Victor Valley High School sees 106th graduating class take flight with 2022 commencement
A warm evening breeze blew across Ray Moore Stadium in Victorville as close to 400 graduates of one of the oldest schools in the High Desert gathered to bid it farewell.
Victor Valley High School held its 106th commencement ceremony Tuesday in the football stadium in front of bleachers packed with friends and family.
The sun set as the high school saw 390 graduates receive their diplomas.
For many, it was a joyous occasion for others, bittersweet.
“It is with my great pleasure that I say to you that I’m proud to present the Victor Valley High School graduating class of 2022,” said principal Nancy Noyer, who paused due to tears. “This is my last class, so it’s a little emotional.”
Noyer is retiring after 37 years as an educator, with six spent as the head of the high school.
“I can honestly say that the class of 2022 was one of the best and most likely — very, very, very likely — my favorite class of all time,” she said.
VVHS — established as a one-room schoolhouse in 1915 — was the first high school built in the Victor Valley and one of only two high schools serving children in the High Desert.
Noyer graduated from the school, and so did many wattended this week’s graduation.
This year’s graduating class saw the effects of the coronavirus. Students were sent home in March 2020 and didn’t return to in-person class until August 2021.
Overcoming obstacles and difficulties was a running theme in student speeches.
“We will come out of high school breathing and broken at the same time, but these situations we faced only made us stronger,” said salutatorian Jessica Barbosa.
Associated Student Body President Ke’Mya Smith said she wanted to remind her class that they “made it out of the pandemic.”
“We lost half of our high school experience due to COVID, and we still survived,” she said. “Just pray and remember you have been through so much already and that nothing can stop you from anything you wish to pursue.”
Some graduates will be going on to attend the University of Southern California, the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of California, Santa Barbara. The common tie? They were educated from a high school more than a century old.
“Any true Jackrabbit knows that our history runs deep, and we take deep pride in wearing green and white,” said Noyer before ending with the school’s motto, which was yelled in response by the class:
“Once a Jackrabbit, always a Jackrabbit!”
Daily Press reporter Martin Estacio may be reached at 760-955-5358 or MEstacio@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_mestacio.
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Victor Valley High School holds 2022 graduation ceremony
