Graduating seniors from the Edmonds eLearning Academy accepted their diplomas Wednesday evening during a commencement ceremony at the Edmonds School District Stadium. Edmonds eLearning Academy offers a mastery-based program where students earn credit by demonstrating their understanding of a specific subject. This flexible approach allows students to complete their courses more quickly, potentially finishing a second course within the same semester.

“It is my great honor to stand before you today and officially declare that the Class of 2025 has made it,” said eLearning Academy Principal Kim Hunter. “You get to walk across this stage tonight and shake my hand with pride. You passed the test, both academic and personal. You survive Wi-Fi outages, technology problems, the void of Zoom meetings where no one turns on their camera or unmutes… truly a heroic feat. But more than anything, you persevere.”

While Principal Hunter shared her experience about her struggles of playing the clarinet in high school, a recording of a clarinet could be heard during her speech.

“The music you are hearing right now is from my audition CD for my college music program,” Hunter said. “That’s what perseverance looks like. It’s not perfect. It’s not instant. It’s practicing in your room when no one is listening. It’s failing, trying again and laughing a little along the way. And you Class of 2025 have done exactly that.”

Senior Landon Housden said in the commencement speech he moved to South Snohomish County in his junior year and didn’t initially adjust well in a mainstream high school. “I dug myself a hole that honestly, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to climb out of,” he said. “Looking back, I made a lot of mistakes. I thought I knew the answers, and I wasn’t even listening to the questions. I thought people were putting roadblocks my way.”

“But once I realized I was the only one who could change things, I made the commitment to work myself to work towards my diploma,” Housden continued. “I started with not procrastinating and completing the first task. It wasn’t that hard. It just took some effort. I put a little more effort in, and more got done. My family had always said that it takes hard work and dedication to complete something worthwhile. I was starting to see that every class I took as a personal challenge. [That] was paying off. If anyone have said I would be standing here today talking this, I wouldn’t believe them. I’m proud to be here and proud to say, if I can do it, you can too.”

Senior Shaun Van Dyke said that he was falling behind in school when he was attending Mariner High School in Everett, but eLearning Academy had made graduation on time possible. “The teachers and the staff, they definitely worked very hard and well with me,” he said. “I had meetings everyday with my counselors to help get me back. They really care and really try to support the best they can do.”