All eyes were on the graduating class of 2014 as Mercer Island High School celebrated its 57th Commencement Exercises Thursday, June 12 at Key Arena in Seattle. This year’s class had 321 graduating students cross the stage.

Class president Joey Chin opened the ceremony welcoming those in attendance before introducing the MIHS Orchestra to perform the National Anthem. Principal Vicki Puckett then addressed the class of 2014, quoting the Paradoxical Commandments by Dr. Kent M. Keith, saying “If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.”

Valedictorians Shalva Kohen, Devina Kumar, Peter Litzow, Rachel Van Gelder and Mary Wingerson gave their speech “#Selfie”, with Kumar declaring their class graduating in “the year of the selfie.” The valedictorians spoke of how selfies marked memorable moments for the Islanders throughout their high school years on their social media accounts, with the group taking one last group selfie on the stage before walking off.

History teacher Mike Radow, selected by the students as their faculty speaker, encouraged the graduating class in his “Go, Go, Islanders Go” speech to go forward with confidence, curiosity and joy, assuring students they wouldn’t be alone going forward. “We’re with you all the way,” he said.

MIHS graduating senior Danno Mayer, voted class speaker, spoke of technological advancements through three big revolutions: The agricultural revolution, the industrial revolution and now, the computer revolution. Mayer noted the diminishing gap between each revolution and how technology has made the world change faster, saying with change comes an explosion of new possibilities.

“The best things come to those who do,” he said. “Congratulations class of 2014, because you did it.”

The crowd was treated to musical performances of Pablo de Sarasate’s “Navarra,” featuring David Bi and Sarah Lee on violins and Alex Zhu on piano, a cello performance by Naomi Tran of Mark Summer’s “Julie-O,” and a vocal performance from Molly Azose and Sydney Blosch of “For Good” from the musical “Wicked,” with piano accompaniment from Coleman French.

And with one last message to their class before ushering the tassel flip, class officers Joey Chin, Mark Anderson, Lorenzo Guevara and Justin Sukernek advised the 2014 class to “always be yourself.”

Follow this link to view the graduation slideshow from our Flickr page.