— Caitlyn Kelley is the daughter of Ed and D’Nelle Kelley of Florence. Kelley is ranked number one in her class with a 3.97 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale. During her time in high school, she earned a total of 24 college credits, with her favorite being in medical terminology.

Kelley is the vice president of Florence’s chapter of the National Honor Society. She is also a member of the High Q team, the group Together Our Responsibility Publicly Embraces Direction and Opportunity or TORPEDOs, student council, and is the lead photographer and editor of the Florence yearbook. Outside of school, she enjoys photography and takes photos for the local newspapers. She also is an active church member who represents her church in youth retreats across the Upper Peninsula. Along with that, Kelley volunteers for the veterans association and is the head coach of the Florence Youth Wrestling Club.

She has maintained either high honor roll or superior honor roll in high school, in addition to earning academic awards in Spanish, algebra, geometry and calculus. Along with excelling in school, Kelley is also the first athlete in school history to become a two-time WIAA state wrestling champion. She was twice on the academic all-state team and made academic all-conference four times. Kelley is also a team captain for the Team Wisconsin National Wrestling team.

Kelley plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree in biology as well as wrestle at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, then hopefully attend medical school to become a physician’s assistant.

CRYSTAL ROSE LEFFLER

— Crystal Rose Leffler is the daughter of Douglas Leffler of Florence and Joanne Leffler of Rhinelander, Wis. She is salutatorian of the Class of 2023 with a 3.93 GPA. During her time in high school, Leffler has earned a total of 20 college credits through the Northeast Wisconsin Technical College and University of Wisconsin Green Bay programs, becoming a certified nursing assistant and a certified health care customer service representative.

She is president of the Florence Chapter of the National Honor Society. Over the years, she has participated in forensics, HI-Q, the cheer team and the Florence choir and show choir. She is also an active member of the TORPEDOs program, with one of her biggest projects partnering with Feeding America to provide more than 600 bagged lunches for students at the Florence County Elementary School. Outside of school, Leffler is an active member of St. Mary Catholic Church in Florence and is happily employed at a local nursing home and a waitress at a local dining establishment.

She has maintained either superior or high honors throughout high school, in addition to earning academic awards in the core subjects of math, science, history and language arts. During her junior year through the TORPEDOs program, Leffler attended a national youth leadership conference flying solo to the nation’s

capital in Washington, D.C., where she spoke with numerous house representatives and legislators in the Capitol building, in addition to creating a presentation to members of the U.S. Department Bureau of Labor.

Leffler plans to attend the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a nurse in geriatrics.

JUSTIN GASPARAS

— Justin Gasparas is the son of Nick Gasparas of Commonwealth and the late Melanie Gasparas. He is ranked third in his class with a 3.892 GPA, with a special interest in his psychology class.

During high school, he has been an active member of the concert band and pep band. Additionally, he helped set up a “Mental Health Day” during his one year of participation in TORPEDOs.

He has also taken multiple college courses — including writing foundations, psychology and others — for a total of 12 college credits, six from the UW-GB and six from NWTC. Gasparas has taken a total of two years of Spanish on top of that. All of this has helped him earn a total of $5,000 in scholarships. Outside of school, he works at The Tavern on Central as a cook and enjoys hanging out with friends.

Gasparas plans to pursue a psychology degree at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

— Emily Hallgren is the daughter of Erica and Shawn Hallgren of the town of Homestead. She has grown up on the Hallgren Farm, filling her summers with making hay and her spring time assisting her parents with calving season. She is fourth in her senior class with a 3.8 GPA. Her favorite subjects are history and English.

EMILY HALLGREN

In high school, she participated in band, choir, show choir, NHS and forensics. Outside of school, she likes to spend time with her family, especially with her dog, Daisy. Hallgren also is a member of the WELS Lutheran Church in Florence. She works as an intern at Systems Control. After high school, she plans to further her career with Systems Control.

— Morgan Tomczak is the daughter of Craig and Stephanie Tomczak of Florence County. She is fifth in her class with a 3.712 GPA. One of her favorite high school classes was Human Anatomy and Physiology.

In high school, Tomczak participated in volleyball, basketball and softball. She has been co-captain of the 2021 and 2022 volleyball team, co-captain of the 2022-2023 basketball team, and co-captain of the 2023 softball team. She has also received multiple conference awards in both volleyball and softball, including co-player of the year in volleyball for the 2022 season. In addition to conference awards, she has also received numerous scholar athlete awards through her years.

Throughout her high school years, Tomczak remained on the high honor or honor roll. As a senior, she served as historian for Florence’s chapter of the National Honor Society, and the president of the student council. She is also a four-year member of TORPEDOs, choir and show choir. Outside of school, Tomczak is involved with the Up North club volleyball team, various church activities and working at the Ice Cream Barn.

Tomczak plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree in radiologic technology at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

MORGAN TOMCZAK

Florence County High School graduation ceremonies will be 7 p.m. Friday in the high school gymnasium.