3 SLO County schools celebrate graduating Class of 2021: ‘So proud of all of you’
Three San Luis Obispo County high schools held ceremonies for their graduating classes of 2021.
Although each of the ceremonies were modified to adhere to local and state COVID-19 health and safety guidelines, grads were still celebrated will all the usual pomp and circumstance.
Here’s how San Luis Obispo, Templeton and Shandon high schools celebrated their graduates.
San Luis Obispo High School
San Luis Obispo High School sent off 353 graduates at a ceremony at the school’s softball field Thursday evening, lining the field with chairs to mark the return to a traditional commencement event after 2020’s drive-through ceremony.
The school’s valedictorian is Genevieve Dandurand, who will attend Stanford University. Dandurand had earned a 4.57 grade point average as of the end of the first semester of the academic year, according to school officials.
Salutatorian Lauren Marchbanks posted a 4.52 GPA, as of the end of the first semester. She’ll attend Centre College in Kentucky.
“This year’s class has experienced more than most in their high school journey,” Principal Leslie O’Connor, who has led the school for the past 10 years, wrote in an email. “When they entered 9th grade back in 2017, none of us could have imagined what their four-year path to graduation would be like today.”
O’Connor said the class endured construction projects on campus, then enjoyed a new state-of-the-art math building, band room, swimming pool, practice field and Career and Technical Education facilities.
“They got to see the insides of a new theatre on campus. However due to COVID(-19) restrictions and protocol we did not get to perform in it during their high school years,” O’Connor said. “In addition to the construction, they lived through the global pandemic of the past 16 months.”
“This class showed grit, resilience, creativity and mental fortitude to overcome and persevere through it all,” O’Connor added. “They were gracious and empathetic toward others, they were kind and patient when needed, and grew in their love and appreciation of their teachers and school in general.”
Of those moving on to college, 123 plan to attend community college — many of them taking advantage of Cuesta College’s Promise program, which offers recent San Luis Obispo County high school graduates two years of tuition-free education.
Eighty graduating seniors at San Luis Obispo High — 24% of the class — plan to attend a California State University school in the fall.
Of those, 50 students have declared that they plan on attending Cal Poly, representing 15% of the seniors.
Five San Luis Obispo High graduates will attend CSU Northridge. Five more will head off to San Diego State, three to San Francisco State and three to Sacramento State.
A total of 29 students opted to attend University of California schools in the fall — with nine heading off to UC Santa Cruz, seven to UC Berkeley, five to UC Santa Barbara and two each to UCLA, Irvine, and Riverside. One student each will attend UC Davis and UC San Diego.
The 34 students planning to attend private colleges make up 10% of the class. They’ll head to schools including Harvard University, Santa Clara University, Syracuse University, Yale University, Brown University and New York University.
Eight percent of the class will head out of state to a public or private college.
Twelve students will join the work force with three joining the U.S. Armed Services, with 19 others either declining to state their intentions for post-graduation or undecided.
Templeton High School
Templeton High School in northern San Luis Obispo County celebrated about 176 graduates in a ceremony held at 7 p.m. in its stadium.
Principal Josh Aston kicked off the celebrations with a speech to the Class of 2021, their families and friends, and the school and district staff in attendance.
After reading Douglas Malloch’s poem “Good Timber,” Aston noted that “this graduating class has had to endure tough winds, maybe more than any other graduating class in recent history.”
“The challenges that you have endured have made you strong and have prepared you for a successful life after high school,” Aston said. “I am so proud of all of you and I know you will do great things.”
Aston’s speech was followed by an address by the school’s salutatorian, Thomas Choboter, who graduated with a 4.57 GPA and will be attending Cal Poly majoring in computer engineering.
Choboter showcased his guitar skills during his speech.
“Remember this,” he told his fellow grads, “your story, with all its tension, all its pain, all its hardship, is a beautiful, beautiful tale. It is a story only you can tell.”
Valedictorian Juliana Jarboe, who graduated with a 4.61 GPA and will be attending Columbia University in New York City in the fall, then gave a speech peppered with humor about her eventful time as a Templeton Unified School District student.
“We’ve made it through mile March, the switch to Common Core, standardized testing and a year of pandemic,” she said. “We’ll face challenges wherever we go next in life. But we’ll have the skills to overcome them, or at least fake it until we find our bearings.”
The ceremony finished with a speech from the high school’s class president, cheesy jokes cracked by Aston and lots of smiles from grads as they celebrated the end of high school.
In the fall, sixteen Templeton graduates, aside from Choboter, are planning on attending Cal Poly.
Other in-state schools student plan to attend include UCLA, UC Berkeley, San Diego State, UC Davis, Pepperdine University and San Francisco State.
More than 25 students plan to attend out-of-state schools such as Elon University, University of Utah, Syracuse University, Montana State University, Colorado State University, Northwest Nazarene University, Oregon State University, Gonzaga University, Columbia University and the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
At least 68 Templeton grads plan to attend either Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria or other community colleges.
One Templeton grad plans to enlist in the U.S. Army after graduation.
Nearly $60,000 in scholarships have been awarded to Templeton students from local groups, organizations and scholarship funds.
Shandon High School
Another North County school, Shandon High School, celebrated 22 graduating seniors with a ceremony at 7 p.m. Thursday held on the West Lawn.
Shandon High Principal Kristina Benson told the Class of 2021 to “be strong, be safe and strive for excellence in all that you do.”
“Be the best student, the best employee and the best human you can be,” said Benson, who is superintendent of Shandon Joint Unified School District. “Take your Outlaw spirit with you wherever you go! Congratulations!”
Valedictorian Katelyn Hurl had a 3.86 GPA and will attend the University of Idaho in the fall. She is the only graduate who plans to attend an out-of-state university.
The salutatorian, Rosemary Hernandez had a 3.64 GPA and plans to attend Cuesta College.
Although no Shandon High graduates plan to attend Cal Poly, other California State University campuses or University of California schools at this time, several plan to transfer to Cal Poly after earning their associate’s degrees at Cuesta College.
Sixteen graduating seniors plan to attend Cuesta College, Allan Hancock College or other community colleges.
Seven Shandon High graduates received scholarships totalling $10,200.
Hurl received the 2021 Richard J. Weyhrich Award of $4,000.
This story was originally published June 10, 2021 at 7:36 PM.
