‘Go make your life count for something worthy’
Texas school grads balance shooting grief with celebration
Two weeks after the massacre of 10 fellow classmates and teachers, seniors from the Santa Fe High School class of 2018 gathered on a sweltering football field Friday night to receive their diplomas.
The 328 graduates, draped with white stoles in tribute to the eight students and two teachers who were shot and killed May 18, viewed a montage tribute to the victims on the stadium’s video display board. It featured personal pictures chosen by each victim’s family.
A 17-year-old student identified as the shooter is being held on capital murder charges.
At Friday night’s ceremony, each word and gesture pointed to the memory of what speakers called “the events of May 18.”
There was a large security presence at the stadium, KPRC-TV reported. Guests had to have a ticket to get in and were urged to park at the school district and take a shuttle bus over.
Respecting a request by the Santa Fe school district, KHOU-TV chose not to go near the school or ceremony but watched it on a livestream video.
“Great leaders and great nations have emerged out of the ashes of some of the greatest tragedies,” school principal Rachel Blundell told the seniors and their well-wishers. “So go make your life count for something worthy.”
Each senior received a carabiner – a metal loop used by mountain climbers – with #SantaFeStrong written on it. Blundell said she wanted the class to remember it as a symbol of their strength.
Valedictorian Corrigan Garcia told his classmates that their shared experience only brought them closer and gave them the strength that comes with unity.
“We’ve made it through the worst of it,” he said, but cautioned that another foe confronts the graduates: emotions of trauma and loss that could be overwhelming.
“Moving on will be tough,” he said. “Nothing will ever be the same for any of us. But we all have a choice to make.”
In her speech, salutatorian Bailee Dobson said bluntly, “It’s been a bit of a wild ride.”
Dobson described the last year as “one of the most bizarre and life-changing years that we’ve had so far.”
“First we had (Hurricane) Harvey, then we had snow, and most recently we had the tragic events of May 18th that happened in our very school,” she told the seniors, who were seated on the field. But she said her classmates had remained strong “through all the challenges that life has thrown at us.”
The ceremony came a day after President Donald Trump met privately with families of the victims and others near Houston.