As their time at Santa Clarita Christian School draws to a close, members of the graduating class of 2025 were left with one message: Keep God close to your heart and never be led astray.
SCCS held its graduation on campus on Saturday afternoon, with about 28 students walking the stage.
Mark Wilson, SCCS administrator, began the ceremony with some words about why they have come together for this occasion.
“Why are we here? Well, SCCS exists to partner with Christian parents of like faith, to teach students’ minds and train their hearts for God through a distinctively biblical education,” Wilson said to the audience.
Wilson added that they proclaim “Him,” and says that Jesus Christ admonishes and teaches each student so that when they present each student, they are completed in Christ.
After the graduating class sat up on stage, Wilson emphasized that it was more than a graduation, but a worship service too. He then introduced Senior Pastor David Caldwell of Santa Clarita Baptist Church to lead the group in an opening prayer.
“On the glorious splendor of your majesty and on your wonderful works, we meditate, and we look to you today,” Caldwell’s prayer to the crowd said. “We praise you, Lord, for these graduating seniors and for this ceremony today that recognizes this important milestone in their lives. Today’s celebration also, Lord, points to your goodness, your grace, and your mercy and your faithfulness that has been demonstrated in their lives.”
SCCS’s choir ensemble, which included 11 of the graduating seniors, sang the hymn, “Is He Worthy?” by Chris Tomlin to kick off the festivities.
Valedictorian Sophia Blietz’s address was to show her appreciation for the teachers.
“Today is not only a moment of celebration and reflection, but gratitude for the people who helped get us where we are. While we celebrate our achievements, I want to take a few moments to thank the people who helped shape us. Not just academically but spiritually and personally, our faculty,” Blietz said.
She continued by saying that the faculty were more than teachers, coaches, administration and staff; They were mentors, spiritual leaders and role models.
“Whether we had homework questions, needed guidance, or simply just wanted to talk, our faculty were always there. Because SCCS has teachers who helped us both academically and spiritually,” Blietz said.
She quoted Proverbs 22:6: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
Blietz finished her address by saying thank you to the teachers for their patience, their kindness and their constant encouragement; whether they were struggling with math or wrestling their faith, they always showed them grace.
Salutatorian Patrick Puglisi went next for his address and gave thanks to the parents of each graduate.
“There was no one more crucial to the livelihood of SCCS than you parents. Your love for your students and your desire for them to be taught in a Christian setting is why this school exists. Instead of opting for a free education at a public school, you sacrificed your hard-earned money so that we could all learn about Christ in our classrooms,” Puglisi said.
He added that the parents could have all taken a first-class trip to the Bahamas every summer but instead opted to pay for SCCS.
Everyone in the audience laughed.
“This is not an easy task. I’m sure that we have all tested your patience once or twice, but no matter what, you have loved us through the good, the bad and the ugly,” Puglisi said.
After Blietz and Puglisi spoke, a video presentation played with photos of each graduate and a testimonial of their gratitude and thanks for their friends, family and their SCCS experience.
Graduates stepped down from the stage to give their parents roses – a red rose to symbolize their thanks and a white rose to symbolize a thank you for their graduating families, whose youngest child was done at SCCS.
Graduate Jonathan Boelter gave a graduate charge to his fellow classmates.
“We made it out through luck, but through perseverance in the Lord. Through the early mornings and the late afternoons, working on assignments we promised we’d finish earlier. Didn’t happen. We made it all the way to graduation. The beginning of the next chapter of our lives. We can see how much we’ve grown throughout all of high school,” Boelter said.
Boelter added that although this would be the last time they would be walking through those doors, he wanted to leave them with one last message.
“That is to keep God close to you. We’re all heading in different directions now. Some to college, some to work. But wherever you go, whatever path you take, don’t do it alone. Lean on God. Life outside these walls have its own set of challenges and circumstances we don’t know yet … we have to look towards Christ once again,” Boelter said.
Coach Austin Fry gave out athletic awards to two graduates, Blietz for swim and Cayden Rappleye for baseball and football.
After Fry, Darla Agajanian, dean of secondary academics, gave out the Parent Teacher Fellowship of Santa Clarita Christian $2,500 scholarship to one student who would be attending a four-year university. That student was Melissa Beasley.
Agajanian gave out the Timothy Award, which is based on Philippians 2:19 to :22.
“One who has proven worth to be an encourager, servant and faithful example is affirmed by overseers and peers,” Agajanian said.
The two graduates were Brynn Owen and Zackery Beaty.
Wilson gave the graduates one last challenge.
“I would like to give you one big idea and three reminders … the big idea is this: As you anticipate your next school, your next location, new teachers, friends and opportunities,” Wilson said. “As you anticipate leaving our little school and escaping the daily drama of high school, we challenge you to embrace the divine drama of history. To say that another way, His story.”
Wilson’s three reminders to the graduates were that they would flourish fruitfully, fall but do not fail, and finish faithfully.
Once Wilson was finished, the graduates got their diplomas and were blessed by Caldwell one final time.
“Lord, as these seniors begin a new chapter, in a new season of life, we pray for you to continue to work in them and through them,” Caldwell said.
