Hoover High says goodbye to Alabama's largest high school Class of 2018

Hoover High School said goodbye to Alabama’s largest high school graduating Class of 2018 Thursday night.

The school sent 690 graduates into the world of college, work and military service during a ceremony at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Bartow Arena.

Hoover’s Class of 2018 was offered more than $39 million in scholarships, and for the first time in the school’s history, more than 50 percent of the senior class (54 percent) were offered scholarships for their academic, athletic or artistic talent, Principal Don Hulin said.

The 2018 Bucs were accepted into more than 210 colleges and universities, Hulin said. Many are staying in Alabama, but others were accepted to schools in 34 other states and the District of Columbia, school officials said. Some were accepted into universities in London, Shanghai and Sudan.

Numerous students are entering the military, and others already have been employed by international companies that include Mercedes-Benz, Harbert Construction and Brasfield & Gorrie, Hulin said.

“Graduating from the largest and most diverse high school in Alabama has tremendous benefits,” the principal told the crowd before awarding students their diplomas.

The diversity of the student body was evident as senior guidance counselor Zachary Butler read out graduates’ names. 

“Our students learn to independently navigate new experiences, to celebrate and seek out diversity, and take advantage of opportunities before them to meet and exceed individual goals,” Hulin said.

In 2018, they learned how to win and lose with grace and humility and to serve, he said. This class documented more than 17,000 hours of community service, was a part of 11 state championships, and won local, regional and national fine and performing arts titles, he said. They lived up to the Hoover High slogan of “champions in all we do,” Hulin said.

The world, the United States and the more local community is ever changing, sometimes in ways we can’t control or don’t like, Hulin said. But he feels confident that Hoover’s Class of 2018 is prepared for the challenges and changes ahead, he said.

“You have been taught to think, to take responsibility, to connect and strive for success,” Hulin said.

The faculty at Hoover High has challenged the seniors’ minds and hearts, and he encouraged the graduates to look at every challenge as a growth opportunity to change the world.

“The world needs your ideas, your compassion and willingness to stand up and fight for what you believe in,” he said.

Ilya Kristensen, one of the Class of 2018 valedictorians, said Hoover may be a large school, but the huge diversity of clubs and organizations allows everyone to be involved and find their passion.

“At Hoover, you don’t have to worry about being excluded,” Kristensen said. “Because of all the opportunities to get involved, this giant school somehow manages to feel like a tight-knit community.”

Kristensen said all the high school movies starring adult actors pretending to be teenagers gave her some false expectations as a freshman coming into Hoover High, but she quickly learned that all the students don’t spontaneously burst into song about how they’re all in it together.

That said, Hoover High did manage to teach them some life skills they can carry for the rest of their days, she said. The teachers didn’t just teach subjects; they served as mentors who shaped students into better people, she said.

The Class of 2018 learned not only how to work hard toward goals, but to work together to achieve them, Kristensen said. When she looks at her classmates, she sees healers, dreamers, fighters and unstoppable people, she said.

Grades and post-graduation plans don’t define who they are, she said. “What defines you is your heart and your actions. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

Sydney Biswal, another valedictorian, said she remembers as freshmen in the fall of 2014 how they struggled to find their way around the school, looking clueless in the hallways and receiving glares from seniors.

Now, four years later, they’ve been through numerous school power outages, Wi-Fi problems and emergency snow days, but they finally made it, she said. For some of them, in a class of nearly 700 seniors, it’s the first time they’ve met, she said.

“Whether you sprinted, walked, crawled or were dragged to the finish line, you still made it, and it’s something to be proud of,” she said.

Citing Sir Isaac Newton, Biswal said the Class of 2018 made it to where they are by standing on the shoulders of giants — the parents, family members, administrators, teachers and broader Hoover community.

“Our success is your success,” she told the crowd. “For you have given us the courage to dare, the knowledge to excel and the belief that we could succeed.”

Now it’s their turn to become the giants and provide support, guidance and encourage for the next generation, she said.

Valedictorian Sabirah Haque said that while the Class of 2018 has had tremendous accomplishments in academics, the arts and athletics, the one thing that stands out to her is the support they have received from administrators, teachers and each other.

“Making connections is a lifelong skill that Hoover puts an emphasis on,” and they have supported one another through ups and downs, Haque said. No matter where they go from here, they can know that they graduated with an incredible family at Hoover High, she said.

Senior Class President Daniel Presley said the Class of 2018 has seen a lot together in the past four years, including surviving everything from the national Ebola scare to the C Hall stairwell that seemed more like a Lady Gaga concert pit. They made it through the water bottle flipping trend, Instagram spam accounts and the sprinklers that went off in the courtyard during homecoming festivities their sophomore year, getting everyone wet.

He thanked the teachers and staff for investing years to prepare them to cross the stage to accept a diploma and move into the next stage of their lives. “Without your constant influence and motivation, we never could have made it to where we are now.”

Despite having 690 graduates walk across the Bartow Arena stage to receive a diploma, Butler read through the list of names quickly enough to end Thursday night’s ceremony in less than 1½ hours. The graduates quickly exited to join family and friends for hugs and photos outside, never again to all be under the same roof.