Western Alaska high school seniors walk across the stage after tumultuous year

Each high school student carried a piece of home with them: butterflies glued to the top of a graduation cap; coin-sized photos of grandma and great-grandma dangling from a tassel; a borrowed kuspuk worn underneath a gown.

More than 200 people attended a special graduation ceremony for six Western Alaska graduates from Kipnuk, Kwigillingok and Quinhagak on Monday at the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage. A hundred more watched a virtual livestream of the event, cheering on the Class of 2026 from afar.

When the Western Alaska graduates rose from their chairs to face the crowd, the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta community stood behind them. Gathered in the audience were not only immediate family members, but also aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, friends visiting from out of town and a mix of teachers and counselors.

Seniors Cadence Mesak and Patty Fox anxiously adjusted their caps, gowns and hair in a mirror in preparation for photos before the ceremony. They wore the official school colors of Kipnuk’s Chief Paul Memorial School, blue and white.

Atop her cap, Mesak had adhered blue and purple butterflies, a reminder of her mother, who passed six years ago. She said she plans to likely stay in Anchorage after graduation and was considering enrolling in trade school or joining the U.S. Air Force.

Still, she felt the pull of home as she prepared to walk across the stage.

“It’s good, but also hard,” Mesak said. “We are always homesick. I wish we got to graduate at home, too.”

For most, a school is a place to learn, Kipnuk principal Allen Hutson said during the opening remarks. For Western Alaskans, schools are the heart of the community, and a place where residents gather for feasts, weddings, funerals, Christmas plays and sporting events, he said.

Then, during these students’ senior year, everything changed, Hutson said.

In October, the wind and water of ex-Typhoon Halong devastated communities along the Bering Sea coast, displacing more than 180 students from the region. Upon their arrival in Anchorage, some evacuees had just a week to adjust before enrolling in new schools.

“You walked into unfamiliar hallways, carrying uncertainty, fear and challenges that most people will never fully understand, but you showed up anyway,” Hutson said. “And through it all, you adapted, you built friendships, you found your place, you kept moving forward, even when life changed around you. That takes strength.”

By the end of this week, nearly 2,500 Anchorage School District students will have graduated. In total, seven Western Alaska students graduated in Anchorage. Five of the Lower Kuskokwim seniors attended Bettye Davis East Anchorage High School. One attended West Anchorage High School, and another went to Raven Correspondence School.

[Community support helps Anchorage high schools’ Class of 2026 succeed]

While the Western Alaska students were given the option to walk at those graduations, faculty also wanted to arrange a more intimate ceremony that honored the “way things are done back home,” said Jaime Galvan, director of Indigenous education at the Anchorage School District.

“Graduation probably wasn’t something that was on their mind when they originally got here,” she said. “But to know what they’ve gone through, and to be able to finish high school and have this huge accomplishment, I think, is extremely important.”

Traditionally, the whole village would come to celebrate the students, Galvan said, and she hoped community members would show up for the kids.

Almost every seat was filled in the auditorium on Monday. As they awaited the start of the ceremony, family and friends signed posters with messages of congratulations for the seniors such as “Yay, you made it!” and “Piniqamken,” which means “You are my strength” in Yup’ik.

Before receiving their diplomas, each student distributed a bundle of five red roses to individuals in the crowd who helped them finish school — part of a decade-long tradition started in Kwigillingok.

Senior Charlie Paul rose from his chair and handed one of the roses to his grandmother, Martha, who sat just a few rows back. The pair held each other in a long embrace.

Martha Paul said the ceremony was emotional as she and other family members filtered through the mass of people to the back of the room to greet the new graduates. Her niece, Erica Sharp, and nephew, Miisaq Paul, also received their diplomas Monday evening.

Martha’s family typically goes subsistence hunting together this time of year, she said, with three boats moving in pursuit of seals and birds. While she still longed to return home, she viewed the rose ceremony as a small semblance of normalcy.

“I have my family, they are home,” she said, clutching her rose.

Charlie’s mother, Natalia Paul, came to join her in line for cake. Natalia moved to Anchorage two years ago with Charlie, but said he did not adjust well to the city. He returned to Kipnuk for his senior year, excited to graduate back home, she said.

Then the storm struck. During the school year, Charlie struggled with flashbacks that only eased when he returned home briefly to pick up some of his belongings, Natalia said.

“(What happened) breaks the mind,” Natalia said. “I’m proud of them. They adjusted slowly, but they’re doing good. They’ve got a whole life ahead of them.”