Orcutt Academy High School celebrated 155 graduates in its class of 2023 during the school’s 12th annual commencement ceremony Wednesday.
Hundreds of family members and friends gathered at the school’s campus to cheer on the graduates.
The ceremony consisted of the school’s choir performing the national anthem, as well as the annual flag exchange, during which graduating seniors exchanged American flags for flags of this year’s foreign exchange students’ home countries.
Countries represented by foreign exchange students this year included Taiwan, Germany, France and Japan.
In addition to a speech from Orcutt Academy Principal Rhett Carter, student speakers included senior class president Annie Harris and vice president Alynah Ausan, salutatorian Nicolas Camacho and valedictorian Karim Abou El Kheir.
“The stories [of the graduating seniors] are different, but the message is the same,” Carter said in his remarks. “I can’t even count the number of times that I’ve been inspired by each of my graduating seniors in many ways over the last four years.”
While Carter said he is inspired by several of this year’s graduates, he spoke of one student in particular.
“As many of you know, Anthony [Diaz] has been battling a very rare form of Duchenne muscular dystrophy all of his life,” Carter said. “It has been so painful this year that Anthony has not been able to attend school and has missed all of his senior events this spring. Did that stop him from participating? Did Anthony sit around and feel sorry for himself? No, he did not. Anthony would get dressed up and Zoom into each and every one of our senior activities where he fought through his pain and watched and cheered his fellow students as they watched, cheered and celebrated alongside him with a huge smile on his face.
“Being here in front of us and your classmates today is a miracle, and it took weeks of preparation and work from Anthony and his family for him to be sitting here today. Anthony, you’re a hero in my eyes because you continue to inspire others in spite of the many challenges you face.”
The student speakers also spoke of what they’ve learned from each other throughout their high school career, despite the different challenges each student faced.
“Let’s remember the lessons we’ve learned — the importance of having passion, the power of a good support system, and the fact that caffeine is the fuel that keeps us going,” said Camacho, who spoke of his father passing away during his junior year and how working on the robotics team helped him.
Both speakers also encouraged their fellow graduates to acknowledge their accomplishments and how far each of them have come.
“I’d like you to stop imagining and realize how far you’ve come over the course of these four years,” Abou El Kheir said to his class. “Many of us found passions, whether it’s e-sports or basketball, you dove deeper into something new — you took that opportunity and turned it into a goal. And if you don’t have a set direction, you’ll find it.”
Orcutt Academy High School’s website boasts a 100% student graduation rate, being named the No. 1 high school in Santa Barbara County in 2020, and being in the top 8 percentile of schools in the United States, according to U.S. News and World Report.