It was the second semester of the class of 2023’s freshman year when COVID-19 changed everything. The campus closed, students, teachers and staff had to find ways to continue learning from home and highschool hallmarks like pep, rallies, football games and dances were called off.
When the students of this year’s graduating class returned to the Samohi campus in 2021 things still weren’t the same as they had been. Masks were required, events were scaled down and class schedules were adjusted to minimize contact.
As the pandemic loosened its grip on daily life, these students were able to have a relatively restriction-free senior year and participate in Samohi’s lively and colorful graduation ceremony to celebrate their accomplishments – of which Principal Marae Cruce says there are many.
She noted that there are 55 valedictorian candidates this year, multiple National Merit Scholars and listed off several highly regarded schools that the graduates will be attending including Brown University, Harvard and UCLA. However, she said what she is most proud of this class for is the life skills they have developed and displayed over the last four years.
"The perseverance aspect of coming back in person and grappling with interactions, grappling with the content again, a different setting, a more traditional setting, learning the study habits, study techniques," she said. "I think, as a result, this class is very resourceful – they had to come back and figure it all out again."
In addition to COVID-related changes, the campus itself has seen significant transformations during the class of 2023’s time at Samohi. The new award-winning, multipurpose Discovery Building, which features flexible and adaptable learning spaces, was opened in September 2021 and Cruce said it has enhanced the learning experience the school is able to provide.
"Being able to take the classroom outside of just the four walls, being able to flow into community spaces which allows for some smaller group conversations, collaboration between different teachers and different content, but also collaboration amongst the students," she said.
Cruce said Samohi also launched The Project Lead the Way Engineering Academy in the new space, the first of several planned specialized programs which will focus on specific disciplines and fields. The school district has ramped up efforts in recent years to provide opportunities like this for students and integrate more hands-on project based learning (PBL) into curriculum.
She said that she thinks one of the strengths of a Samohi education is the diversity of the school’s offerings.
"What I appreciate most about this campus and what I think Samohi has is because of its size, there's so many different things that we are allowed to offer," she said. "Every student can find something that they're interested in and they can find somebody to connect with and I think that's the power of our size."
While Cruce has worked at Samohi for over 15 years as a teacher and administrator, this will be her first graduation as the school’s principal, which she said makes it a different and special experience.
"I'm not just focusing on their academics, I see more of the students, I've seen them sometimes not at their best, or I've been able to be there when they're breaking down or they need something – it's a different level of support and so it absolutely means something different because a different role is a different relationship."
She said she feels the class of 2023 is well-prepared both academically and personally to take their future thanks to their time at Samohi.
"I hope one of their key takeaways from their last four years is their versatility and their flexibility," she said. "I would tell them to embrace whatever life throws at them, stay positive and optimistic and take each new bump as a challenge, embrace that challenge and keep on going. They've already demonstrated their ability to do that, so keep adapting."
