‘We made history’: Burbank High graduates celebrate a ‘special’ class
Burbank High’s graduating seniors received their diplomas Friday evening during the first ceremony on the school’s campus in decades.
The roughly 640 seniors accepted their diplomas on the sports field as hundreds of parents, friends and family looked on.
Since the 1950s, most of the school’s graduating classes walked across the stage at the Starlight Bowl, but with a larger than usual class and mounting costs associated with having the ceremony at the entertainment venue, school officials decided to hold this year’s ceremony on campus.
For seniors Kenneth Rovira and Faraz Khandaker, what mattered more than the ceremony’s location was the ceremony itself.
They said they were both proud to reach this significant moment in their lives with their classmates.
“After four years — finally,” Rovira said. “Finally, we hit this milestone in our lives after so many years of being in school. We’re graduating, that’s what really matters.”
For Khandaker, the four years went by quickly.
“I think the Class of 2017 is something special. We made history in football and basketball. I think the class of 2017 is special, in general. Everybody here is going to do big things, I already know it,” he said.
For Mathew Khalil, student body president, he said the class may be remembered as students who have “passion, purpose and creativity.”
Principal Michael Bertram said the class was a unique one, and what he enjoyed most was building relationships with students.
Bertram also announced David Minasyan, who earned a 4.61 grade-point average, as the class valedictorian .
As he addressed his class, Minasyan thanked everyone’s parents.
“I know without mine, the journey here would have been much harder,” he said.
Minasyan also encouraged the graduates to embrace uncertainties in the future.
“From here on out, we lead our own lives,” he said. “We’ll have to go the distance.”
Twitter: @kellymcorrigan
