With one last shout of “Spartans Unite,” Orcutt Academy High School’s class of 2015 graduated Friday afternoon during a standing-room-only ceremony at Allan Hancock College.
Armed with flowers, signs and balloons, families and friends of the 144 graduates filled the bleachers in the Joe White Memorial Gymnasium as graduates sat in chairs on the covered basketball court floor.
Principal Rhett Carter related the story of baseball’s home run champion Babe Ruth and his view of strikeouts — “Every strikeout brings me closer to the next home run.”
That viewpoint is dramatically different from today’s players, who see them as failures and embarrassing, Carter noted.
“This year’s graduating class has a lot of potential,” Carter said, “As you go after your dreams, do not be afraid to strike out. Do not be afraid to strike out a lot. Keeping swinging and treat every pitch as an opportunity to hit your next home run.
“You only fail in life once you stop swinging,” Carter said.
This marked the fourth graduating class for the relatively new Orcutt Academy High School, established eight years ago.
Associated Student Body President John Vilarino noted achievements in the past four years, including sports teams excelling and moving into a new league, a football team established and winning, cheerleaders earning honors at a national competition, the robotics team reaching world championships twice, and choir and band winning awards at a Music in the Parks Competition at Disneyland.
“Most importantly though, as students we were essential in performing and maintaining the highest test scores in Santa Barbara County, surpassing schools that had been well established for decades,” Vilarino said.
He noted Orcutt Academy recently was ranked No. 895 in academics out of every high school in the nation, according to a list from U.S. News & World Report.
Other student speakers included Jacqueline Licoscos as valedictorian and Lashton Papworth as salutatorian.
Additionally, senior class officers exchanged flags with foreign exchange students — Markus Lund from Denmark, Riccardo Roiati of Italy, Kanwara Sirisophonwit and Conrad Walz from Sweden.
Before the reading of the graduates’ names, the principal presented the class to Superintendent Deborah Blow, marking her first Orcutt Academy graduation since joining the district last summer.
The North County’s graduation season for 2015 began with Allan Hancock College’s commencement May 22.
Santa Ynez Valley Union High School and Refugio High School held their ceremonies May 29.
The Santa Maria Valley’s St. Joseph High School class of 2015 graduated May 31.
Three ceremonies for three comprehensive public high schools are planned for 1 p.m. June 11 at the campuses of Righetti, Pioneer Valley and Santa Maria high schools.
Delta High School will hold its graduation at 2 p.m. June 10.
In the Lompoc Valley, Maple High School will have its graduation ceremony at 4 p.m. June 10.
The two comprehensive public high schools will celebrate its graduates June 11 with Lompoc’s at 12:30 p.m. and Cabrillo’s at 2:30 p.m.
Valley Christian Academy will hold its commencement at 7 p.m. June 12.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.