Photo Gallery: Lemoore High graduates celebrate a commencement to remember

Thursday night’s graduation, customarily held in Tiger Stadium before several thousand mothers and fathers, relatives, and grandparents, was instead limited to two vehicles per family and a short stop for photos and a diploma where teachers, administrators, and school board members bade this year’s senior class a fond farewell.

This year school officials expected 376 seniors to graduate.

One of the evening’s speakers, Salutatorian William Schalde, as he waited patiently in line on Bush Street, ensconced in the cab of a bright and polished City of Lemoore fire truck, waited for his turn on the graduation stage, where he would happily accept his hard-earned diploma. What did he think of all this?

“I think it’s weird,” said Schalde, who, in addition to his superb study skills, was an exceptional athlete for the Tigers.  “I definitely would have preferred a traditional ceremony, but for me personally, I like it a little bit more because I won’t have to perform my speeches live. That’s stressful. that’s a lot of people looking at you.”

What had he been prepared to talk about in his speech?

“I thanked everyone who has helped me to get here. I said obviously these are troubling times, unprecedented times. But if we keep looking at the past, we’ll miss what is happening in our everyday lives. So, we need just to live every day in the moment and do as much as we can.”

Schalde also delivered one of the welcoming speeches – in French.

Thursday night’s commencement ended the Lemoore district’s graduation festivities. Lemoore Middle College High School (at West Hills College) held its graduation ceremony on May 21 at West Hills College while on June 3, Jamison High School held its small graduation procession.

Thursday night’s drive-thru commencement went about an hour longer than expected – it ended at 10:30 p.m.  – but school officials said students, staff, and parents appeared to enjoy the event. “It went an hour longer than we thought, but there were a lot of smiles and happy parents, graduates, and staff,” said Principal Rodney Brumit. “Lemoore High School had fun honoring the class of 2020. I hope we never have to do this again, but if we do, we have plans to make adjustments to take the line go faster. We are very grateful for everyone’s patience and flexibility with everything that has occurred since March 13,” he said.

The senior speeches were delivered by Valedictorian Harleen Sidhu, Salutatorian William Schalde, and Salutatorian Anthony Zaragoza. Kennedy Rodriguez was the evening’s honor speaker, and Senior Class President Erick Vidal presented the class gift.

Photography by Gary Feinstein/Feinsteinfotos