Delta High School graduation: Hawaiian shirts and shared chocolate

The Delta High Class of 2015 shared tears and laughter during graduation at the Toyota Center Saturday.

Science teacher Deborah Burke had to stop a couple of times to gather her composure as she gave a last message to students.

She earned a standing ovation from the class as she concluded, “Your dreams belong to you. You are the only one who can make them happen. There is no expiration date on your dreams.”

It was an accomplished class.

Students earned more than $2.6 million in scholarships and the Key Club completed 40 service projects for the community, said Summer Sturges, the students’ choice for graduation speaker.

Delta High was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, said Oleg Tyschuk, who won Gold Award for the highest grade point average.

“The truth is, every one of us seniors had to choose to come to this school and had we made a different choice, our lives would be radically different,” he said.

Most graduating seniors are facing their first big decision — deciding what college to attend, Katelyn Doyle said. She had the second highest GPA. Her friends and family left little doubt where she will be next year, shouting “Go Zags!” as she paused in her speech.

Each of the 61 graduates brought something special to the class, Sturges said, drawing laughter from the class as she described some of them.

There was Paul Horner’s math genius, Bailey Duran’s laugh, Jamie Cone’s benevolence, Andrew Tycksen’s tutoring, Sierra Maple’s funny comments, Michael Thomas’ lunch hangout, Jack Yang’s clarifying questions, Laura Ness’ broad smile, Wyatt Schuldheiss’ Hawaiian shirt, and Arthur Baranovskiy’s willingness to share chocolate.

“In my completely unbiased opinion, we are the greatest class in the history of secondary education,” she said.

This story was originally published June 6, 2015 at 8:45 PM with the headline "Delta High School graduation: Hawaiian shirts and shared chocolate."