Under the bright June sun, Palisades Charter High School seniors marched into the Hollywood Bowl, clad in bright blue graduation robes, ready to celebrate their graduation – an occasion of joy after the Palisades fire damaged their school and destroyed much of their surrounding community.

Administrators, guest speakers and students on Wednesday, June 4, all referenced the difficult path this group of seniors have walked, from a freshman year where they walked onto campus masked amidst the still raging COVID-19 pandemic, to the end of their senior year being rocked by the Palisades fire.

The Hollywood Bowl was not the Palisades view, where most imagined their graduation taking place. But the iconic venue was a source of excitement for many students.

Friends Ilan Ahdout and Tristan Bahmanyar, both 18 and headed to UCLA in the fall, were excited to graduate at the Hollywood Bowl, the “big, beautiful” location making the festivities all the more memorable.

“As much as we love our own school, it doesn’t really get much better than the Hollywood Bowl,” Ahdout said.

“I think it’s the best thing that could have come of a bad situation,”  Bahmanyar added.

In April, following the search for a new campus, the school welcomed students back to in-person instruction at a new campus, Pali South, located south of the Pacific Palisades in Santa Monica.

The school transformed the old Sears building into classrooms, allowing students to once again see teachers and peers face-to-face after the students were online for nearly three months after the Palisades fire. This was this cohort’s second time thrust into online learning, which they first experienced during the pandemic.

“I’m very happy that we overcame everything and still are able to graduate in person, because we were on Zoom for a while,” senior Diara Hartley, 18 said.

For Hartley, who will attend Los Angeles Trade Tech for culinary school in the fall, graduation is extra special because of her generational ties to the high school. Her mom, aunt and cousin all attended the school.

“For us to have to move, during our last year, it was kind of emotional,” she said of the school’s relocation.

“If you can’t have an ocean view, this isn’t a bad consolation prize,” Nick Melvoin, LAUSD District 4 representative said. “When things around you have gone low, you have gone Pali high,” he joked.

The Bowl, a “beautiful, magical, historic location,” was the top response from the senior class when they were asked what their dream location for graduation would be, Pam Magee, executive director and principal of the high school, said.

Many students walked the stage just months after losing their homes in the fire, still displaced, or having to move because of the damage the fire caused to many structures that still stand. They are unlivable due to smoke and other contaminants.

Dmitry Fradkin sat in the crowd holding an oversized fan, on it written “Emma’s biggest fan.” He attended the graduation to watch his niece, Emma Yoffey, walk the stage. Though her family’s home didn’t burn, it is unlivable and the family has been displaced.

Throughout the difficult months following the fire, Yoffey, a member of the Palisades Charter High School, also known as Pali High, girls’ lacrosse team, won a championship title.

Fradkin, her uncle and a Pali High 2007 alumnus himself, was excited to be among family celebrating her graduation before she heads to Syracuse University in the fall.

Senior Isabella Canela, 17, was in disbelief that graduation had come so quickly. She did not lose her home in the fire, but had many friends who did, which affected their year deeply.

“I did house a few of them and it was really difficult because my friends are like my family, so it really hurt me,” she said. “They lost everything and it’s really heartbreaking and I felt helpless that I couldn’t do anything.”

“Like my friend said, I think that graduating feels really surreal, but a part of that is because we lost so many school hours because of the fires while we were online,” senior Kamille Agustin, 18, said. “I think we had a lot less time to really appreciate high school life than everyone else because of the fires.”

Canela plans to attend Santa Monica College and Agustin will be off to UC Santa Cruz.

The invincible class of 2025, as their principal calls them, may not have been able to graduate on the field they spent years attending football games at, looking out at the quintessentially Palisades ocean view, but the teens still came together to celebrate their accomplishments.

“What we learned from you is the importance of community,” Magee, the principal, said.

The ceremony’s featured speakers were kicked off by a video message recorded for the class from Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Newsom spoke of the “pandemic, social unrest… drought and then… simultaneous floods and obviously, the devastation of these fires.”

“But the fact that you’re here is a testament to your grit, to your hard work and your determination, your willingness to not give in to the fear and not to give in to any of that anxiety,” he said.

Golden State Warriors head coach and Palisades Charter High School alum Steve Kerr took the stage to congratulate the class of 2025 and reflect on his journey since he graduated at Pali High’s “stadium by the sea.”

“A mere 42 years ago, I was in your shoes,” he said.

Kerr, who lost his own Pacific Palisades home in the January fire, traced back his career success to his days playing basketball at Palisades High and the local Palisades YMCA, to collegiate years at the University of Arizona. The coach invoked wisdom he has learned from the game of basketball, reminding the graduates of the power of emotional intelligence and encouraging them to search for their passions.

“Congrats my fellow Pali Dolphins, let’s rebuild the Palisades…” Kerr said as he closed out his speech.

Comedian and actor Billy Crystal candidly reflected on the losses suffered from the fire, using his comedic prowess to make light of the difficulties the students have faced in his speech. Crystal joked he was here to celebrate the “Pali High/abandoned Sears building class of 2025,”referencing the unique location the students were relocated to.

The “When Harry Met Sally” actor, who lost his home in the fire, acknowledged the pain of the fire so swiftly destroying the Palisades.

“For many of you, it was the same. And, to compound this fracture, we lost our town and you lost your school– monumental anchors of all of our lives. But from this disruption, chaos and tragedy, comes something very important: perspective,” Crystal said.

Actress Jennifer Coolidge graced the screens of the Hollywood Bowl to deliver a message to the Pali High seniors, speaking admirably of the group who survived a “catastrophic” year.

“Its an amazing feat and you made it through an incredibly hard year,” Coolidge said. “I’m just incredibly proud of you and happy for you…”

A montage of the senior class’ activities across the year played to the soundtrack of Tongue Tied by Grouplove. Seniors shared their favorite memories, from hanging out with one another at lunchtime and getting through online school to fun activities like a senior pool party.

Associated Student Body President Charlie Speiser, Senior Class President Taylor Beljon-Regen and Valedictorian Annalisa Hurd spoke to their fellow seniors, reflecting on their journeys as students at Pali High and the excitement the students feel at the end of their time as high school students, but at the precipice of their new journeys to college and the working world.

The crowd erupted into applause and cheers as the students walked the stage, draped with leis, cords, stoles and medals. In the crowd, cutouts of graduates were waved overhead as parents, family and friends took cover from the sun under umbrellas. Many supporters in the crowd wore hats referencing the Palisades community rebuilding, reading “Pali Strong” and “Pali Rising.”

The students tossed their Pali High blue caps into the air, marking the end of high school years marked by unconventional events and proving their resiliency in the face of it all.