Castro Valley High School Graduation
With their family and friends cheering them on, more than 600 Castro Valley High School Seniors walked into Trojan Stadium to receive their diplomas as part of the 2022 Commencement ceremony this past Saturday.
It was the first fully attended graduation at the school in two years due to the COVID pandemic. The event was live-streamed over the internet and included camera angles from a drone flying overhead.
The school’s traditional international welcome included Seniors addressing the crowd in their native languages including Arabic, Cantonese, French, German, Korean, Mandarin, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Ukrainian, which got very large applause from the crowd.
Student speeches included words of wisdom by ASB President and Girls Varsity Basketball star Lauren Green.
“In my family, we have two sayings. The first is that ‘hustle beats talent when talent doesn't hustle,’ which means that you have your goal in mind and work toward it. The second is to, ‘always move forward.’ We can look at the past and learn from it. We can celebrate our present. But we must move forward together,” Green said.
Senior Class President Jamie Fong recapped the four-year journey that she and her classmates had just made and noted that the school was hosting its 50th Reunion this year, a job that she will be responsible for coordinating in the future.
Principal Blaine Torpey, who will be leaving Castro Valley High School at the end of the month impressed the graduates with the importance of connections, not only to the school and each other but also to the community and to the world.
“If you connect with love, you are connected with everyone,” Torpey said.
Performances included the school band with vocalists singing the Castro Valley High School Alma Mater and an acapella rendition of “Story of My Life” by the school’s Seniors in Choir.
The event was capped off with the handoff of diplomas and turning of the tassels with the usual tossing of caps into the air.