The John Hersey High School Class of 2024 stepped onto the field of Roland R. Goins Stadium Wednesday for the commencement ceremony that paid tribute to not only completing four years of high school, but doing so under some of the most extenuating circumstances.
“Graduation is such a special day for our kids and the way they began their high school career with so much adversity, and what they’ve overcome these four years, they’re definitely stronger now for having faced that,” Township High School District 214 Superintendent Scott Rowe told Pioneer Press.
The Class of 2024 in District 214, which also includes Hersey, Buffalo Grove High School and four other high schools, started their freshman year during the COVID-19 global pandemic.
Amy Zepeda, 18, of Mount Prospect, decorated the top of her mortarboard with white roses and “Para ti en el cielo” – which translates to “For you in the sky” – in honor of the teen’s late grandmother Rosita, who died more than a decade ago.
“I was pretty young,” Zepeda said. “I loved her so much. She really encouraged me to follow my dreams and just do amazing in school.”
As the graduation ceremony got underway, the NJROTC presented the colors.
Graduate Arely Garcia was the Class of 2024 student speaker and talked about the pandemic, recalling when classmates were freshmen and remote learning was in place.
“We overcame that obstacle,” Garcia said.
Rowe said that with all the graduates have collectively endured, the skills they now have in their toolbox will serve them well for a lifetime.
“They’re flexible, adaptive and respond to whatever life throws at them, very proud of them,” Rowe said. “They’ve led the way and helped us show our underclassmen what high school can be which has been really, really cool.”
Hersey Principal Heath McFaul, also expressed being proud of the 2024 grads and pleased to have an in-person commencement ceremony.
“We have to make human connections, and that’s what this is all about,” McFaul said about commencement. “And this is the culmination of that. So we might have started online, but we’re all very thankful that we’re no longer there.
“I think the students have really just demonstrated they can get over and past the past,” McFaul said, “which has been challenging and difficult.
District officials said that 97% of the class has been accepted to college or trade school. Four in the graduating class were named National Merit finalists.
The students are headed to continue their education at such schools as Harper College, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, DePaul, University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Iowa, officials said.
“I think we’ve prepared them well for life beyond Hersey, and that’s our role,” said McFaul.
Karie Angell Luc is a freelancer.
