Dowagiac Union High School graduated 123 students during the commencement ceremony for the senior class of 2019. The graduation was the 154th in Dowagiac’s history.

“Graduation is an exciting time, and I say to our students, ‘this is your day,’” said board of education president Larry Schmidt. “You have our attention. … You are all here today to help you celebrate your high school successes.”

With high school now behind them, the class valedictorians and salutatorians were looking toward the future Sunday.

In their speeches, valedictorians Mae Hartsig and Tessa Holz took time to thank those that helped them get across the graduation stage and prepare them for the next phase of their lives.

“I am in deep appreciation of the people I have met and the places I have gone these past four years,” Hartsig said, the tassel of her hat blowing in the wind. “But above all, I am excited to lean into the newness that lies ahead.”

“Well, class of 2019, we made it. With a lot of hard work, we made it here — not to the end of the line, but to a crossroads where many of us are going different directions, but we didn’t make it here on our own, so I’d like to take this chance to thank everyone who helped me along the way,” Holz said during her speech before going on to thank her teachers, family, friends and classmates. “I wish you all luck and success in the future.”

Salutatorian Juliana Stanger also thanked her friends and loved ones Sunday but encouraged her fellow classmates to celebrate graduation as it marks the beginning of the next phase of their lives.

“Today is a day of celebration of us. A celebration of how far we have come and the bright futures that lie ahead,” Stanger said. “Today is the culmination of 13 years of hard work. From our first day of kindergarten — when we were nervous little kids — to today as we walk confidently across Chris Taylor Alumni Field. … Today, as we close one of the most important chapters of our lives and move on, I hope we do not forget the memories we made and the times we’ve shared with each other. I hope we can all look back at our high school experience and smile.”

Before the graduates had a chance to move their tassels from one side of their faces to the other, Dowagiac Superintendent Paul Hartsig congratulated them on their accomplishments. He told them he believes they all have bright futures ahead of them.

“Take a chance, try something new,” Hartsig offered as his parting advice to graduates.  “Don’t be the ship in the harbor, but the ship that is exploring the world around you, because that is what you were built for. Go be you — the best you that you can be. Congratulations.”