Gracia Heille smiles at principal Kim Niss and Superintendent Joe Brown Sunday afternoon during the Fairmont High School graduation ceremony.

FAIRMONT — Fairmont High School’s graduation ceremony took place Sunday afternoon inside the school’s gymnasium. One-hundred twelve students made up the graduating class of 2021.

This year’s ceremony was slightly different than past years, and starkly different than last year’s when a graduation parade took place due to COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines.

Just a few weeks ago, the ceremony was set to take place with limited seating, with just three seats allowed per student. However, as guidelines from both the Minnesota Department of Health and Minnesota Department of Education changed, Sunday’s ceremony had no capacity limits.

Performances by the band, orchestra and choir, however, were all pre-recorded. Students were not handed their diplomas, as is typically done, but picked it up off of a table. Handshakes between students and the principal and superintendent were also not done this year.

In the last week, the policy committee approved an optional face mask policy for students and guests at the ceremony.

When addressing the class, Superintendent Joe Brown said after 15 months, it was nice to see so many actual faces.

“You have experienced a unique and interesting high school experience the last two years. I am convinced that these experiences will better prepare you for an unknown future that lies ahead,” Brown said.

Annika Wheeler was the student speaker. She addressed her peers and spoke about all that the class went through together, throughout their school years and especially over the last two.

“We learned how to take the unplanned and make the best of it, which is something we will use for the rest of our lives,” Wheeler said.

She also said that all of the changes during the last two years have helped the students learn to value certain things more than they used to, like participating in extracurricular activities and seeing friends.

“Most classes have never had so much uncertainty in the year that’s supposed to be the most fun and rewarding,” she said.

Wheeler said that the class of 2021 is a passionate class that works together for the betterment of everyone. She brought up the fact that as class officers were recently counting votes for the hall of fame awards, there were 31 unique names put forward for the “friend to everyone” award.

High school co-principal Kim Niss spoke about two books she recently read, “Flow” and “How to Lead.” She said both books focus on individuals being and becoming their best self and she wanted to share some common themes in the books with the graduating class.

Niss spoke about the importance of setting goals and reminded students that they must put in the work to achieve the goals they have set.

She also encouraged students to reflect on what their purpose will be as they move through life.

“When you have mastered the ability to set goals, cultivate your skills and learn how to fully concentrate, you will then find ways to enjoy life, even when circumstances bring about challenges and discomfort,” Niss said. “Life will not be easy, there will be trials and tribulations, but being in control of oneself means that literally anything that happens can be a source of learning and make you better moving forward.”