PSD graduates more than 2,200 students in a ceremony marking 'return to normal'

After two years in a row walking across an outdoor stage at French Field, Poudre School District graduates returned to Moby Arena to celebrate their accomplishments this weekend. 

Across all schools, there are more than 2,250 candidates for graduation this year, and those students have had no easy journey navigating two years of different learning phases during the COVID-19 pandemic before a return to normalcy this year.

“Throughout the four years, I've witnessed you embrace this vast unknown,” Poudre High School principal Kathy Mackay said during the commencement ceremony Friday night. 

“I saw students finding ways to connect in safe ways to keep friendships alive, I saw you put on masks to go to class, to compete in sports and to keep each other safe. You chose to put your individual differences aside and show your support.”

Thousands gathered at ceremonies throughout the week to celebrate the PSD graduates. Hundreds attended each of the graduations for the four comprehensive high schools at Colorado State University’s Moby Arena.

Last year, ceremonies were held outdoors at French Field at Rocky Mountain High School and at Timberline Church, where some were held again this year. The year before that, the Class of 2020 had outdoor ceremonies that didn’t occur until July, and they had a mask requirement, a limited number of guests and distancing guidelines. 

Quarterfinals, here they come:PSD Stars girls lacrosse survives Heritage in 4A playoffs

Julie Chaplain, principal of Fossil Ridge High School, told the Coloradoan that it “is so exciting” to be back in Moby for the ceremonies.

“It's something that we didn't realize how lucky we were to be able to do that until we couldn't,” she said of celebrating in Moby. “We’re just excited to be back and have that return to how things really were before.” 

Craig Woodall, principal of Rocky Mountain High School, agreed with Chaplain about the significance of returning to Moby. 

"Simply having graduation on a college campus in such a large venue matches the immensity of the accomplishment for all of the seniors," he told the Coloradoan. "French Field was nice and I enjoyed that, but they are used to that spot, and returning to CSU is a nice culminating experience for our amazing students."

Chaplain said graduates were forced to navigate “a couple of years of uncertainty” just after getting settled as freshmen, but when they were able to return and get comfortable this year, they jumped right in.

“Coming back, they were just all in, like, ‘We want to absorb everything that we can and really make the last year of our high school count,” Chaplain said. 

PSD news:School superintendent search secrecy bill backed by PSD board signed into Colorado law

Jenna Forsyth, class president of the Fossil Ridge senior class, thanked her peers for their support and perseverance through the past years and said the ceremony marked “the day that we will take our first truly independent steps towards the future we are striving for.” 

“The steps we took to get here are no small feat, and I'd like to congratulate you for walking through both the simple and difficult times,” she said at Saturday's ceremony. “... Together, we can all take the steps into a beautiful new beginning.”

According to PSD, the district produced 66 students graduating through the International Baccalaureate program at Poudre High School, 174 students graduating with an AP-endorsed diploma and 368 graduates leaving with an endorsed diploma, meaning they fulfilled the requirements to be endorsed as an AVID graduate, BioScience Career Academy graduate, Gifted and Talented Academy graduate or a biliterate graduate. 

All ceremonies were also streamed to accommodate those who couldn’t celebrate in person. To view the ceremonies, visit https://www.youtube.com/c/PoudreSchoolDistrict. 

Molly Bohannon covers education for the Coloradoan. Follow her on Twitter @molboha or contact her at mbohannon@coloradoan.com. Support her work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.