Bears embrace future at ceremony in new stadium
Merced High School graduates fill up the seats in the middle of the field as their fans in the stadium stands cheer them on.
The smiles of success were on the faces of honor students.
Graduate Jaylen Thao-Booth with his award for Male Athlete of the Year.
Isabel Perez-Zoghbi with her award for Female Athlete of the Year.
A little cap and gown humor for the big send off.
An honor student presents the U.S. Flag inside Cathie Hostetler Stadium for the commencement exercises.
Merced High School’s graduating Class of 2022 — about 500 strong — and all their family members and friends appeared to max out the capacity of the new Cathie Hostetler Stadium on June 2.
It was the first-ever commencement ceremony at the stadium that was completed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Principal Marcus Knott introduced the valedictorians: Daniel Chen, Lam Luong, Tianna LiWang, Elaine Chuang, Hilda Barragan-Reyes, Isabel Perez-Zoghbi, Erol Ayik, Christine Wilson, Ava Brown, Julia Niles, Kaylie Escobar-Islas, Jonathan Vang, Lourdes Santiago, Isabella Meyer, Jillian Xiong, Celeste Magana Casillas, Kendall Parker, Trisha McCleskey, Jaden Xiong, Seth Scheidt, and Elena Santos-Gonzalez.
The student speaker-at-large was Kayla Horn and the valedictorian speaker was Erol Ayik.
Music, including the National Anthem, was performed by the mighty Merced Marching 100.
Cougars stand proud on graduation night
Students touch the cougar statue as they walk out of commencement as high school graduates.
Two diplomas are securely in the hands of two smiling young graduates.
Golden Valley High School valedictorians were looking smart during their commencement exercises.
This cap explains where the American journey began for this young student.
The audience roared when these two students in the MCOE special education program — Shawn Justice and Alexis Comparan-Paramo — walked across the stage. They are seen here with their teacher Mr. Ayala.
Class of 2022 student speaker, Cameron Ivy, stood up before some 400 of his fellow Golden Valley High School graduates on commencement night and told them:
“Even if you don’t feel that you’ve done anything incredible in high school, you’ve already made history here at Golden Valley by enduring some of the hardest conditions that high school education has ever seen. Toward the end of our Sophomore year, we were struck with the surprise of COVID-19 — a pandemic that canceled our extracurricular activities, sent us home to attend our classes on a screen, and the worst part, it separated us from one another. But regardless of the difficult circumstances and adversity we’ve faced, we persevered.”
Among those students who persevered were these valedictorians: Ephraim Evans, Alexander Barahona, Atreyu Vangbliayang, Nora Dominguez, Anna Delgadillo, Angelina Saefong, Tiffany Costa, Shania Herr, Amethyst Lumley, ruby Saenz, Celeste Espinoza, Kylie Polk, Cameron Ivy, Lilyana Flores, Angela Russell-Curry, Demarys Anguiano Lara, Viviana Ceja, Madeline Swilley, Ethan Currin, Mateo Tangaan, Anna Eastridge, Johan Falconi-Cavallini, Edgar Gabriola-Barrera, Saul Arana and Sonia Lumley.
Gauchos ready to embrace the world
Unique mortarboard designs were seen throughout the ceremony.
Graduates move their tassels across their mortarboards.
Mik Bik cheeres the Gauchos on one last time before retiring.
Honors graduates received their special recognition at the start of the ceremony.
Graduates with El Capitan High School make their way up to the stage.
Graduates look back at family and friends as they wait for their chance to walk across the stage.
Graduates cheer and smile as the ceremony comes to a close.
El Capitan High School’s graduating Class of 2022 brought together hundreds of graduates alongside their family members and friends inside of the campus’ quad on June 2.
As the ceremony got underway, Associate Principal Christopher Tufts introduced more than 50 valedictorians as well as the school’s two salutatorians.
The student speaker-at-large was Gabrielle Jassa and the valedictorian speaker was Agastya Jain.
Music provided throughout the ceremony was provided by the El Capitan High School Gaucho Marching Brigade under the direction of Maria Brouillard, with the National Anthem being sung by Ariana Lourenz Valera.