Schools

El Toro Graduation: 'Go Chargers' Into Adulthood

More than 600 students receive their diplomas on a night that celebrates a special class.

By Martin Henderson

They talked of legacies during the commencement ceremony for El Toro High. 

The principal got choked up. 

The senior class president made reference to a bodily function. 

"Hey guys," Josh Santos said to his classmates and the packed-out audience at the Bren Center at UC Irvine as he took the microphone for his senior speech. "I have to pee so bad right now."

There was levity and inspiration and food for thought, but there were no bathroom breaks as El Toro took a bit more than two hours to send its graduating seniors to the next chapter of their lives. 

When Principal Terri Gusiff offered up her familiar "Go Chargers" near the end of the evening, this time it had a bit different meaning. It was as much command as encouragement.

Gusiff spoke fondly of this year's class, surprising her students at one point by getting a bit emotional on their behalf.

There appeared to be only two hiccups. One took place before the event someone fell off the stage, according to an Orange County Sheriff's deputy, and the other came when Suzie Swartz mistakenly referred to the "Class of 2003" at one point. Swartz is the Saddleback Valley Unified School District board member who later pronounced the class graduated—in this decade.

The theme was the "The Best is Yet to Come," and those at the head of the class, valedictorian Jacob Fast (4.91 grade-point average) and salutatorian Rayna Leland (4.85) are both headed to UCLA.

And the rest of the classmates? Twenty-two have already completed their AA degree through a program at Irvine Valley College—earning the right to walk through that commencement ceremony—and collectively the graduating class of 626 students earned more than $5 million in athletic and academic scholarships.

They also earned the respect of some of the adults they touched. They chose teacher Jim Shields to give the faculty address, and though he spelled out some cautionary lessons, he also spelled out his belief in them.

"The best of everything," he said, "is yet to be done by you."


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here