The class motto for West Seattle High School‘s newest grads was “We cannot direct the wind but we can adjust our sails.” Fitting, then, that their ceremony happened on a breezy night at Nino Cantu Southwest Athletic Complex. Even principal Brian Vance noted the “June-uary” weather. But the joy of the night kept the shivers at bay, for spectators as well as grads:

ASB president Samuel Lewis spoke of the “unusual journey” he and his classmates had taken, particularly through the pandemic years, which brought “intentional and accidental” growth:

Staff speaker Kim Depew told her graduating students that she “got an education from YOU,” while marveling at their kindness and tenacity, and voicing confidence that their generation’s promise means “things are going to be all right”:

Exemplifying that hope, Cosmo Davis‘s “lessons of life” speech included his exhortation for classmates that “we have to fight to improve things … “we’re the future, not the adults; we need to start changing the world”:

The 250-plus graduates will do that in different places and different ways:

Some might even do it through music – this jazz performance was a highlight:

It was a summer-themed song, but the grads had a few last tasks before the first summer of the rest of their lives could begin. After their principal offered a few words of advice – including “perseverance” and “fail forward” – School Board director Leslie Harris declared “You are graduates!”

This was our area’s fourth and final Class of 2022 graduation. We covered the other three too:
Chief Sealth IHS
Seattle Lutheran HS
Summit Atlas