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Park City High School graduates over 400 students for the class of 2022

Park City High School class of 2022.
Renai Bodley Miller
Park City High School class of 2022.

The Park City High School class of 2022 graduated on Friday.

Under blue skies and perfect weather, 413 graduates received diplomas at Park City High School’s Dozier Field Friday evening, capping off a high school career where all three years were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. PCHS is grades 10-12.

83% of the class of 2022 is pursuing higher education after graduation at over 120 different colleges and universities. PCHS graduates were also offered over $18 million in scholarships – a new record.

Speeches on Friday evening had a common theme: getting out of your comfort zone.

Valedictorian Jack Goodman encouraged his peers to take risks in their lives without fear of failure. He said he believes his classmates are the kind of people who will do big things in the future.

“People often set up imaginary barriers that can keep them from their true potential, not even attempting something based on the mere possibility of failure or embarrassment," Goodman said. "However, that complacency is not something I see in the crowd in front of me.”

Twins John and Jude Trahan were co-valedictorian and salutatorian. They said life is all about “finding your people” and said there’s no telling when or where that might happen.

“All actions have unintended consequences," they said. "We all sign up for classes without the knowledge that your future best friend might be sitting right beside you. You might just find an interest in a topic or a class that you just took for a GPA boost. Every one of you is taking this amazing next step in your lives, whether it be college, trade school, working construction, or even being a bouncer. I hope you keep some of these memories you’ve made, no matter how big or small or good or bad.”

Jessica Hinojos is co-President of Latinos in Action and shared that she is accomplishing a first in her family by graduating. She also spoke to the continuing inequities in society and how she will continue to work to right those wrongs.

“I stand here today as the first in my family to graduate from high school, and the first to go to college," said Hinojos. "As I grew older, I both saw and experienced the ways in which many institutions are stacked against minorities, and how the only way out was by getting an education. So that is what I did and that is what I will continue to do.”

During remarks to the graduating class, Principal Roger Arbabi earned cheers from parents when he urged students to spend less time on their devices. He also dispensed advice about how to show up for others in adult life, along with high fives and big hugs as students collected their diplomas.

Diplomas were awarded, caps were tossed, and Dozier field became a sea of hugs, flowers and photo ops. Now the PCHS class of 2022 is on to even bigger things.

Sean Higgins covers all things Park City and is the Saturday Weekend Edition host at KPCW. Sean spent the first five years of his journalism career covering World Cup skiing for Ski Racing Media here in Utah and served as Senior Editor until January 2020. As Senior Editor, he managed the day-to-day news section of skiracing.com, as well as produced and hosted Ski Racing’s weekly podcast. During his tenure with Ski Racing Media, he was also a field reporter for NBC Sports, covering events in Europe.