TOLEDO, Ohio — Wednesday night, Whitmer High School said goodbye to the class of 2022.
The school held its 95th graduation ceremony before a strong crowd at the Huntington Center. The district moved its event following a recent cyber attack and the threat of inclement weather forced it from the Whitmer Memorial Stadium.
"It's kind of been an emotional rollercoaster as we've been dealing with COVID and everything, but finally we get to do it and we get to do it in the Huntington Center, so that's big for us," new alumnus Jocelynn Harman said.
Members of the graduating class say they've been through more than most other classes go through in their school careers.
"It feels good. It's been a lot of hard work. We had to go through COVID and stuff like that. It's good for everybody too, we all feel accomplished," Hayden Chase said. "Didn't think we'd be able to make it through our graduation, so it feels good to be here."
The event gives students a time to be together and celebrate something some thought wasn't possible.
"Didn't think a year ago, I was going to graduate. Now that I am graduating, it's crazy to know that it's really happening. It's really a whole new world we're going into, no high school to go to in the fall," Davon Taylor said.
And parents say this is a time the kids will never forget.
"This time of life will be engraved in their memories for the rest of their lives. Everyone will look back on it as a comparison point. When they finish college, higher education or whatever future endeavors in life," father Ali Badram said.
The ceremony featured nearly 400 graduates. Washington Local superintendent Kadee Anstadt says graduates have accrued more than three million dollars in scholarships.