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Woodside High School’s Class of 2025, dressed in bright orange caps and gowns, lit up Bradley Field as graduating seniors gathered for their commencement ceremony on the morning of June 6. This year marked the school’s 66th graduating class with 436 students crossing the stage.
The ceremony celebrated the hard work and accomplishments made throughout the students’ four-year high school journey. For Principal Karen Van Putten, this school year also marks her four-year anniversary since starting her role as an administrator for Woodside High School.
Student speaker Hannah Baltodano and Valedictorian Emilia Rose took to the podium and spoke about the student experience.
“Our lives are just beginning, the future is bright and it’s ours to shape,” said Baltodano. She gave an inspirational speech to remind her fellow classmates to cherish the moments they shared at Woodside and to brave the unknown journey that awaits them.
As an annual tradition, the senior class announced its gift to the school. This year’s gift represents guidance. The Class of 2025 gifted Woodside High with a campus map, recently installed at each school entrance.
Rose reflected on the trials and tribulations of the high school journey in her speech titled, “Growing into Wildcats.”
“We are wildcats. We can climb any tree, jump any gap and run any distance. There is no challenge that we cannot rise to,” she said.
Rose encouraged her peers to take the time to relax as they prepare to take their next step into the future.
Hannah Baltodano presents her speech, “Keep Moving Forward.” Photo by Emily Steinberger. 
A graduate fixes his cap in a mirror. Photo by Emily Steinberger. 
Natalie Gerola, right, holds her cap in place as Samantha Sebiy, left, attaches it. Photo by Emily Steinberger. 
Friends and families cheer in the stands at Woodside High. Photo by Emily Steinberger.
“I insist that the next time that we look down on ourselves to assess if we are ready for our future endeavors, we also look back and see how much we have grown and evolved from our past selves,” Rose said.
To energize the crowd, Van Putten led a call and response from the hundreds of students and audience members as they collectively yelled “Woodside Wildcats.” The school spirit created a roaring echo across the field.
Van Putten commended the Class of 2025 for their ambition to “make things happen.” Students pushed to start a girls flag football team, a boys volleyball team and encouraged the school to start new Advanced Placement courses in physics and psychology.
From 2021 to 2025, the graduating class was part of many new beginnings, including the formation of the Model U.N. club, a Science Olympiad team, a student-run record label and a robotics team that grew to achieve the highest levels of success. Van Putten said history was made during their time when the girls softball team won its first Central Coast Section championships and the girls relay team broke the school’s record.
To close out her speech, Van Putten introduced seniors Grace Coffee and Kash Hodges who performed a cover of the song “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield before the graduates names were called.
As each student crossed the stage, the crowd blew air horns and cheered loudly. In the final moments of the ceremony, the graduates turned their tassels from right to left and, in celebratory tradition, tossed their caps into the air — marking the end of their high school chapter.
Check out this year’s list of Woodside High School graduates and read our interview with Kailyn Holty, one of the graduating seniors.
For all of our graduation coverage, go to our central graduation page.
