
Huntington Beach High celebrates its 119th graduating class
But more than individual accomplishments, the Huntington Beach High Class of 2025 graduate recognized the power of the Oilers family in more tangible ways.
'I've come to realize that everyone has their own story,' Flores said Wednesday during her student speech at the Huntington Beach High commencement ceremony. 'We all go through hardships and successes. I personally lost someone very important to me one year ago, my dad, and it was by the love from teachers and friends on this campus and God who helped carry me through it.'
Huntington Beach celebrated its graduating seniors during the ceremony at 'Cap' Sheue Field, with 686 seniors turning their tassels as part of the school's 119th graduating class.
Flores gave her senior speech as a duet with Kai Wong. Another talented senior, Laurel Brookhyser, sang the national anthem. Earlier this year, Brookhyser was named Miss Fountain Valley Teen.
Huntington Beach ASB President Emma Trepina served as the master of ceremonies. Four members of the APA Music, Media and Entertainment Technology (MMET) program — Storm Anderson, Owen Mitchell, Jake Young and Talan Carthey — entertained their fellow graduates and the crowd with a rendition of Journey's 'Don't Stop Believing.'
Huntington Beach Principal Brenna Orr echoed Flores' thoughts about relying on each other for strength, presenting the class for graduation to be accepted by district Board of Trustees member Duane Dishno.
— Daily Pilot Staff
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Los Angeles Times
7 days ago
- Los Angeles Times
‘Genesis' surf documentary chronicles trip of a lifetime for Huntington Beach duo
Some of the most beautiful waves that Luke Guinaldo and Dylan Sloan have ever surfed were at a secret spot near Nias, an island located off the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The two Huntington Beach surfers marveled at the waves. Then Sloan tried riding one. 'The wave went so below sea level, I couldn't drop it,' Sloan said. 'It just fully threw me over the falls.' Guinaldo watched the situation unfold. 'I didn't see that he didn't make the drop, but I look back and I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, where is he?'' he said. 'I see Dylan pop out, and I'm dying laughing because I knew he went over the falls on the biggest wave of his life. I can't imagine he's ever had a wipeout that gnarly.' A realization soon set in. 'I was kind of tripping,' Guinaldo added, starting to laugh. 'I was like, 'Dang, he already took his wipeout, now I'm next.' Guinaldo, 20, and Sloan, 17, won't soon forget that month-long surf trip to Indonesia they took from mid-April to mid-May this year. Now others can enjoy it, too. 'Genesis,' a surf film chronicling their trip, debuted Friday night with a pair of shows at Surfing the Nations in downtown Huntington Beach. Hurley, which sponsors both surfers, budgeted the trip, but Guinaldo said this was still very much a do-it-yourself sort of film project. Austin DeSousa served as cinematographer. 'Dylan had been to Indonesia, I had been to Indonesia, but we never went together,' said Guinaldo, a 2022 Huntington Beach High graduate, during a group interview with the Daily Pilot. 'One night, after hanging out, I was showing him videos of my trip last summer, and he was showing me videos of his trip last summer. I was like, 'We've got to go together and score waves, make a movie out of it.' That's kind of how it was born.' Guinaldo has been surfing on the World Surf League men's Qualifying Tour for the last few years. Sloan is still in school, an incoming senior on the Huntington Beach High surf team. Together, they had plenty of adventures during their weeks in Indonesia. DeSousa, who had never before been out of the country, said he would have to leave his camera equipment outside to de-fog due to the high humidity. 'One of my favorite parts is meeting a lot of people from all around the world,' said DeSousa, a resident of Orange. 'We met this group from Portugal, and they were super nice. We saw them at two different surf spots we went to, [surf resorts] Macaronis and Hollow Trees. I got to surf with them one time, and they were super supportive of everything we were doing.' Highlights also included a 17-hour car ride from one side of the country to the other, so they could get to a harbor and catch a ferry. 'The harbor was disgusting, so bad,' Guinaldo said. 'We're getting ripped off, we don't know how much the tickets cost and people are taking our money, but we're just smiles all the way through. Then we get on the ferry and it's hot and sweaty and loud, people are yelling and playing music. We just toughed through it … and it was awesome.' More gratifying times came atop the waves themselves. The surfers stayed at the Point resort and found 'the most perfect' wave with the resort owner, Sloan said. He called the finished film 'amazing.' 'That's the dream that we wanted,' Sloan said. 'It's definitely something people have never seen before … To miss school for a month and go on the best surf trip ever? Sign me up.' The premiere Friday night was successful, with the first showing selling out so a second was added later that night. The surfers thanked their families and also Brett Simpson, a two-time U.S. Open of Surfing champion from Huntington Beach who is now Hurley's head of sports marketing. They hope to hold a screening of 'Genesis' at Huntington Beach High in the future, Guinaldo said.


Hamilton Spectator
21-07-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
Wîhkwêntôwin Unveils Mural Celebrating Indigenous Roots and Community Unity in Edmonton
(ANNews) – The Wîhkwêntôwin Community League unveiled a mural painted by a local Indigenous artist on July 12, reflecting the inclusivity behind Edmonton's largest neighbourhood's new Cree name. Kayla Bellerose painted the mural, which is displayed in the tunnel that's shared by a bike path and the High Level Bridge Streetcar tracks, located just north of Constable Ezio Faraone Park. Since the mural sits along two transport networks, an event celebrating the unveiling was held at the park, with live music, vendors, games, and free bannock, tea and ice cream. Volunteers took attendees who wanted to see the mural on a tour every half hour. Bellerose, who is First Nations from Treaty 8 on her mother's side, said her mural was inspired by the river valley. 'The neighbourhood is so close to the river, so I often go on walks to spend time with nature,' she explained to volunteers and dignitaries during the first tour of the day. Bellerose highlighted the pollinators on the mural, including the bumblebee and swallowtail butterfly. 'I don't know about you, but when I go on walks in the river valley, I'm often eating Saskatoons. They're super ripe right now, so I wanted to include plants that I often would see on my walks,' she added. The mural also includes people Bellerose sees on her regular walks, including elderly people on a stroll, a mother walking her baby in a stroller, a couple on a date and a person in a wheelchair wearing an Oilers jersey. She also was sure to include an image of her dog, Willow. There are seven flowers representing seven generations into the future. The words, Together, we are stronger, are written across the mural, a phrase Bellerose said she saw written down during an engagement session at last year's community league BBQ. 'That really stood out to me when I was coming up with the concept of that idea that we are stronger together as a collective. Because right now in society, there's so much division and separation from one another,' the artist said. 'It's not productive. It's not helpful. 'All of us are connected. All of us are related. We're all human beings, living here, sharing this land as Treaty people. Let's respect each other, let's be kind to each other, let's live together as a community.' In January 2024, the community league announced that the neighbourhood formerly known as Oliver would henceforth be known as Wîhkwêntôwin , which translates to 'circle of friends' in Cree. The community's previous namesake—Frank Oliver—was a notorious racist, who advocated for the forced removal of First Nations communities, including the Papaschase band, as a Liberal MP and publisher of the Edmonton Bulletin. The process of renaming the neighbourhood, which sits just west of downtown, began in 2020 with the #UncoverOliver campaign, representing the first instance of a community-led process to rename a neighbourhood that was named after a problematic figure. In attendance at the mural unveiling were Edmonton-Centre MLA David Shepherd and his local NDP caucus colleague Janis Irwin, Ward O-day'min city councillor Anne Stevenson and Edmonton Public School Board trustee Julie Kusiek. 'The man that this community used to be named for, was someone who had a very small vision of what it meant to be Albertan, of who belonged in this community and who belonged in our province, who deserved to have a voice and hold power,' said Shepherd. He praised the 'diligent work' of the community league, which involved 'some great community conversation' with Indigenous, Black and other community leaders, 'to find a new name that truly represented who we are as Albertans now and what this community is.' 'The new name—Wîhkwêntôwin—I think, embraces a much bigger vision of who we are,' Shepherd said, calling Bellerose's mural a 'beautiful representation' of this vision. Coun. Stevenson called the mural a 'lasting gift that Kayla has given to the community.' 'Wîhkwêntôwin is the perfect name for this neighborhood—it is truly a circle of friends,' she said. 'But I also think of the circle of keepers, and those are the volunteers at the community league who make the intentional effort to create spaces for us to come together in community.' Kusiek, whose Ward D includes the newly named Wîhkwêntôwin School, noted that Bellerose's mural 'celebrates every single person in this community.' She said that the process the community league went through in renaming the community 'was so well done' that it made it easy for the public school board to rename the former Oliver School. 'This is the name that best fits this school and school community, and when I look at that mural, we are stronger together,' said Kusiek. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Yahoo
Connor McDavid's Personal Post About His Wife Gets Bombarded with Hockey Comments
Connor McDavid's Personal Post About His Wife Gets Bombarded with Hockey Comments originally appeared on Athlon Sports. As uncertainty surrounds Connor McDavid's long-term future with the Edmonton Oilers, the team captain made it clear on Thursday that he has turned his NHL switch off to decompress and enjoy time with his family. Advertisement In a rare personal post shared on his Instagram account, McDavid wished his wife, Lauren, and their dog, Lenny, a happy birthday with a straight-to-the-point message. "Happy Birthday Laur! You too Lenny, love you both so much," McDavid wrote on Instagram, including a set of photos featuring the couple and their Bernedoodle. Lauren, meanwhile, also joined in the celebration, sharing her own Instagram story dedicated to Lenny. "Most importantly, happy birthday to our baby boy Lenny @lenardthebernedoodle," she wrote alongside a collage of the dog with McDavid and the couple. She followed that up with another photo of her and her husband on a golf course, with a superimposed heart next to the Oilers forward. Advertisement The post served as a reminder of Connor McDavid's off-ice priorities, just days after he told reporters he would weigh his family's interests heavily when deciding his future. "Ultimately, still need to do what's best for me and my family," McDavid said during his end-of-season media availability. Lauren Kyle McDavid's Instagram story (@laurenkyle1) Hockey fans flocked to McDavid's post on Instagram, and, as expected, had quite a few thoughts to share with the Oilers superstar — only not quite related to his birthday wishes. "Poor guy make a post about his wife and dog and yall bombard him with hockey comments 😭 let him live," one user posted, noting the development. Advertisement "Please re-sign, McDavid. Job's not finished," another one said. "Toronto has a home for you," a supposed Maple Leafs fan chimed in. "YOU are a Chicago Blackhawk," another person said. "Please stay in Edmonton and win us a cup," an Oilers fan claimed. "We almost won Connor thank you for you effort and hope to see you be an oiler for life," an account posted. "Please don't leave Edmonton 🥺" a concerned Oilers fan said. "We all love ur play and hope u stay in Edmonton," another person doubled down on those hopes. Related: Oilers Reportedly Make First Move in Connor McDavid Contract Extension Talks Related: Elliotte Friedman's Honest Take on Connor McDavid's Future with Oilers This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 27, 2025, where it first appeared.