MOSES LAKE — With mortar boards bedecked in flowers, back-the-blue flags, comedic statements, family names and hopes for the future, this year’s Moses Lake High School graduates walked the stage and stepped toward their futures, proud families watching from the stands at Lions Field.

MLHS Principal Sheila Kries opened the ceremony with an analogy discussing how life’s experiences are like a watershed — appropriate for one of the larger schools in the Columbia Basin — and wished the students well.

This year’s graduating class chose former School Resource Officer Zach Jennings as their staff speaker, and he shared a few memories of his time with the 2023 Mavs — who appeared to identify more as Chiefs, having had that mascot for much more of their high school careers — and a bit of humorous advice.

“Growing old is mandatory – growing up is optional,” Jennings said.

Students stopped to remember a fallen friend and classmate, Cristian Galvez, who had passed just weeks earlier in a rafting accident. MLHS faculty and staff awarded Galvez’s diploma to members of his family. A GoFundMe account to assist his family has been set up at https://bit.ly/4CGALVEZ.

Mario Patino was chosen as this year’s senior class speaker. As he got on stage, he took a moment for a quick selfie for social media with the rest of the class in the background and started speaking.

Patino began his comments by thanking his parents for their support and his brother for being his best friend, and telling his girlfriend, who was watching in the stands, that he loved her.

“As I look around, I can’t forget the moments that got us here,” Patino said.

He went on to encourage his classmates to do the best in life they could.

“My favorite memory here was getting to know new people and socialize with them,” said MLHS 2023 graduate Lisett Mendoza-Rodriguez.

Mendoza-Rodriguez said she’s planning to start her college career at Big Bend Community College to study psychology, then move on to a degree that allows her to become a counselor.

Her mother, Margarita Rodriguez, said seeing her daughter graduate made her very proud.

“I’m very emotional,” Rodriguez said. “I’m very proud of my daughter — being a single mom — because I never thought I would get to see her get her diploma.”

Rodriguez, who was one of several mothers at the MLHS graduation crying happy tears, said she’s excited for Mendoza-Rodriguez to move on to college and intends to offer her full support.

Huỳnh Nữ Long Vân, who attended MLHS all four years of her high school career and had her mortar board decorated with “Young Forever 2023,” said she enjoyed time with her friends while at MLHS and summed up her feelings of the day simply.

“I’m happy,” she said.

R. Hans Miller can be reached at [email protected].