Park’s Class of 2026 finished high school by walking across the stage at graduation June 2. After four years at Park, they received their diploma surrounded by Park staff, students, school board members and the greater Park community. The ceremony took place at the stadium field, as seniors flipped their tassels, walking on home turf. With anticipation of the future and many memories to hold from high school, the graduating class celebrates the end of this chapter and looks ahead to the next.
Park administration works prior to the graduation ceremony to prepare and organize the ceremony to ensure the events of graduation go smoothly and feel special for the graduating class. Seniors and staff spent time leading up to graduation practicing to ensure a good flow for the ceremony. Assistant Principal Evelyn Lashley said with any big event like graduation, there will always be things you won’t anticipate, no matter the amount of setup and practice. She said the uncertainty of things that might need to be changed in the moment can feel overwhelming, especially when trying to create a celebratory and thoughtful ceremony.
“Whenever you have an event of this scale, you can do as much preparation and planning as possible, but there’s always gonna be unexpected things,” Lashley said. “The crowd might act a certain way, or there might be a microphone that goes out. We can only do our best to prepare, but there’s a lot of unknowns or things that we might have to change on the fly. So that’s always a little nerve-racking because we want to make it so special. Principal Paddock and I worked really hard with our team to make this really memorable for the grads and their families. The unpredictability makes it a lot, but we practiced (the ceremony beforehand), and it went really well.”
Each year, a group of graduating seniors is selected to speak to their classmates at the graduation ceremony. This year, five seniors were selected to speak, reflecting on their time in high school and speaking on the things that shaped their secondary education. Graduate Alexandra Nitabach said fellow graduate Mariya Tefera’s speech was especially meaningful since the message of having someone to support you through high school resonated with her. In her experience, she said her parents helped her through high school with personal and financial support.
“(The speech that stuck with me the most was) Mariya (Tefera); she did a really good job,” Nitabach said. “I think she really hit home with the (idea of) having someone to be there to support you throughout your whole experience; it’s really important, and I think she illustrated that very well. My mom and my dad have supported me the most throughout high school. Financially, but also they have been there whenever I have gotten really stressed, and they have been able to help me deal with that for the most part.”
Graduate and student speaker Mariya Tefera said that in preparing to speak for the graduating class, she struggled the most with piecing together what she’d talk about, but always knew she’d speak of the support she received throughout high school from her sister. She said by figuring out the main points, her speech flowed easily and allowed her to feel secure in what she was saying, knowing it was heartfelt.
“The hardest part (in prepping) was figuring out what I wanted to say (in the speech),” Tefera said. “I spent a long time trying to find the right topic, but the one thing I always knew was that my speech had to be about my sister. I wouldn’t have been standing on that stage without her. Once I figured that out, the speech came together much more naturally. As for practicing, I really only practiced a couple of times because I kept getting emotional while reading it. Most of my preparation ended up being during rehearsal, and when the moment came, I just trusted myself and spoke from the heart.”
According to Lashley, she’s had the opportunity to see the individual and collective growth of the graduating class by getting to know them years ago in middle school and then seeing them grow in high school. She said she’s watched the graduates change and evolve as time has passed and feels proud seeing who they are now as they graduate.
“I’m so proud of (the graduates),” Lashley said. “I feel so lucky that Park is such a small-knit community, and also that I happen to be going from being their middle school teacher to now the senior assistant principal. It was just circumstance and serendipity, and I feel so fortunate to be in that role. Seeing some of the seniors as sixth graders in class, I’ve known them for six years, and I feel like I got to watch this group really grow up. Some people have changed their style, they’ve changed their friend groups, they’ve changed their interests and have really come into themselves, which I’m really proud of.”
While seniors look ahead to their futures after high school, many think of how they might have done things differently when starting freshman year. Tefera said she’d give the advice to her past self to not overload with more than she needs to take on and give herself grace with the unknown. She said she’d tell herself to focus on working hard academically while finding her own individual path to success.
“I would tell my (younger) self to take it easy,” Tefera said. “When I started high school, I tried to do everything all at once, and it became overwhelming. It’s okay not to have everything figured out right away. Focus on keeping your grades up from the beginning because it’s much harder to bring your GPA back up later, but don’t feel pressured to join every club or activity. Give yourself time to figure out what you enjoy and what works for you.”
Nitabach said her four years spent in high school had many highs and lows, but stopping and enjoying the best parts was important while reminding herself that the harder parts wouldn’t last. She said she feels her future coming fast as graduation passes, but she’s looking forward to what’s to come next.
“There are a whole lot of ups and downs throughout high school, and you gotta ride those waves and know when it is hard it will get better, and when it gets better, really enjoy it, and make the most of it,” Nitabach said. “(Graduation has) me realizing that my future is really coming towards me at a quicker pace than I realized. High school has been great, but now that I see that it’s over, it’s really exciting to know that I’m going to go and move forward pretty soon.”
According to Tefera, graduation brings up many nuanced feelings that mix together as high school comes to an end. She said the finality of high school that comes with graduating hasn’t begun to feel tangible yet, even though the day had been looming for a long time.
“(Graduation) feels very surreal,” Tefera said. “A part of me still feels like I’m going to be going back to high school in September, which is weird because I’ll actually be starting college. It’s definitely bittersweet. Graduation is something I’ve looked forward to for so long, but now that it’s here, it’s strange to think that this chapter of my life is over. Right now, it’s a mix of excitement, gratitude, and sadness all at once.”
