Wednesday night’s second Class of 2017 commencement ceremony at Southwest Athletic Complex launched more than 220 West Seattle High School graduates into the world. The class adviser, Tom Burggraff, called them “this school’s finest graduating class ever.” He explained why, in his speech following the welcome by ASB president Sean McCabe, who starts this clip:

Burggraff also is the parent of a 2017 grad (Andrew Burggraff), and saluted other grads’ families and friends, who filled the stands and cheered throughout:

Valedictorian Michaela Coontz spoke of concluding “the busiest year of our lives” and urged her peers to be flexible, instead of worrying about deciding their futures immediately, or worrying that whatever path they were setting out on couldn’t be changed:

After the diploma presentation, one more student spoke, ASB vice president Nahom Kassaye. Like adviser Burggraff earlier, he also hailed the Class of 2017 as the school’s most-successful class, and “most impactful.” And then, musical reassurance from an ensemble of graduates (plus a guest from another school), a 40-year-old song by Bob Marley – “Every Little Thing’s Gonna Be All Right”:

Then it was off to the staff receiving line as the grads left the field. Among those there to wish them well, Ruth Medsker, at her last commencement ceremony as WSHS principal:

Before the ceremony, we saw her successor, Brian Vance, on the sidelines:

With new beginnings on the way for many – the Class of 2017 went off into the night.