A light rain that drizzled out of the clouds and steadily picked up toward the end of Sobrato High School’s June 8 commencement ceremony didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits, as the graduates, their friends and families continued to belt out a scattered cacophony of cheers and whistles as Assistant Principal Kevin Miller and Counselor Ted Thomas called each student to the podium to receive their diploma.
Three hundred fourteen seniors graduated from Sobrato High School’s Class of 2017 at the campus athletic field on Burnett Avenue.
Even before the graduating seniors began their procession to their seats in front of the stage to begin the ceremony, the atmosphere in the crowd was festive as the teens’ parents, siblings, grandparents, relatives and friends displayed poster-sized signs depicting their favorite grad and rang cowbells and air horns.
“It makes me proud, and it makes me realize how time flies,” said Cindy Vaughan, mother of Sobrato Class of 2017 graduate Dylan Boyd. “It’s surreal, to get to this point where your little baby is grown up and going to be on his own.”
Boyd plans to attend Gavilan College in the fall, added Vaughan, who was seated with Dylan’s brother, sister and stepfather.
“We wish him the best of luck in his future,” Vaughan added.
Scott Thomas had similar feelings about the rapid passage of time, as his daughter Megan Thomas was among Sobrato’s Class of 2017.
“Eighteen years went by so fast,” Scott Thomas said of his first and only daughter.
Megan plans to attend junior college in the fall, then transfer to a four-year college—hopefully University of Washington, he added. A full schedule of Advanced Placement classes kept Megan busy academically during her four years at Sobrato.
“She’s a great student,” Scott Thomas said.
Student speeches delivered by Valedictorian Grant Halliday, Salutatorian Benjamin Ankiel and Senior Class President Kiara Lyle combined a mix of vivid high school memories, thanks for their fellow classmates and family members, and a sharing of dreams for their collective futures.
“In a few short moments, we will be done with high school forever,” Ankiel said. “We all enjoyed so many great memories together, so let’s take one last moment to remember them all.”
He went on to list the variety of careers and occupations the graduates are likely to hold when they grow up: doctors, artists, athletes, scientists—“and perhaps, even astronauts.”
Some of the memories over the last four years include a long list of homework, tests, extra-curricular activities, sports games, assemblies and events, noted Lyle.
“Many naps had to be cancelled, but great success requires great sacrifice,” Lyle joked.
Halliday began his valedictorian’s address with a recollection of American armed forces’ storming of Normandy and other French beaches to begin the country’s involvement in World War Two. He noted that the 73rd anniversary of that day, known as D-Day, was just a couple days before the June 8 graduation ceremony.
“Today, we stand here on our own D-Day. We sit on the beachhead of our future, and form a new beginning, a new age. We must dedicate our lives to protecting those ideals that those men at Normandy fought so bravely for,” Halliday said.
Reflecting on their last four years together, he later called his fellow graduates the “best friends and best classmates, and some of the most amazing people I’ve ever met.”
Halliday closed his speech with a humorous gag that fulfilled a promise from a previous year: on stage, he took a bite of a granola bar that had been in his backpack since he was a freshman at Sobrato. He proclaimed the four-year-old snack was still somewhat tasty.
Morgan Hill Unified School District Superintendent Steve Betando called the ceremonious event a “day of achievement, a day of excitement and a day of celebration (but) also a day of determination for your future.”
He advised the teens to reflect on and be aware of their “character footprint” as they venture into adulthood and make new professional and personal relationships.
“There is nothing more meaningful than the impression you leave with others,” Betando said. He later added, “The value of your character footprint is what really defines you. Be an inspiration to others. Having the ability to inspire others is a gift that should not be lost.”
As their commencement ceremony keynote speaker, the graduates chose Sobrato High social studies teacher Tracy Murphy. Before asking the class for their permission to receive an honorary diploma with them, Murphy described the graduates’ lives before them as a kind of choose-your-own-adventure, “do it yourself creation.”
“There will be some assembly required,” Murphy said. “You will have to construct your future, but I’d also like you to take a look around and revel in this assembly of supporters who have your back.”
Murphy further thanked the class for “allowing me to have one of the greatest careers in the universe.”
