What a difference four years make.
Around this time in 2020, Hermiston High School freshmen were wrapping up a school year highlighted by the coronavirus pandemic, which resulted in distance learning, social isolation and a spike in cases of depression and anxiety.
On Thursday night, June 8, those same students — now seniors — celebrated their high school graduation with broad smiles and big hugs from friends and family at a jam-packed Toyota Center in Kennewick.
In her welcoming address, Heavenly Coleman recalled the “roller coaster” ride that was the past four years.
“Our class faced many challenges, but we all found ourselves here tonight,” she said. “Our freshman year was rudely interrupted by the pandemic, but we learned how to appreciate the conditions around us.” It wasn’t until their junior year when mandated masks came off and “we could finally see our faces again.”
In a common theme throughout the night, Coleman said she and her fellow classmates are “flipping the page to the next chapter.” She finished by exhorting her class to “take pride in how far you will go. Congratulations Class of 2023 and for one last time, go Dawgs!”
Hermiston High Principal Tom Spoo noted the Class of 2023 featured two valedictorians (Elizabeth Doherty and Joseph Markwith), 27 students graduating with honors diplomas, 59 students graduating with honors, seven who met the standards to be admitted into the military and 53 seniors earned scholarships totaling $2.8 million. But, said Spoo, there was more to be done.
“Seniors, follow your heart, work hard and when you’ve found you’ve reached the pinnacle, get a good night’s sleep and work harder the next day,” he said.
Layla Lucas gave the class history and noted that most of her classmates shared pretty much the same childhood. They all watched the same shows, ate the same snacks, memorized the same commercials (“877 cash now!”), “got too competitive in four square” and too many developed “an unhealthy obsession with YouTubers.” Another common trait among the Class of 2023 was “our chronic online-ness only got worse with in 2020 with online classes.”
Hailey Gardner gave the class prophecy, saying graduation “was not just the end of a chapter, but the beginning of a new book.” She encouraged her classmates to “seek new opportunities. If you see a chance, take it.” Gardner challenged them to not be afraid to take a different path in life “because others may soon follow.”
She closed out the familiar book theme by telling her classmates that “only you have the power to write your own story. So, what will the next chapter of your life look like?”
Hermiston School District Superintendent Tricia Mooney told the graduating seniors to look to their left and look to their right.
“Tonight is the last night you will all be together,” she said. “Enjoy every minute of it.”
Mooney described the Class of 2023 as “the class that brought it.” Among the many things these seniors “brought” were state titles, the end of the pandemic, laughs, pranks as well as “Kindness, empathy and change.
“As you move on to the next chapter in your life, you will take a little of Hermiston High School with you,” she said.
School Board Chair Ginny Holthus noted the Class of 2023 began its education journey 14 years ago with preschool, the same time she began her tenure on the school board.
She talked about a number of values she hoped each of the graduates gained during their years in school, including confidence, and said she hopes each student knows the difference between confidence and arrogance. Other values included respecting others, leading by example, taking personal responsibility and making good decisions.
“Your life in 10 years will be influenced by those around you, so choose your friends wisely,” she said.
Valedictorian Doherty ended the ceremony with a farewell address.
“Each of our lives can be seen as a different chapter of a book,” she said, adding that the years in Hermiston classrooms were filled with “discovery, growth and a widening of our horizons.”
She said the future may be “daunting, but also exhilarating. So embrace the wide-open spaces ahead of us.”
