'One ordinary year': Pueblo classes of '22 graduate after unique high school experience

Forced out of the traditional classroom environment for nearly two years by the COVID-19 pandemic, Pueblo South High School top scholar Hayden Hall likened his and his classmates' experience to being a test subject for an experiment no one signed up for.

"They only had one ordinary year of high school before we were expected to build our own legacy ... yet they succeeded in ushering in a new age of education," Hall said. "They succeeded in introducing the underclassmen to a unique community and they succeeded in graduating from the best high school in Pueblo, Colorado."

Crosstown rival Pueblo East High School may disagree with the notion that South is Pueblo's best high school, but graduating students echoed sentiments about the class of 2022 being an extraordinary one.

"As COVID continued to take the lives of our family and friends, the Class of 2022 never gave up," East student body president Kaydence Sandoval said. "As our senior year approached ... it started to feel things were going back to normal but, in the back of all our minds, it felt that any minute our senior year could be taken away from us."

More: Three Pueblo Central High School seniors get $5,000 college scholarships

With 191 graduates, East was the largest class of 2022 in Pueblo School District 60, which serves the city of Pueblo. In Pueblo County, Pueblo West High School graduated 289 students at a ceremony Friday morning.

"An important part of growing up is accepting that your life and the people around you are going to change," said Leah Hopkins, Pueblo West's salutatorian, the graduating student with the second-highest cumulative GPA of her entire class.

"Change can be a scary word for some but it is necessary in order to grow."

Pueblo County High School had the second greatest number of graduates, with 229. Their Saturday morning ceremony recognized two valedictorians, Lena Gomez and Shawn Cunningham.

"While some of us have struggled to wander the halls, others have struggled to get to their alarms," Gomez said. "Regardless, we have all made it here today."

Forty miles away, at a school with a much smaller graduating class of 40, Rye High School valedictorian and aspiring mechanical engineer Schon Moore held a steering wheel in his right hand as he delivered a special message to his classmates.

"Go into life thinking you are the best," he said. "Whether it's McDonald's or starting your own company, do it the best. You will get the most out of that opportunity and you will achieve the most."

At Centennial High School, 70% of the 174 graduates plan to attend college, at institutions ranging from Stanford University in California to Boston University in Massachusetts.

More: 'No matter how hard life hits you... take it on the chin': 152 graduate from online schools

Graduate Andrew Zhang is heading to Stanford on a full-ride scholarship from the Gates Foundation, one of just 300 students in the U.S. to receive the prestigious award.

"I think that’s society’s greatest flaw, that in trying to ask what we should be, we forget to ask who we should be," Zhang said in a speech to his classmates.

"We have been conditioned to ask what is at the end of our lives ...  instead of looking at the growth we’ve already done to get to where we are," said Zhang, who was Centennial's top scholar.

More: Pueblo Centennial High scholar gets full-ride scholarship to Stanford

Central High School held their ceremony Saturday at noon, making them the last class of 2022 in Pueblo to turn their tassels to signify that they had graduated.

"Something I’ve learned while at Central is we stand in the shadow of giants. Men like Dutch Clark and William Crawford, along with countless others ... I see a future where we can look at those giants at eye level, and shake their hands," Central top scholar Noah Wood said.

A total of 1,263 students graduated from traditional and online high schools in Pueblo in the past two weeks.

More: Pueblo West students get ROTC scholarships for 7th year running

Pueblo Chieftain reporter James Bartolo can be reached by email at JBartolo@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo classes of 2022 graduate after unique high school experience