Santa Rosa High graduates celebrate after stressful lockdown

It was a joyous ending to a stressful day.

Cheered on by family and friends, 423 ebullient Santa Rosa High School seniors marched onto Nevers Field on Friday night to receive their diplomas.

That morning, seniors were practicing their graduation ceremony when a student was spotted on campus carrying a gun, prompting authorities to place the campus on lockdown for about three hours while they searched for the weapon. It turned out to be a BB gun.

“We didn’t quite get through practice the way we were hoping to today, but I have to say that the class got a lot of time together in the gym,” Principal Kimberly Clissold said during Friday’s ceremony.

While the events of the day caused stress and delayed celebrations with family and friends, the ceremony remained upbeat as students bounced beach balls snuck in under their robes and graduation speakers gave nod to the community’s resilience.

Julia Pastis, 18, gave her speech in the form of a letter to her school, describing it as safe place during times of trouble.

Pastis recalled her happiness at being reunited with the school community after a three-week closure following the October 2017 wildfires. She also spoke about the unusual turn of events earlier in the day, her last as a student at Santa Rosa High School.

“Today, when we all had so much fear and so many questions, I found a place of comfort in you. I found friends I could hug, administrators and teachers who told me it was going to be OK, police officers who kept me safe. I found a home in Santa Rosa High School,” she said.

Superintendent Diann Kitamura and board trustee Alegria De La Cruz were onstage to hand out diplomas and congratulate the graduates.

“It was actually not a hard decision at all to keep moving forward with the graduation tonight. Everything went well in terms of how police, staff, students and families reacted to the events of today,” Kitamura said after the ceremony. “It’s just a testament to the strength of our students and our staff and our families. It’s not like we haven’t been through a lot of different kinds of traumas, and I think they know that they are supported here at school.”

Lorena Miranda, whose stepson, George, graduated Friday, brought balloons and cried tears of happiness for his achievement. While it was a happy ceremony for the family, the stressful events earlier in the day were a black cloud that lingered in their minds.

“I was really worried, but I’m glad he’s OK,” Miranda said about her stepson. “I honestly feel bad that the kid robbed other kids of their last day of school.”

Several parents said that on top of fear and worry, families were inconvenienced by the extra time their graduates were locked down at school. Fauna Tremayne brought grandparents and many relatives to watch her eldest son, James, walk across the stage.

Tremayne had planned to pick up her son from Santa Rosa High School after graduation rehearsal ended by 11 a.m. The lockdown delayed their reunion until 2 p.m.

“It was a big hassle. It made the rest of the day rushed, and ruined the kids’ last day,” she said.

Most students and families said they were glad the ceremony wasn’t postponed to a later date in light of the lockdown.

Todd Turetsky flew down from Alaska to watch his daughter collect her diploma. He brought her a blue box with jewelry, stickers, potpourri, chocolate and other goodies.

“You can’t let stuff like that get in the way of celebratory transitions,” Turetsky said.

You can reach Staff Writer Susan Minichiello at 707-521-5216 or susan.minichiello@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @susanmini.