Roughly 350 students crossed the stage on the afternoon of June 5 as Ann Sobrato High School held its Class of 2026 commencement ceremony on the school’s football field, capping a senior year that saw the school earn one of California’s highest academic honors.
The ceremony began at 5pm and drew students, families, faculty and district officials to the Morgan Hill campus, where graduates were celebrated with remarks from school and district leadership, a faculty keynote address and speeches from four members of the senior class.
Superintendent Dr. Carmen Garcia told graduates their academic achievement had helped earn the school a coveted statewide distinction.
“It reflects your effort, your ambition and your willingness to keep striving for excellence,” Garcia said. “I am immensely proud of what you have accomplished.”
Earlier this year, the California Department of Education named Ann Sobrato a 2026 California Distinguished School. The school earned recognition in the areas of Exemplary High Achievers and Achievement Gap Closers, reflecting strong academic outcomes and continued progress in supporting historically underserved student groups.
Garcia also noted that the graduating class had helped shape what she called the inclusive culture of Ann Sobrato, invoking the legacy of the school’s namesake.
“I believe that Ann Sobrato herself would be most proud of each of you for reflecting her legacy of community advocacy, empowerment and social equity,” Garcia said.
The senior class selected Dr. Christine Taylor as its keynote speaker. Taylor, a sports medicine trainer, shared the story of a student who pushed through anxiety to work on a football sideline, of another who struggled through a difficult senior year only to thrive the following year and of a football player who suffered the same season-ending knee injury twice.
“Resilience is not about avoiding hardship,” Taylor said. “It’s about deciding, again and again, to keep moving forward despite it.”
Four members of the senior class also addressed their peers. Student speaker Keiry Iniguez urged classmates to define themselves by who they are rather than the titles they hold.
“Somewhere along the way we started defining ourselves by what we do instead of who we are,” Iniguez said.
Gabriel YellowHorse Ruiz opened his remarks with a phrase from Lakota tradition.
“Mitákuye Oyásʼiŋ,” he said. “In Lakota culture, this means that we are all related and everything is connected.”
YellowHorse spoke to the hardships that have faced the Class of 2026, referring to tragedies that have taken place on both the local, national and global stages.
“Along the way, we lost many that deserved to be here today,” he said. “Students, staff, community members. We watched as innocent families were torn apart by ICE. We watched as innocent children suffered the consequences of war. We had tributes, we had walkouts, but most of all, we carried a weight on our shoulders that no teenager should have to carry, and yet here we are.”
Salutatorian Aditya Shirgur said “adaptability” was the word that best defined the Class of 2026, pointing to the disruptions of the pandemic and the demands of balancing academics and extracurricular life.
“Our four years have taught us how to pivot, and this can be our greatest strength,” Shirgur said.
Valedictorian Yash Ambasta drew on his experience as a member of the school’s golf team to describe his class’s journey.
“What makes this class so unique is that when we got unlucky bounces or hit a bad shot, we never kept our heads down,” Ambasta said. “We didn’t just persevere, we stayed positive and helped our friends out as well.”
