In an annual rite of passage, 223 Mission Bay High School graduating seniors were unleashed onto an unsuspecting world at commencement ceremonies June 11.
“We all recognize the many obstacles we’ve endured to reach this moment,” said emcee and graduating senior Ashey Sphar. “Despite our many differences, we are leaving here today with the same principles that will aid us in our next chapter of life. We are open minded, we are risk-takers, we are balanced, we are the generation that will push boundaries and evoke change.”
Senior class president Cynthia Taboada was in turns tearful, and gleeful, in delivering her speech. “We finally made it,” she said. “Thank you for all the teachers who filled us with knowledge and got us to this point. Thanks to classified staff who are sometimes overlooked. All I ask is that you take all these beautiful memories from Mission Bay with you – and that you don’t use plastic straws. We will be the generation of change and improvement.”
Valedictorian Tetsuro Escudero congratulated the Class of 2019 for being “the best class to graduate from Mission Bay High School” while adding, “I’ve alway been surprised by the substantial amount of diversity here.”
Escudero paid a fun salute to all the many colorful teachers and student group at MBHS, before mentioning the janitors whom, he said, “made the bathrooms smell like candy.”
An International Baccalaureate student headed to UC Berkeley, Escudero said, “Mission Bay and the IB program connect students at a fundamental level.” He closed by exhorting future IB and other students to: “Believe in yourself, and, most of all, don’t procrastinate.”
Salutatorian Zander Caufield noted MBHS’s 2019 graduating class “was the most athletic class in Mission Bay history… won more league and CIF championships… had the largest amount of IB diploma candidates … was also the most musically, and artistically, talented.”
Describing MBHS as a “tiny high school” where everyone knows your name, even the principal, Caufield said: “They feel like a family to me, perhaps dysfunctional at times. But at Mission Bay, we put the word fun in dysfunctional.”
Caufield closed saying, “I wish everyone happiness in their lives. Ultimately, no matter how rich or successful you are, finding happiness is worth more than all the money in the world. Go Bucs.”
“You are about to begin the next journey in life,” said MBHS principal Ernest Remillard. “I am confident you are leaving with the skills that employers are looking for. I look at each of you as complex problem solvers in real-world scenarios. You have developed critical thinking skills.”
Added Remillard: “The Class of 2019 is one of the most creative groups of students I have ever had the pleasure to come in contact with. Your musical skills are second to none, Mr. B (music/band teacher J.P. Balmat) has literally taken you around the world – twice.”
Cautioning grads to “alway be respectful,” Remillard advised, “There will be challenges along the way, but use what you’ve learned at Mission Bay, inside and outside the classroom the last four years, to guide you. And, most of all, enjoy what comes next.”
Noting San Diego Unified School District is “the greatest urban school district in the nation,” trustee Michael McQuary sent Class of 2019 students off noting, “I used to say, ‘We want to prepare our students for the future.’ “But now I think we need to prepare the future for this class.”