‘It’s like being part of a family’
Caps fly at Sonora High graduation
Asea of green and gold flooded Dunlavy Field Thursday night, as Sonora High School held its graduation ceremony under the stadium lights — celebrating the accomplishments of the 153 students who make up Sonora High’s Class of 2022.
As a large crowd flowed into the bleachers above the field, personalized, recorded messages from the Sonora graduates played over the loudspeaker, thanking parents, teachers, coaches and friends for their support throughout childhood and through high school.
Ellie Nelson, a 26year resident of Sonora, came to graduation to support Jude Cotrone and Nathaniel Personius, two sons of some longtime family friends. Nelson has lived in the area for 26 years, but she said this was her first Sonora High graduation.
Nelson said she enjoyed the opportunity to celebrate the Class of 2022 ceremony alongside her community members.
“It’s exciting to see this,” Nelson said. “It’s a small community, people get to know each other [and] they’re very supportive — that’s the experience I’ve had.”
To begin the ceremony, Class President Madilynn Ludwig led the Class of 2022 in reminiscing on their past four years, from when they walked into their first classes as freshmen to marching onto the field Thursday night — four years full of pep rallies and Friday night football games, but also struggles and loss.
“You realize high school is so much bigger than just yourself — it’s about being a part of a family,” Ludwig said in her speech. “We faced many challenges that we were not prepared for.”
One of those challenges, Ludwig said, was the loss of classmate John Cooper Gookin, who tragically passed away Oct. 10, 2019, at the age of 15. Down on the field, beside the American and California flags stood a single gold flag flying in honor of Gookin, who would have graduated with the Class of 2022.
“This event changed us all, and made us as a class, as a school and as a community so much closer than we ever could have imagined,” Ludwig said. “With a class like us, we are not just acquaintances or people [who] we will forget about in a year, but a family. We still miss you, Cooper, today, and as a family we will continue to carry his memory forever.”
According to Sonora High School Principal Karen Sells, the Class of 2022 was remarkably resilient in the way they dealt with the many challenges they faced over the past four years.
“I really think that they rose above,” Sells said. “They’re a class who adapted when things weren’t going the way they wished they were — the way they have in the past. They really adapted and made
the best of a circumstance that was out of their control.”
The COVID-19 pandemic — which will forever be etched into the cultural memory of the Class of 2022, having sent students to their homes for a year of virtual learning — also featured prominently throughout the ceremony.
“What was supposed to be the start of our ‘Big Dog Reign’ was spent in bed trying not to look like we were playing video games, on Instagram, taking selfies or texting,” Ludwig said.
Despite missing out on many of the social events one’s high school years normally provide, Sonora High valedictorian Callahan Hanson said he thinks his class got the most out of what they had.
“We were able to make the most of what we did get in that regard and just come away with a good high school experience, even if it wasn’t the one that a lot of people felt like they deserved,” Hanson said.
Hanson, of Sonora, graduated Sonora High with a 4.2 cumulative GPA, having taken seven advanced-placement classes during high school. Hanson said that, despite feeling a bit in flux as he moves into a new chapter of his life, the ceremony provided him with closure.
“It’s an interesting time,” Hanson said after the ceremony. “I’m leaving everything that I’ve ever known, but I’m looking forward to something that’s really promising.”
In the fall, Hanson will attend Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, where he will also continue to play basketball.
“I’m excited for the competition and the structure, and then also the kind of people I’m going to meet, the kind of people I’ll get to be teammates with, the kind of coaching I’m going to get and then also the kind of instruction I’ll get in my classes and seminars,” he said.
Marcel Ortiz, another senior at Sonora, is joining the Navy after graduation and plans to ship out before the end of the month. For Ortiz, reaching the finish line of his high school graduation left him with a rush of emotions.
“Earlier I felt like nothing, like it was just another day of school,” Ortiz said. “But now, I got so nervous when they were calling the names. It hits you all of a sudden.”
After the ceremony ended, standing on Dunlavy field with his dad, Ortiz said he was struck by how quickly his high school saga had come to a close.
“When I was a freshman, I remember being told that the four years go by in the blink of an eye. I doubted it, really, until I’m sitting here now, graduating already,” Ortiz said.
Seniors Hanson, Herfurth, Ludwig and Edwin Casillas were recipients of the California Scholarship Federation (CSF) lifetime award, meaning they met the necessary requirements of being a member of CSF for at least four semesters from the second semester of their sophomore year through the second semester of their senior year. CSF membership is earned by excelling in the classroom, particularly in upper-level courses.
Throughout the ceremony, Sonora students flexed their musical talents with performances between speakers of “This is Not Goodbye”, performed by Addison Rose Maguire, Ryan Satterfield, Abigail Hart, Kiefer Newman and Samuel Denton, “Never There”, performed by the Sonora High Golden Regiment, and “The Best Day”, performed by Annika Mccluskey, Abigail Hart, Kiefer Newman and Samuel Denton.
In her speech to Sonora’s Class of 2022, Sells left the graduates with one central piece of advice as they enter a new stage of their lives in the world after high school.
“As you move forward from Sonora High School, know that you are limitless. You can achieve anything that you set your mind to,” Sells said. “The world has a way of trying to tell you what you can and can’t achieve. Having watched you these last four years, I see a class, both as a whole and as individuals, who can accomplish anything that you dream.”