“Briony Morrow-Cribbs, whose parents named her for a Welsh wildflower, is this year’s valedictorian for South Whidbey High School.After a visit to her mother’s family in Ireland for the month of June, the senior with a 4.0 grade point average will spend the rest of the summer selling her art to help pay for college this fall. Morrow-Cribbs plans to talk about originality and about finding yourself as she stands before the Class of 2000 and hundreds of proud relatives on June 3. Later she will continue in her artistic parents’ path when she majors in visual arts at Bennington College in Vermont. Now Morrow-Cribbs does photography, print making and illustrations for books. The 4 p.m. graduation ceremony will feature three other speakers as well: one chosen by teachers, one by the graduating class and the other, the class president. Michael Morgen-Burke, who goes by Michael Francis Morgen-Burke (You say it really fast, says a friend) or MMB, was the faculty’s choice for graduation speaker. I’m pretty comfortable speaking in front of a crowd, Morgen-Burke said. I’ve been in plays and musicals. I sing. I’ll be expressing my appreciation to the people who’ve helped me. What I want to convey is the opening of a door looking to new places, rather than leaving this place. Maybe that sounds cheesy but it won’t be hard to come up with a speech. Morgen-Burke, who works at Mike’s Place in Langley, said he plans to move out with friends and save up to go to college. I’m not in a hurry to go, he said, and added that he’s not sure what he wants to do in the future.Chosen by his class to speak is Jesse Ellison, who may go fishing with his uncle this summer in Alaska before attending Willamette University in Oregon to major in communications. He looks forward to the change. They gave me a lot of money to go, said Ellison of Willamette’s scholarship award. I want to get into business or corporate law. To his friends Ellison says: It’s finally done. It’s been a long time. Class President Nick Yacono will give the closing speech on graduation day. He plans to work this summer and fall to earn money for to start the winter quarter at the University of La Verne in Southern California, where he’ll major in psychology. I may go into law or politics, though I’d take politics over law, Yacono said. I’ve worked real hard for the past 12 to 13 months and I’m going to go ahead and enjoy the next couple of months. Hope we don’t forget each other. Although Katie Shapiro, class salutatorian with a 3.99 grade point average, is glad she won’t be speaking in front of the large crowd, she is looking forward to going backpacking through Europe with a friend from June 8 through July 17. Her parents gave their blessing to the journey, which will take her mostly through Greece and Italy. In the fall, Shapiro, who has lived on Whidbey her whole life, will attend Colorado College in Colorado Springs. Following graduation, some students will go to family parties, but most will join their classmates for a Grad Night party, boarding a 10 p.m. bus to the Seattle Aquarium for dancing and pizza, followed by a visit to Funtopia. Of the 143 graduates in the Class of 2000, 94 will party at Grad Night, said Helen Bass, one of the parent volunteers. And while it cost each student $112.57 for the night’s party, there were 15 scholarships funded by the community so that all the students who wanted to could attend.”