‘It’s OK to be different.’ Bayshore High honors life-changing moments at graduation
Friday’s graduation ceremony was about more than diplomas for Bayshore High School’s Class of 2021.
Dean Thomas said it was a heart-wrenching farewell to the place where they found acceptance. Standing near the pitcher’s mound at LECOM Park in Bradenton, Thomas — a transgender person — then came out to loved ones in the audience.
Bayshore High became a haven for Thomas. And after coming out to close friends and teachers in past years, Thomas knew that Friday’s ceremony was a chance to speak truth into a microphone, surrounded by fellow Bruins.
“For the first time in my life, there were educators and friends who supported me in this part of my life,” Thomas said. “My peers at Bayshore taught me there is no box I must fit in, and that it’s OK to be different.”
“The Class of 2021 showed me love and understanding,” Thomas continued. “Somehow, along the way, we all became a family. We might be a dysfunctional family at times, but a family nonetheless.”
Yaneidy Cervantes-Salas, another member of the Bruins family, became a first-generation high school graduate on Friday morning. With no siblings or role models to emulate, she relied on the support of teachers, counselors and coaches to navigate Bayshore High.
Their guidance helped Salas to earn not only a high school diploma, but also an associate degree, she said during a commencement speech.
“I have long been waiting for this day — the day my efforts are rewarded, and the day I make my family proud,” Salas said.
Friday’s graduation speakers also praised the Class of 2021 for enduring a year shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the masks, social distancing and online classes, they grew closer.
Their high school diplomas reflected years of hard work and dedication, Principal Wendell Butler said, calling graduation a “turning point in their lives.”
Taking inspiration from the Declaration of Independence, he encouraged the students to embrace life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Their journey, he said, should be guided by kindness and love for all people. And he urged the students to always be generous, patient and forgiving on the path to realizing their dreams.
“The Class of 2021 is primed and ready for change,” the principal said. “You represent the progress of tomorrow — the hope for a productive and interconnected future. You are a class of students expecting and demanding change in your communities and city, state, nation and world.”
This story was originally published June 4, 2021 at 12:24 PM.