“I’m reminded as I look out at your faces, that this class is filled with extraordinary people who are ready to go out into the world,” said FDSH Principal Staci Laird as she welcomed the graduates.

This year’s senior class is an unusual one — one that ended classes in March, never got to dance at prom and were walking across the stage at commencement in late July.

“Seniors, you handled this situation with the kind of grace that makes us deeply proud,” Laird said.

Fort Dodge Community School District Superintendent Jesse Ulrich noted that the commencement ceremony, which was held late in the evening on Sunday, was the first ever to be held under the lights at historic Dodger Stadium.

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Isaiah Rayos, of Fort Dodge, celebrates before receiving his diploma during Fort Dodge Senior High commencement ceremonies Sunday evening at Dodger Stadium.

“Your class experienced something that is difficult to comprehend and that’s downright unfair,” Ulrich said. “This isn’t the senior year you signed up for, or that you hoped for. This isn’t how your high school journey was supposed to end.”

While some may dwell on what the graduates missed out on, Ulrich urged graduates to never forget the things they experienced in their high school journey that can never be taken away — memories and friendships.

“This experience has also taught you one of the greatest lessons of life and that is to never take people, experience or life for granted, because they can all be gone in a blink of an eye,” Ulrich said.

Senior High valedictorians Nick Bice, Kathryn Cochrane and Shane Halligan spoke on the past, present and future of the class of 2020.

Halligan quoted “The Office” character Andy Bernard when addressing his classmates.

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Fort Dodge graduates (left to right) Paul Castor, Jacob Heslop, Dylan Peterman, Tyson Preston, Tyler Young, Brayton Alexander and Jacob Miller leap for joy after the Class of 2020 Fort Dodge Senior High commencement Sunday at Dodger Stadium.

“I wish there was a way to know you were in the good old days before you actually left them,” he quoted.

“This is when we have to look back at all the memories we’ve made all through our years of school and just smile,” Halligan said.

Bice continued on with the present the class of 2020 is living in.

“I know you don’t need me to tell you this, but this year has not been normal,” he started. “Ever since that one weird Friday in March, the one that ended up being our last day of high school, things have been different.”

Prom was not what they expected, sports seasons were canceled and for most of his classmates, Sunday’s commencement was their first time seeing each other in four months.

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Fort Dodge Senior High special education teacher Molly Linde, right, helps Bryson Opande with his hat during commencement ceremonies Sunday at Dodger Stadium.

“2020 has been uncomfortable, but it’s also been a year of challenge and change,” Bice said. “This year has been so scary and raw that it’s finally forced us to grow.”

Bice called on his classmates to be the generation of change.

“It is us and our generation that has the power, the opportunity and the responsibility to do the right thing,” he said. “Let’s make sure we’re doing our part to make the world a better place.”

Cochrane posed a question to her fellow graduates.

“Where do we go from here?”

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Nick Bice of Fort Dodge celebrates during the Dodgers’ Class of 2020 graduation on Sunday inside Dodger Stadium.

“Every day, from this day forward, our decisions don’t only affect how our lives play out,” she said. “Our choices will have a direct impact on the world as a whole and it is up to us to guide and nurture that impact.”

She said that doesn’t mean they won’t lose their way once or twice, but that the class of 2020 is one who knows how to thrive through adversity.

“We began our lives in the aftermath of 9/11 and now we graduate in the midst of a pandemic and social unrest,” she said.

Although the graduates are officially done with high school, they still have an endless amount of moments to look forward to, stepping stones to step onto and accomplishments to attain, Cochrane continued.

“Let the future remember us as not intimidated by change, but as a class that embraced uncertainty and made the world a more receptive place,” she said. “We will overcome all the challenges ahead the way we always have — the Dodger Way.”

-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla
Fort Dodge Senior High graduate Calvin Gibson, center left, and Ashton Giddings wave to the crowd during the Dodgers’ 2020 commencement ceremony on Sunday evening inside Dodger Stadium.

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 The Fort Dodge Senior High Class of 2020 tosses their mortar boards into the air following commencement ceremonies Sunday night as the sun sets behind Dodger Stadium.

-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla
Dalton Summers of Fort Dodge walks off stage after receiving his diploma during Fort Dodge Senior High’s Class of 2020 commencement ceremony on Sunday evening inside Dodger Stadium.