A variety of emotions flashed across their faces during the ceremonies — relief, excitement and anticipation with a dash of nervousness as they moved their tassels to the left and set their eyes toward life after high school.

It’s a big moment. Do you look back? Do you look ahead? Or do you attempt, at least for a little while, to remain in the present and simply soak it all in?

Speakers implored the graduates to go into the world with passion, humility and a strong work ethic. Patience was also a virtue touted — as anyone who’s been to a graduation knows, the ceremony can be long.

Teton County School District School Board Chairwoman Kate Mead acknowledged that fact as the honorary speaker for Summit High School.

“One of the final tests of your educational careers in Teton County School District, a final test of your patience and fortitude, is to sit through this graduation address,” she joked.

Read on for individual stories on the three high schools that graduated last week: Jackson Hole High School, Summit High School and Journeys School. Jackson Hole Community School graduated the week prior.

Jackson Hole High School

The crowded gymnasium, packed to the brim with friends, family and teachers, became hushed. Eyes turned toward the doors expectantly as seniors walked down the aisle two by two to graduate Saturday.

Some held hands.

High fives, ecstatic waves and a few tears were among the bright smiles and brighter flashbulbs in the room.

“From that first day you stood there at the bus stop with your new lunch box, your new backpack, your shiny new shoes and went off to kindergarten, 13 years later and here you are,” said Keith Gingery, a member of the Teton County School District Board of Trustees.

The Class of 2017, by the numbers, is impressive: 35 percent of the graduating seniors are the first in their family to attend college, 75 percent are attending a four-year college or university, 14 percent are attending a two-year college or trade or technical school, 3 percent are joining the military and 5 percent have a formal gap year plan. The class also contributed to 31 state championships.

Seven students were recognized for maintaining a 4.0 cumulative GPA: Abigail Brazil, Emiliana Centrella, Maria Centrella, Elizabeth Chambers, Clara Delahaye, Anna Gibson and Emmie Gocke.

Gibson, known for her athletic accomplishments as a runner, compared the years of high school to the four laps around a track needed to complete a mile.

Maria Centrella joked about her twin — they are one of five sets of twins in their graduating class — and then thanked her father, who battled liver disease since she was little and underwent a transplant, for holding out until her high school graduation as she’d pleaded with him to do.

Centrella also remarked that all the seven students with 4.0 GPAs were white women and briefly discussed the privilege that played a factor in their success.

Brazil and Gocke talked about a variety of their classmates who weren’t onstage and then did a trust fall backward into the crowd. Another student speaker, Nesly Corona Perez, talked about the sacrifices she made to be a proud graduate a year early, including learning another language and taking two English and two math classes in one year.

Ski mountaineer extraordinaire Kit DesLauriers, the first person to ski the highest peak on every continent, addressed the Class of 2017. She told the graduating seniors to do well for themselves, not for their parents or money. She also told them to “never let anybody tell you there’s something you can’t do” and said they have the “power to create the lives” they want.

DesLauriers led the students through a goal-setting exercise to help prove her points. By having them write down what they want to do in their life, the next five years and the next year, she said she hoped they would see that they have the “freedom to dream big and think big.”

Superintendent Gillian Chapman and Assistant Superintendent Jeff Daugherty have daughters who graduated Saturday — Olivia Chapman and Alexis Daugherty — making the ceremony extra special. And bittersweet.

While life after high school can be uncertain, Gingery left the students with a pearl of wisdom from growing up in a small town and a closely knit community. He and fellow school board Trustee Bill Scarlett graduated from Jackson Hole High School in 1988 and 1987, respectively.

“Look to your left and look to your right,” Gingery said. “Some of these people you won’t see again after today. But some of them will be like Bill and I. You’ll see them for the next 30 years of your life — whether you like it or not.”

The crowd laughed.

Summit High School

Principal Beth Auge choked up when she told Summit High School students, teachers, family and friends about the school’s purpose: to ensure the personal, social and academic growth of diverse learners.

“We are the lions of the mountains,” Auge said. “We are the Summit cougars. And our school motto is: Reach your peak at Summit High School.”

She paused.

“OK, I’ll quit crying now,” Auge said apologetically.

But people in the audience understood. They knew the “life-changing adversity” she spoke of some students facing. Five were the first in their family to attend college, and seven were the first in their families to graduate from high school.

On Thursday 15 graduates of Summit High School, the alternative public school in Jackson, proudly crossed the stage for their diplomas. But not before their teachers — whose love for the students was apparent in their knowing remarks and teasing jabs — talked about each and every one for a personalized send-off.

Brian Hager, an environmental science teacher, said student Jeremy Bowthorpe “started to take off his suit of armor this year.” Hager also joked that “it’s not often that your students outdress you every day” while talking about student Abraham Caretto and his “razor-sharp mind.”

Stan Morgan, a social studies teacher, talked about the growth and progress he’d seen in Cinthia Hidalgo-Hernandez, a student who spent all four years at Summit.

Pam Coleman, the school’s counselor, described McKennah Crawford as “epitomizing sugar and spice” with “one of the biggest hearts of gold.”

Other students were highlighted for their ingenuity, their kindness and their response to adversity. Mark Pommer, the school psychologist, said Austin Nalley was like a “phoenix who rose up from a really tough time.” English teacher Kristie Ralston described Elizabeth Sanchez-Garcia as a “feisty young lady who is a fighter” and said that while she may be 4 feet 10 inches tall “she carries herself like she’s 6-5.”

A common theme was that students were independent and courageously fierce in their convictions. Clint Traver, who manages student services for the school, said that Amber Hunger “is one of those people who doesn’t take crap from anybody” and is “pound for pound, probably the strongest person in the building.”

As the graduation’s honorary speaker, Kate Mead told the students to be passionately curious, to not be afraid of failure — and to vote.

“We live in the most amazing country that the world has ever known,” she said. “We are a great country now. We have rights and liberties unknown to most people on this Earth. … We need to take care of that and help us, the older generation. We are leaving you with massive debt. We are leaving you with climate change. And we are leaving you with President Donald Trump. I am very sorry about that. But, I know that you guys have the capability to fix it.”

When the students proudly walked across the stage and off to their after-parties and receptions, they’d conquered one peak. Now it’s time to face the next hurdle.

“We strive toward and strive for that life-changing peak of graduation, while also helping prepare our students to reach for further peaks in the world outside of Summit High School,” Auge said during the ceremony. “We hope they get closer to the top every day, but just like climbing any mountain, there is often some pushing, and pulling, and tugging, and sometimes even some backsliding, involved along the way.”

Journeys School

With diplomas in hand and smiles on their faces, the cohort of nine graduates in the Class of 2017 — a “small, but mighty” bunch — walked past rows of their teachers and lifted their palms up for high fives.

They’d made it, and they should be proud, their graduation speakers had told them.

“Education is not, nor should it be, clean and comfortable,” Head of School Nancy Lang told the graduates. “In fact, it’s messy and full of discomfort. It’s a dynamic process of finding the balance between pushing your limits and embracing your safe havens.”

All in the group are off to four-year institutions across the country in the fall. Three also take along the honor of being Malone Scholars, an award bestowed to top students.

Each of the graduates completed a rigorous program, completing International Baccalaureate Diploma coursework, finishing a 4,000-word research thesis and fulfilling creative, action and service learning hours. Between the nine, 1,350 hours were logged.

During the speeches, faculty and students shared memories of their time together, like the senior capstone trip to Costa Rica, one of the most meaningful experiences faculty member Amanda Kern had experienced with students, she said. Graduates also each took a turn at the podium, thanking family, friends and teachers and offering advice to their fellow classmates — like Adriana Mullin, who urged her classmates to “fail and fail spectacularly” on the way to learning.

Others had more lighthearted recollections of high school, like David Ekvall who jokingly compared the difficulties of senior year at Journeys to the plot of “The Revenant,” where instead of getting mauled by a grizzly bear the graduating class was bogged down by college apps and IB diploma requirements.

Journeys alumna Annie Watters, now an applied behavior analyst for children with autism, offered students guidance on their path forward. The value of her experience at Journeys, she said, was not something she fully understood until she has left the hallways of high school. But she has since realized her educational experience at Journeys allowed her to actively engage with the places she’s lived.

“Remember the three bullets: Trust in your Journeys School education and exemplify being a lifelong learner; let go of things that are not working for you; and embrace uncertainty and be your best self,” she said. “And have fun doing it.”

— Leonor Grave contributed to this report.