Story and video by Tracy Record
Photos by Oliver Hamlin
for West Seattle Blog

The current chaotic state of the world got several mentions during the West Seattle High School Class of 2025 graduation at Memorial Stadium downtown last night.

First – though most may have been unaware as they entered the stadium in bright sunshine, this commencement ceremony made history.

Tuesday was the last night of graduation ceremonies at the historic stadium before its redevelopment project begins. WSHS brought nearly 400 graduating seniors, including Ben Godfried, who gave the welcoming speech. “We’re tired of waking up to stories that seem ridiculous but are true. We’re here to say it doesn’t have to be this way.”

The staff speaker, teacher Kyle Glover, offered advice on navigating the employment world, including a warning that even a dream job can become a nightmare, and how to prioritize your time:

The first student speaker, Ryan Wade, asked classmates to remember that “Wildcats always take care of each other”:

Lucy Warren & Friends then provided a musical interlude:

One of the 16 Class of 2025 valedictorians, Ellen Rikhof, was the ceremony’s other student speaker, marveling that in this time, simply caring has become a “radical act’:

WSHS principal Brian Vance, finishing his seventh year at the school, offered words of gratitude for many, and then led the crowd in one last “spelldown,” involving the spectators as well as ceremony participants.

Though some of the previous speakers had warned against putting the weight of the world on this generation’s shoulders and expecting them to “save” everyone else, Vance suggested similar hopes. (What else are you going to do on a night like this, so full of hopes and dreams and possibilities?) Vance presented the class to School Board President Gina Topp, who accepted them, and then it was time for the calling of those nearly 400 names, announced by Tom Burggraff and Julia Harper:

And the tassel-turning, led by Malia Barker:

Then the new grads proceeded to bid faculty farewell:

And it was on into their new lives – celebrating where they’re going, with a nod to where they’d been.

(You can see the district’s recording of the full ceremony here.)