A joyful student graduates from Redwood High School.
By Derek Wilson
Marinscope
The final graduating class of Sir Francis Drake High School passed the torch to the first senior class of Archie Williams High School by offering them a challenge:
“How will you change the world?”
In the weeks leading up to the end of their high school terms, and as they crossed the stage during graduation ceremonies in the past week, students and educators across Marin County reflected on a year full of changes … and challenges, including a year lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, the fires of racism and intolerance, harassment, and inequity.
“Who knew that on March 13, 2020, our lives were going to change drastically,” said Novato High Class of 2021 graduate “GG” Giannella Guerrero Cardenas. “That day, school announced we wouldn’t be coming back for just two weeks… Then came our senior year, the year we’ll always be talking about from now on. Our senior year was definitely not going to be what we expected, but we made the most out of it… We did not get our last Homecoming Dance, or our last Friday night football game… I know this is not the typical senior year we were looking forward to, but it is the year that will always be remembered.”
Students discovered new ways of learning when they couldn’t come to campus. They came together in masses to fight racism and brutality across the nation. Together, they became stronger than ever before as they prepared to take the next step into a much larger world.
Principal Liz Seabury, who in her speech referred to her school by all three names it used in the past year — Drake, HS 1327 and now Archie Williams High School — told the students seated on the baseball field Friday afternoon, “thanks for being gritty and flexible,” recognizing the challenges they faced.
“This is a great year to graduate and a great year for change,” Seabury said. “Even in quarantine, you proved you are amazing.”
“We made it,” said Maclean Thomson, a member of Sir Francis Drake High School’s final graduating class. “Our experience was not the same as those who went before us. It was terrifying, and I sometimes wondered how we’d survive. Then I looked around and realized, my classmates and I are in this together, whether it’s the pandemic or AP chemistry class.”
Rene Ayala, Thomson’s soccer coach, gave a passionate and moving speech.
“Take it all in,” he advised. “Close your eyes and reflect on the people sitting behind you. Reflect on your accomplishments and how empty they would seem without someone to share them with. Take a minute to thank the people for all they’ve done to help you get this far.”
He continued, “The circumstances of the past year brought out the worst and the best in us… It would have been comfortable for our school to remain stagnant, but we moved forward. The momentum of change we’re now experiencing started years ago with the freshmen, with their ability to love others, with their willingness to fight against sexual harassment, and their student-led initiatives to create equity for all. .. By humanizing change, you open doors for all.”
Drake students after receiving their diplomas noted that their certificates read “Sir Francis Drake High School” for the last time in school history. And at the end of the ceremony, students joined in one final rendition of the Drake Pirate cheer.
And as the members of the graduating Class of 2021 pack up for college, the United States Armed Forces, or gap years, they have one challenge for everyone: “Be the change you want to see. Wherever you end up after high school, how will you change the world?”
By Derek Wilson
Marinscope
The Class of 2021 spent most of the past year socially distancing themselves from their teachers, their classmates and teammates during “the lost year.” But in the end the graduating seniors were able to celebrate their accomplishments in front of their families, their classmates, and their friends.
Their predecessors, the Class of 2020, at the fearful height of the pandemic a year ago did not have the same experience. Instead, the Class of 2020 graduated in socially-distant pods with drive-through ceremonies.
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