POULSBO — New beginnings and fairy tale endings.

The 2005-2006 school year has nearly come full circle and this year’s North End senior class is days away from completing one of the most prominent hallmarks in teenage life — high school.

Seniors at North Kitsap High School, Spectrum Community School, the Parent Assisted Learning Program and West Sound Academy are all readying their tassels, caps and gowns for their respective graduations, which will take place later this week.

The WSA class of 2006 will kick the series off with its ceremony scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at Kiana Lodge, while the PAL and Spectrum graduations will at 6:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, respectively, in the NKHS auditorium. North Kitsap High School festivities will be at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Viking Stadium.

“All of this change is piling up, it’s kind of overwhelming,” Spectrum senior Derryck DeCoteau said of the graduation season. “I don’t want to accept it; if I had the chance I would stay here in a second, but I know this will be good for me.”

Many NK seniors are feeling swamped with support, inundated with excitement and captured by change at a crux in their lives. All the hard work that they have done to this point will soon be just a memory as students make the leap out of high school.

Some will be heading to the next level of education, while others will go straight into the work world. But the common ground of their high school past will be the foundation for whatever paths are followed.

“I’m not looking forward to the future because the past was bad, I’m looking forward to the future because it’s going to be better,” said NKHS senior and one of the school’s three valedictorians Brian Parrott. “It’s been fun, but it will be good to get on to real life.”

Parrott is hoping to enter the real world of bioengineering as he begins his pursuit of a degree at the University of Washington next fall. A national merit scholar finalist, Parrott is one of the many North End students who took advantage of scholarship opportunities which will propel him to a higher education.

In all this year, 180 scholarships were awarded — totaling $1,869,732 — by various outlets in the community and beyond for the cause of NK students’ futures.

And while some students will enjoy that monetary benefit while barging into tomorrow, all students should carry with them the values instilled through the educative careers in North Kitsap.

“It has all taught me about being a truly good person and being true to what you believe in,” Spectrum senior Jessica Brown said.

GRAY BOX:

Graduation times, dates and places

West Sound Academy: 7 p.m. June 15 at Kiana Lodge.

North Kitsap High School: 2:30 p.m. June 17 at the North Kitsap High School stadium.

PAL (Parent Assisted Learning): 6:30 p.m. June 15, North Kitsap

Auditorium (on Hostmark St., next to the pool in Poulsbo).

Spectrum Community School: 6:30 p.m., June 16, North Kitsap Auditorium (on Hostmark St., next to the pool, in Poulsbo).