As that clip shows, Seattle Public Schools superintendent Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson played photographer for a few minutes at this afternoon’s Chief Sealth High School graduation: West Seattle’s school-board rep Steve Sundquist handed the superintendent his camera as he prepared to greet one of the grads ascending to the stage to receive her diploma — his daughter Leslie Sundquist. We’ve reported many Chief Sealth HS stories this year, many congratulatory and some contentious, but this afternoon was all about celebration, like the classic cap-tossing moment, which we also caught on video:
Earlier in the afternoon, principal John Boyd — Sealth Class of ’82 — noted that this class was special to him because their first year at CSHS was his first year as its principal. He also pointed out that this year’s grads received scholarships totaling more than $1 million (the list of those scholarships and other awards took up half the 12-page program!). More video from today’s event – a rap, a poem, and a-cappella – ahead:
According to the program, the Chief Sealth Class of ’08 has more than 170 graduates. They got a lot of advice from several speakers today, but most memorable were the words of student body president Betelihem Mulubirhan, who said, “After you toss your caps, the world will stop treating you like a child – remember not to act like one.”
Of course, the hour-and-a-half ceremony had moments of levity — as we arrived at Southwest Athletic Complex across the street from CSHS, the “2008” balloons shown in the photo at left were rising into the then-overcast sky. And it had many moments of talent — Mohamad Shibly, describing himself as an aspiring rapper, presented his speech as a rap, saying you probably don’t hear a lot of rapping at graduation ceremonies:
Liala Mohamed read a poem for part of her speech:
And from the screaming reception Rickey Combs, Darius McCraney, Charles Irons, and Victor Leiataua got for this a cappella performance, it seems they’re among the rockstars of the class of 08:
Congratulations to all of West Seattle’s new grads (Thursday night was grad night for West Seattle High School and Seattle Lutheran High School – WSHS coverage here, SLHS coverage here).
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