For the Class of 2014, the end of an era is at hand. With the end of this month, their high school careers are over and they truly begin the journey into adulthood.

Before they leave, we wanted to talk with the top ranking students at North Crawford and Seneca High Schools, the Valedictorians and Salutatorians of 2014.

North Crawford Valedictorian Mackenzie Swiggum, the daughter of Tom and Jodi Swiggum, will attend UW-Madison to pursue a degree in pharmacy.

Seneca Valedictorian Elizabeth Garfoot, the daughter of Scott and Suzie Garfoot, will attend UW-LaCrosse and major in psychology.

Seneca Salutatorian Cacey Ostrander, the daughter of Leighton and Brenda Ostrander, will attend UW-Platteville to pursue an engineering degree.

North Crawford Salutatorian Henry ‘Hank’ Schellhorn, the son of Scot and Julie Schellhorn, will attend UW-Madison to major in biology and then attend medical school for anesthesiology.

All four have been active participants in the extracurricular activities. Garfoot played volleyball and basketball. She also participated in FFA, forensics and yearbook. Swiggum played volleyball, softball and basketball, as well as participating in National Honor Society, student government, yearbook, Spanish Club, Champions of Learning and Pals. Schellhorn played football, hockey and baseball, while participating in National Honor Society, Champions of Learning, theater and the Youth Apprenticeship Health Program. Ostrander played volleyball and softball, while participating in yearbook and forensics.

The Seneca seniors, neighbors who likened themselves and their class to a family, shared a favorite memory.

“The senior trip,” Ostrander said without hesitation.

“We went to Niagara Falls,” Garfoot explained. “It was rainy at first, but it kept getting better – or we made the best of it.”

“The boys are probably still mad at us,” Garfoot continued.

“Every time they left their room, we snuck in and turned the heat up,” explained Ostrander with a laugh.

Ostrander said that their class has always gotten along well.

“If we fought, it was more like siblings,” Garfoot said. “Our class is too small for anything else.”

Schellhorn and Swiggum both found the successes that they experienced participating in sports at the top of their list of favorite memories.

“Winning the regionals in baseball in 2013 and winning our level one football playoff the same year,” Schellhorn recalled as some favorite memories. The achievements are a source of obvious pride for the teen.

Swiggum cited her trip to the state tournament with the school volleyball team during the last season as a favorite memory, but her friends were at the top of the list.

“My favorite memories are just hanging out with my friends,” Swiggum said. “When you look back, you realize you don’t really get that much time with them.

“If I could do something different, I would be less serious and spend more time with friends,” Swiggum continued.

Schellhorn thought he might work harder on his sports performance, if doing things differently were possible.

“I could have worked harder, but my freshman and sophomore years, I just thought, you know, ‘I’m just a freshman, I’m just a sophomore’,” Schellhorn said. “But high school goes by so quickly.”

Garfoot also saw missed opportunities to work harder.

“If I could do it over, I would definitely take more college classes, AP classes,” Garfoot said.

“I wouldn’t change anything,” Ostrander said. “I enjoyed it all!”

The Seneca High School graduation ceremony will be held on May 30 at 8 p.m.

The North Crawford High School will hold commencement on May 31 at 10 a.m.

The Independent-Scout extends our congratulations not only to this year’s valedictorians and salutatorians, but to all of the graduates in the Class of 2014.