By Matt Miller
Armijo High School’s commencement for 2024 featured a National Anthem, Pledge of Allegiance and three short speeches from the valedictorians before names were announced 20 minutes into the ceremony.
Much has changed at Armijo since the doors opened on a one-room schoolhouse in 1891 that featured just 30 students. This year the graduation program featured 439 names in the class – from Jullianna Abusharkh to Damien Jacey Tison Zuniga-Bailey – who marched in on the artificial grass of Brownlee Field.
The Royals entered the stadium in two long lines to the familiar “Pomp and Circumstance.” The graduates were dressed in their distinctive royal purple robes with yellow striping on the sleeves and purple mortar boards with yellow tassels. Many accentuated their attire with honor cords, flowers and other forms of personal decorations. They waved to their family and friends in the overflow stands on a special yet windy evening.