Yaaḵoosgé Daakahídi High School celebrates Class of 2025

Thirty-eight seniors at the Yaaḵoosgé Daakahídi High School graduation on Sunday each received a touchingly personalized tribute from their advisor, along with some good-natured teasing.

Yaaḵoosgé Daakahídi advisor and teacher Electra Gardinier said graduate Aster Davis always asked questions in history class that she “was not prepared to answer.”

“While I don’t exactly know what they will study (at the University of Alaska Southeast), I do know it won’t be long until they tell the professor that they are wrong and ask them for a dollar,” Gardinier said, laughing.

YDHS graduates were hailed for a wide variety of achievements and personality traits, from their love of “pink girlhood moments” or penchant for matching orange outfits to their unwavering support for classmates and advocacy efforts. That level of personalization was possible due to the significantly smaller graduating class compared to the now-consolidated Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé, which had nearly 300 graduates this year.

YDHS students and faculty laughed and cried, with cheers rising from the packed Dzantik’i Heeni gymnasium bleachers.

Counselor Eli Wray, affectionately nicknamed “Mr. Clean” by students, praised the class for their grit and determination, even in the face of barriers.

“Many of them have faced and continue to face the challenges that would make even the seasoned adults falter,” Wray said. “They have had to fight, speak up for themselves, and push through obstacles that most people never even have to think about, but they weren’t broken by those challenges. They rose, they persevered, and they continue to do so every single day.”

Featured student speaker Posala Ioane led the class of 2025 in a drum roll before giving a joking shoutout to Chat GPT during his speech. He then thanked the “amazing staff” at Yaaḵoosgé Daakahídi for their support.

“Today we stand here not just as individuals, but as a family, shaped by every moment, every challenge, every lesson,” Ioane said.

Maxie Lehauli, another student speaker, told her fellow graduates to take a moment to look at the person next to them, as it may be the last time they’re all together in a room. High school may have been a lot of confusion, group projects and asking who was vaping in the bathroom, she said, but it was “real.”

“We have already proved that we’re survivors as we stand here today, side by side,” she said.

Yaaḵoosgé Daakahídi High School Principal John Paul said it’s hard to compare classes year-to-year, but the class of 2025 was instrumental in building camaraderie, especially with the unique dynamic of moving buildings and new staff. YDHS was moved from the Marie Drake building to Dzantik’i Heeni during last year’s school consolidation effort.

“They created a lot of new kinds of traditions and a lot of new norms for our entire group, which we really need,” he said.

Paul also noted the graduation rate this year. In his opening remarks, he said the 2025 YDHS graduation rate was 84%, surpassing the 68% overall graduation rate among alternative high schools in Alaska.

“We had 45 eligible graduates, but a lot of our graduates are actually early grads as well. We just had some people that said, ‘No, we’ve got two quarters left, and we can do extra,’ and they did,” he said.

Many of the graduates say they owe their success to the unique, hands-on approach to education at YDHS.

“I struggle a lot with attention disorders and stuff, and I had a really hard time paying attention in class,” said Sammy Lindoff, a 2025 graduate and recipient of the Sealaska Scholarship. “That’s how I was at regular school. So I transferred here to do better, and the learning here is definitely better.”

After graduation, Lindoff plans to go to Fort Lewis College in Colorado to study studio art and business.

Marley Webster has graduated a year early. She said teachers were the most impactful part of her time at YDHS. Webster plans to study welding in pursuit of becoming a mechanic.

“They are honestly the best teachers I’ve ever had,” she said. “They’re so supportive and they’re there for you, and honestly, Yaaḵoosgé is a really beautiful community, and I really wish other people could see it.”

• Ellie Ruel can be contacted via editor@juneauempire.com.