210 Graduate From Whose House? Hillhouse!

Sporting graduation caps covered in colorful flowers and pink feathers, Kaniya Rogers and Alayjah Ford took advantage of the few moments before graduation to celebrate their time at Hillhouse High School — and to look forward to hoped-for careers in healthcare and cosmetology.

Rogers and Ford were two of 210 students to graduate from James Hillhouse High School on Tuesday morning during a festive outdoor ceremony at Bowen Field on Crescent Street.

Alongside the rest of their graduating class, Rogers and Ford spoke about their plans for both the afternoon after graduation and the rest of their lives, excited to hang out together over the summer as well as to continue their paths to becoming a hair and makeup artist and travel nurse, respectively. Rogers is heading to cosmetology school next year, while Ford plans to begin looking for work.

“There’s a lot going on here at Hillhouse all of the time, so it was difficult for me to stay focused on one thing throughout my time in high school here, but I’m excited to get to study what I love and have been dreaming about forever,” said Rogers. 

210 graduates paraded with colorful tassels, heavy medals representing all of their accomplishments, and florally decorated graduation caps that allowed their families to spot them from the bleachers of the stadium.

“Making my cap was fun. We took plastic flowers and tore the stems off to create these fun caps. I’m feeling good and excited to be graduating,” said Ford.

In addition to celebrating their milestone, the class of 2023 used their graduation ceremony to commemorate the lives of two of their classmates, Keiron Jones and Brian Ramírez Gutiérrez. who died while still in high school. Their lives were remembered and celebrated by all speakers in the ceremony, and their families walked the stage and received their diplomas in their honor.

All of the families of the graduates brought lots of spirit to the crowd of the ceremony. From megaphones used to shout out their graduates to large posters congratulating them, their spirit brought life to the stadium.

Two graduates who received a lot of this congratulating spirit were the valedictorian and salutatorian of the graduating class, Julia Rosado and Elsa G. Holahan. In their speeches, both renounced their titles and emphasized their equality to their class, thanking them for the sense of community and family they all worked to create at Hillhouse.

“Our community is a combination of and an essence that revolves around accountability, care, kinship, love, and solidarity,” said Holahan. ​“Our community has manifested in various ways and has assumed various capacities. Community welcomed us into a state of collective being, offered support and guidance, community has encouraged us to mediate relationships and conflicts on our own, enabling us to be practitioners of restorative justice. Community can be found within all of us.”

In her valedictory address, Rosado continued on the theme of the power of the Hillhouse community, contributing to the points made earlier by Holahan in adding that the Hillhouse community and James Hillhouse High School as a whole is much more than the stereotypes assigned to them.

“Hillhouse kids are braver than most. I have seen firsthand the bravery you display despite the labels that are forced on you, despite the loss of loved ones and dear classmates, and despite the barriers you have faced,” said Rosado.

Besides highlighting their distinguished graduates, the ceremony included a speech from a recognized Hillhouse graduate from the class of 1999, Charmion Kinder, former White House press aide to First Lady Michelle Obama and current Director of Communications at the Peace Corps. In her speech, Kinder encouraged graduates to always face challenges with bravery, in all its various forms.

“Failure is an ever present possibility, but it’s not the enemy. Fear of failure is,” Kinder told the graduates.

Mayor Justin Elicker also addressed the graduates, encouraging them to always choose supporting their loved ones and forming community, both values at the base of James Hillhouse High School.

Congratulating the graduates and welcoming them into the Hillhouse alumni community, the Hillhouse band concluded the ceremony by performing the school’s alma mater. The song played in the background as the new 2023 alumni rushed off to meet their loved ones.