Graduating seniors from Bethel School District donned caps and gowns this week as they strode through the halls of buildings they attended years ago.

The Bethel School District Grad Walk is a longtime tradition for the district, bringing Willamette High and Kalapuya High graduates back to their roots to be cheered on by former elementary and middle school teachers and young students.

Thursday morning’s walk started at Willamette High where Principal Dan Hedberg rallied students together and congratulated them on their achievements.

“Grad Walk is an opportunity to showcase the accomplishments of all of our students; they’ve taken really unique and amazing journeys to get to graduation,” Hedberg said. “This is one of those shared experiences that allows them to go back to the schools that they attended growing up, and see many of the teachers and other staff members to support them along the way.”

The graduates loaded up on buses and made their first stop at Prairie Mountain School. The seniors visited nine schools in total on their district-wide tour.

Kids lined the halls of Prairie Mountain, some waving signs, others reaching out to give high-fives. The walks each last about 10 minutes, with the graduates making their way through the hallways in rows of two.

While the Grad Walk is really about the graduating seniors and their journey coming full circle, it also has benefits for younger students and staff. Hedberg said it has become a tradition that teachers look forward to all year.

“They remember the second-grade version of the graduates, and to see them as the adult version, as graduates, is inspiring for them,” Hedberg said. “It gives them a sense of seeing the product of their work moving forward.”

Hedberg said it also serves as an opportunity for younger students to start thinking about high school, ask questions and look toward their future education.

Approximately 310 students were scheduled to graduate from Willamette High and Kalapuya High Friday in a joint ceremony.

A chance to look back

Amy Weyand, a graduating senior from WHS, was at the head of the brigade, playing the bass drum as the class toured through the schools.

Weyand has been in Bethel since she was in first grade. She remembered watching the Grad Walk herself all those years ago, sitting along the sides of the hallways of Meadow View School and looking up at the graduating seniors.

On Thursday, she was looking forward to seeing some of her former teachers.

After graduation, Weyand is heading to Boston Conservatory at Berklee, a private performing arts school, for percussion. At WHS, Weyand participated in jazz and wind bands and has been practicing music since she was in sixth grade. She said she’s excited to dive into studying music.

“Music conservatory, it almost functions like a trade school where it’s not like a normal university,” Weyand said. “I don’t have core classes, just music classes. So it feels kind of odd, taking a math class (senior year) knowing you’re never going to take math again.”

Before this school year, Weyand had never been to the East Coast but has since traveled to tour the school and auditioned for the conservatory.

“I’m sure it’s gonna be a bit of a culture shock,” Weyand said. “It’s honestly kind of similar to like Portland and San Francisco, but the East Coast version.”

Weyand said she had fond memories of her time at WHS, especially all her music-related endeavors. She mentioned a chamber music concert, which she helped organize, emcee and play in. Weyand said high schools normally don’t have chamber concerts, which are typically smaller groups and solo performances, so she was thankful to have those opportunities at WHS.

A close-knit community

Hector Uriarte-Mercado, a graduating senior at Kalapuya High, remembered the Grad Walks from when he was in elementary school. He said he at first he thought it was kind of funny but realized later that it was a “cool” tradition where teachers and students could reunite years later.

Uriarte-Mercado said he has a lot of memories from his time at KHS. KHS is an alternative high school, with most of its students pulled from WHS after their freshman year to offer a non-traditional education. It’s a tradition at Bethel to have both high schools share a graduation ceremony, as the two work together to support the students in the Bethel community. Uriarte-Mercado said he had a unique experience because of the smaller community.

“(I’ll remember) all the funny memories I’ve had with my friends,” Uriarte-Mercado said. “Since Kalapuya is such a small school, I have all the close relationships I’ve been able to have with the teachers as well.”

Uriarte-Mercado said he plans to go into construction, hoping to one day start his own home construction business.

Starting toward the future

Marisela Ventura Vazquez spent most of her childhood bouncing between different schools. She said she has moved 18 times between Washington and Oregon as her parents are migrant workers. While she spent some time in Bethel schools like Prairie Mountain, Malabon and Cascade, it wasn’t until her junior year that she finally settled more permanently at WHS.

After years of hard work, Ventura Vazquez will be attending the University of Notre Dame to study environmental engineering with a full-ride scholarship through the coveted QuestBridge Scholarship program. Ventura Vazquez will be the first person in her family to attend college.

“It’s still a very confusing feeling because I am also new to this, and my parents are very unaware,” Ventura Vazquez said. “They didn’t get to have an education.”

Ventura Vazquez said when she went to tour the Notre Dame campus in Indiana, it was her mom’s first time outside the states of Oregon and Washington. She’s grateful to be able to give her family new experiences like these.

“There’s this overwhelming joy that I have when that happens,” Ventura Vazquez said.

While in Indiana, Ventura Vazquez was able to meet up with students who received the same scholarship and she has already started making some connections.

“It’s kind of surreal … already to have this (scholarship) experience and so seeing how others are processing that as well it’s just very unexpected,” Ventura Vazquez said.

Ventura Vazquez gave out high-fives and waved at young students as she walked through Prairie Mountain.

She said the Grad Walk is a great way to honor all graduates, not necessarily just those going to a four-year university. She said she’s been learning about all the different paths her peers are pursuing after their high school careers have ended, and she’s felt proud of her classmates.

Hedberg shared the sentiment that all students are starting their life journeys. He himself is also following a new path, leaving WHS after 13 years at the school. Hedberg will be transitioning into the role of Bethel’s director of teaching and learning for secondary education.

Having helped found the Grad Walk tradition about a decade ago, Hedberg said it has been emotional to be a part of his last Grad Walk as principal.

“It’s been a really amazing and bittersweet experience for me,” Hedberg said. “Every year it’s amazing to see seniors that are ‘very cool,’ giving back to kids, and that, at heart, they are all just such gracious, giving young people. It’s inspiring.”

Miranda Cyr reports on education for The Register-Guard. You can contact her at mcyr@registerguard.com or find her on Twitter @mirandabcyr.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Willamette, Kalapuya high school grads tour former schools