As South Bend high school closes, last graduating class becomes 'Clay legends'

Photo: Matt Cashore

SOUTH BEND — Small but legendary, the Clay High School class of 2024 became the last students to walk the commencement stage in the school's final year.

115 students graduated at Clay High School's 92nd commencement on June 8 at the University of Notre Dame's Compton Family Ice Arena as friends and family cheered them on from the stands.

Emotions were mixed. Some students were sad that they wouldn't be able to come back and visit their high school, some didn't care and others were just happy to graduate.

Valedictorian Matthew Shafer's mind is on the future.

“I’m actually very happy about it,” Shafer said about graduating. “It’s finally over. We’re on to new horizons.” 

As he gave a speech to his classmates, he didn't talk about the past. He didn't talk about his high school closing. He didn't talk about saying goodbye. Instead, he focused on one central theme: change.

"Change does happen," he told his class. "It's the way you deal with it that determines your path. The question then becomes: how can I be open to change?"

Congratulations, Class of 2024:Photos from graduation ceremonies around South Bend, Mishawaka

Shafer gave his advice on how to answer that question. He encouraged classmates to search for opportunities and to take advantage of the ones that come their way. He reminded them to listen to others and stay open-minded. Lastly, he told his class to have fun and to have a happy balance of work and fun.

“A lot of people do try to focus on the work aspect rather than the fun aspect,” he told The Tribune. “You want to incorporate things.” 

Shafer said he dances in his free time, which has become a fun, creative outlet for him. 

“Everyone has their outlet," he said. "They’ve just got to find it and express themselves through that." 

Austin Yakim was Clay’s final graduate to walk the stage. His senior year went by quickly, he said, as he completed classes online. 

He doesn’t hold any feelings about his high school’s closure, as he attended Clay for only one year, but for him the attention from being the last graduate to walk the stage was weird.“Everyone was looking at me,” he said. 

Graduate Knevaeh Palmer was also nervous to walk in front of the crowd. Once she got on stage, though, she realized it’s something she’s familiar with. As a dancer, practicing modern dance, jazz, tap and ballet, she's comfortable on a stage. 

Without Clay High School, Palmer said, she wouldn’t have found a deeper passion for dance, which is everything to her. 

The school opened doors for her, she said.

"If I didn’t go to Clay, I wouldn’t be dancing like I am now," Palmer said. “I’ve learned to really feel deeply for my school. It’s really hard knowing the school won’t be there if I wanted to come back and visit and see everything.”

For her, it was the people who worked at Clay that made the difference. 

“There’s a lot of teachers who do their job and that’s it,” she said. “The teachers at Clay, they cared about us. They really, honestly cared about us.” 

The teachers, especially English teacher Kelly Rock, Palmer said, “made sure that all the seniors pushed themselves to get to where we are today.” 

Freedom Solis was on the brink of tears when she heard her son Johnathan Cherrone was going to graduate with his class. He was previously two credits short. Her son was hurt. He wanted to accomplish this with his friends, she said.

Solis said she received a call from Principal Kemilyn Schreiber on Monday saying that if Johnathan completed the classes by Friday, he could graduate with his class. In his determination, he passed both classes online with an A and was able to walk the stage, said his proud mom.

It was important to Solis that her son would be able to graduate from Clay and carry on the family tradition. She's a 2003 graduate, her sister is a 2004 alum and her brother graduated in 1999.

As Clay's final graduating class, they are part of a legacy that started in 1939 and has lasted for 85 years, Clay High School’s World Languages Department Chair Migdalia Lopez said. She gave the senior address.

“What a year you’ve had,” she addressed the class. “You are the last graduating class of Clay High School and that is an honor."

Despite the obstacles they've overcome, from navigating virtual learning in their freshman year to hearing about their school's closure in the spring of their junior year, Migdalia wanted her students to remember that the Clay legacy doesn't end here.

“The legacy is not over," she said. "It’s not gone because you are legendary. You are legends, Clay legend