“Birds fly, while hawks soar,” said Hayfield Secondary School Principal Martin Grimm at 2016 graduation.
For the Hayfield Secondary School Hawks, the graduating class of 2016 knows how to soar, but they also know how to overcome adversity. Thanks to them, Hayfield Secondary School became a blue ribbon school.
“Failure is inevitable; it’s not the climax of any solution,” said senior class speaker Gilberto ‘Gil” Rosa. “It’s about what we do when the dust settles, how we pick ourselves back up and stay humble once we’re on our feet.”
No one exemplifies this better than faculty award winner Ali Alsayed, whose family fled to the United States seeking political asylum despite not knowing any English and having been told America was a terrible place. He had to repeat most high school, but is now fluent in English and serves as a translator for the rest of his family and has had a tremendous impact on and been an inspiration to Hayfield. Ed Christ concluded his praise of Alsayed to hand him the award and in turn received a hug as the Hayfield community thundered their applause.
The graduation was held in the gym of Hayfield Secondary School, and every seat was filled. For the unlucky family members who couldn’t get a seat in the gym, the auditorium across the hall was open for seating with a live broadcast of the graduation so they wouldn’t miss out. Yet, when their child’s name got called to cross the stage and receive the diploma, family members in the auditorium screamed as loudly as they could, almost as if they hoped their graduate could hear them.
“But we wouldn’t have gotten here without our supporting cast, whoever that may be, so be sure to thank them,” said class president Nisan Shrestha.
These 460 graduates will be representing Hayfield at 85 different colleges, have a combined 4.2 million in scholarships and 68 honor scholars in their midst. Congratulations Hayfield class of 2016, you did it.