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The stands were packed at Bartlesville High School’s Custer Stadium on a humid Friday night as family and friends eagerly waited for their student to walk across the stage during a traditional graduation ceremony.

A virtual graduation was held in May for the 310 graduates in the BHS Class of 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a more formal graduation down the road; a graduation that saw Student Body President Stone Yang take center stage. He quoted a Yiddish adage, saying "Man plans, and God laughs."

As we move forward with our lives, many things will not go as planned. Yang told the BHS Class of 2020 that they might not achieve their goals as planned, but he encouraged his classmates to remember the bigger path for their lives that lies ahead so they can continue down that path.

Senior Class President Claire Chipinda also took to the stage on Friday night. She said she knew senior year would fly by, but she had no idea it would zoom.

In spite of the laughs the Bartlesville Class of 2020 did not get to experience together, Chipinda said they emerged on the other side of the pandemic not as separate entities, but rather united. She said their paths may have differed, but they have always been the same because they have roamed the same halls, they have driven down the same old town road, and they have all learned some of the most precious lessons that life has had to offer.

BHS Principal LaDonna Chancellor said it was an honor to recognize the graduating Class of 2020. She said all in attendance have experienced some level of loss since the pandemic began, but still made it to the commencement ceremony.

For the Class of 2020, Chancellor said that she hopes that the graduates would not lose hope for the future; she hopes that each student is prepared to take the next step in their personal journey toward achieving their dreams. She said everyone wishes the seniors the very best, and reminded them that they would always be Bruins.

A broadcast of the commencement ceremony was held on KWONTV.com and on KWON AM 1400, FM 93.3 on Friday night. The broadcast was made possible thanks to Tacos Maria, OKWU Adult Studies, Paul Hood & Associates, Medicalodges of Dewey, Wasemiller Insurance, Arvest Bank, Bartnet IP, and Double G Bulldogs.