Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Commencement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Garfield Heights High School awards diplomas to Class of 2025 at commencement ceremony
Summary
Garfield Heights High School held its Class of 2025 commencement where district leaders, student speakers and class officers marked graduation, reflected on the pandemic years and led customary rituals including turning of tassels and presentation of diplomas.
Garfield Heights High School held its Class of 2025 commencement ceremony where district leaders and student speakers celebrated graduates, recalled challenges since 2020 and formally presented diplomas.
Superintendent Dr. Richard Reynolds opened remarks to graduates and families, urging students to “have the courage to step into the unknown” and telling them, “Your future is worth fighting for.” Dr. Millette King, president of the Garfield Heights Board of Education, formally presented the class and said the students “have met the requirements for graduation and therefore are eligible to receive their diplomas.”
The ceremony included multiple student addresses. Harley Askew, Nyla Hill and Jahiah Pitts spoke to classmates; Daria Pitts, who identified herself as class president, led a longer address that noted the cohort’s experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Looking back to 2020 when the COVID‑19 pandemic started, we were only in seventh grade. We had to do all of our work online,” Daria Pitts said, describing how the class adapted and grew. Pitts also listed senior-year events organized by class officers, saying the class “hosted a talent show, a winter wonderland event, a few seasonal spirit weeks, [a] principal fundraiser, senior sunset, senior sunrise, and more.”
Board Vice President Evan Morrison and Board member Michelle Daniels joined King in presenting diplomas onstage. As the ceremony concluded, senior class officers Zaria Pitts, Travis Harris, Jayla Williams, Jasper Gore, Destiny Price and Saliyah Brown led the traditional turning of the tassels; an announcer instructed the audience to remain seated until the graduates recessed out the back doors.
Speakers and presenters repeatedly framed the event as both a culmination of students’ work and a beginning of the next stage in their lives. Student remarks and district leadership speeches emphasized resilience, community support and continued learning as graduates move on to college, the workforce, the military or other paths.
The district did not provide a numerical count of graduates or attendees during the ceremony. Presenters read the list of graduates aloud and proceeded with diploma presentation and recessional at the conclusion of the program.
