The 2025 senior graduating class at Northport Public School not only received their diplomas at their commencement ceremony earlier this month, but also a special send-off gift to cherish forever.
Northport art teacher Jen Evans, who served as commencement speaker for the first time in her 20 years with the district, painted detailed portraits of all 10 seniors to take away with them into their next chapter of life. Written on the portraits were best pieces of advice for living a good life from school staff. Students also took home memory books with featured photos and other flashbacks from throughout their high school career in which more than a dozen teachers and staff contributed to.
Evans spent much of her Memorial Day weekend, over 60 hours, painting each piece. She always told herself that if she was ever asked to do the commencement speech, she would paint a portrait of each senior. So when she was approached about doing the speech this year, she knew she wanted to complete the paintings, despite the limited time and not having done portraits before.
