As the sun set Tuesday night, the curtain rose on the next chapter of life for the 300+ Class of 2023 graduates from Chief Sealth International High School. Their compact commencement ceremony ended the night at Memorial Stadium downtown, with unique touches, like CSIHS musicians performing the “Pomp and Circumstance” entry music live, as well as a second song, Encanto, directed by Joey Roberts:

Student speaker Fatima Garnica Escamilla exulted, “We did it – we all accomplished one of the first major milestones of our lives.” She shared wisdom from her parents, that life is like a long train ride – “some people will get on and stay with you to the end … some will get off at an earlier stop and that’s OK.”

She also noted that many of the class members had immigrant parents and/or came from underrepresented communities. Many cultures got proud nods, on the field and in the stands:

Staff speaker Dijana Raco was among those who brought up the unprecedented disruption of COVID-19 – “it wasn’t easy to have your freshman year disrupted so suddenly by a global pandemic.” She urged the new grads to make big plans for themselves – “and be prepared for those plans to not happen”:

Chief Sealth principal Ray Morales offered advice too – express gratitude, “focus on what brings you joy,” stay humble, and make healthy decisions.

He presented the class to school-board director Leslie Harris, who was participating in her last local graduation, as she’s leaving office at year’s end. “Go, Hawks!” was her sendoff for them.

P.S. As noted in our coverage of the night’s first ceremony, for West Seattle High School, the district is recording all of this year’s graduations and publishing the video quickly, so here’s the link for the full multi-camera video of the CSIHS commencement.