Dressed in blue and gold, 499 Dos Pueblos High School graduates paraded onto the field in Scott O’Leary Stadium Wednesday evening for their last moments as high school students. 

The commencement ceremony for the class of 2026 celebrated the school’s academic and athletic achievements, funny memories, and community.

Lesly De La Rosa Reyes opened the ceremony by welcoming friends and family in English and in Spanish and celebrating the hard work and resilience of her fellow chargers. 

“Each of us represents a unique culture, and together we create a community built on diversity, resilience and unity,” Reyes said. “While current events have weighed heavily on our city, we continue to show strength, support and solidarity by forming a community. We show up, we speak out, and we stand in places where they don’t expect us to be.”

The ceremony included a moment of silence for Michael John Ochsner, who died in a car accident on Highway 1 between Lompoc and Gaviota last year. Ochsner would have been one of Wednesday’s graduates.

With him, fellow Dos Pueblos students Jake Jeffery Curtis, 18, and Alexander Oakes Wood, 15, also perished in the accident. 

“While today is a day of accomplishment and celebrations, it is also a reminder of the relationships, memories and people who have shaped this graduating class along the way,” Principal Bill Woodard said. “We hold Michael’s family, friends, classmates, and all those who loved them in our thoughts today.”

Woodard celebrated the class’s 16 International Baccalaureate diploma recipients, 20 National Merit Commended Scholars, and a school record 440 career technical education pathways completed.

Other accomplishments include 10 Channel League titles and two CIF titles, a national award for the DP Media program, mock trial champions in national tournaments, and an award at a robotics world championship. 

The honors and awards aren’t what Woodard said he’ll remember about the class of 2026; instead, he’ll remember the energy and spirit they brought to the campus community. 

“Class of 2026, you were good vibes high personified,” Woodard said. “More than anything else, I hope the stories you tell of your time at DP make you smile, and I wish you as much joy in your years ahead as you gave us, and you gave me.”

ASB President Justin Ji spoke about what it means to be human and the importance of building relationships. 

“Try not to tie your value to something materialistic, something based in external validation or prestige,” Ji said. “Try to tie it to the relationships and connections with people you love. Tie it to what makes us humans so unique.”

The class of 2026 decorated graduation caps to represent their faith, colleges, favorite song lyrics, their younger selves, and even ChatGPT. 

Sterling Streatfield gave her fellow classmates an instruction manual for leaving Dos Pueblos High School. Her first piece of advice was don’t forget your charger, both your literal phone charger and the charger the students became at Dos Pueblos. 

“Throughout my time here, I’ve learned that being a charger isn’t just wearing blue and gold and showing up to campus each day,” Streatfield said. “It’s embarrassing yourself in the senior lip dub with funny costumes, losing your voice in the student section at football games, and doing silly dances in the pep rallies.”

She also reminded the graduates that it’s okay not to have a perfect five-year plan, to take pictures even if they look bad, and to remember how far they’ve already come.

Valeria Delgado, senior class president, spoke about her experience as a Dos Pueblos student, starting as a nervous freshman coming out of the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“When I first stepped foot in Dos Pueblos, it felt daunting,” Delgado said. “The campus seemed enormous, and the halls were endless. The fear I would get lost was real, but what I was most scared of was not finding a community.”

However, it was that fear that pushed her to cheer, engineering, theater and AVID, where she did find her community.

“DP has been the most welcoming community I’ve been a part of, and that is because of how intelligent and open-hearted everybody is,” Delgado said. “So, as we get ready to move on to the next chapter of our lives, I implore you all to not just stay strong and wise as you have shown me you are, but to grow these qualities.”

Have a graduate you’d like to celebrate?

Noozhawk invites families, friends and graduates to share their academic achievements with our community. Click here to submit a graduation announcement to our Class of 2026 Section.