QUINCY — Bethany Safe, co-valedictorian of the Quincy High School class of 2018, and class president Josselinne Gonzalez talked about some of the memories the seniors would take from high school. If graduation comes up at future class of 2018 reunions, the conversations probably won’t focus so much on the speeches as on confetti and air horns, cheers and signs, feats of athleticism, noisy trains and a dance that brought down the house.

Although salutatorian Brenna Bews said she wanted to keep it real. “We’re 18 years old, we’re fresh out of high school and we don’t know anything,” she said. There are still lessons to be learned, she said, and some of them will be taught by failure. Co-valedictorian Gates Peterson echoed that – but both Gates and Brenna pointed out what matters is the response to failure. Sometimes there won’t be good choices, Bethany said, citing her own experience with – and without – sunscreen. But what matters, she said, is how the class of 2018 responds to the situation.

Brenna was optimistic that the class is prepared for what comes next. “We might be young and dumb, but we’ve got a good head on our shoulders."

Parents in the crowd waved signs, and one family brought a confetti cannon, sending confetti flying over the crowd on a windy night. Quincy graduates have been known to bring a beach ball and toss it around during the speeches, but the wind defeated that – well, the wind and an exasperated teacher.

The QHS spectrum choir performed, rudely interrupted by a train at a nearby crossing; a train going in the opposite direction was just as rude during Bethany’s valedictory speech, but she handled it, waiting for it to pass.

Gates Peterson celebrated his diploma with a backflip – two, in fact – and another graduate did the splits. The last diploma went to Dallas Lindemeier, and his classmates urged him to celebrate with a dance. Dallas can dance, and he killed it, to the cheers of the crowd. He lost his shoe but handled it with aplomb, finishing with a deep bow to the crowd.

High school principal Debbie Below-Nyquist said the class had set a record in scholarship awards at about $852,000.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].