Los Cerritos Elementary School students

The Class of 2020 is a Class of Courage

Like many Bay Area high school valedictorians, El Camino High School senior Eric Payson and South San Francisco High School senior Queenie Lam were unable to deliver a traditional valedictory speech at graduation due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Thanks to KTVU News 2, however, Eric and Queenie not only managed to address their classmates, but they also had the opportunity to talk to their peers throughout the Bay Area.

KTVU stitched together snippets from 14 different high school valedictory speeches (including Eric’s and Queenie’s) to help inspire and celebrate the class of 2020.

The master speech included remarks from students at: 

  • SSFUSD’s El Camino High;
  • SSFUSD’s South San Francisco High;
  • De La Salle High;
  • Salesian College Prep;
  • San Mateo Union High School District’s Capuchino High;
  • Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District’s Livermore High;
  • Gilroy Unified School District’s Gilroy High;
  • Antioch Unified School District’s Antioch High;
  • Pittsburg Unified School District’s Pittsburg High;
  • Liberty Union High School District’s Heritage High;
  • Orion Academy in Moraga;
  • Roseland University Prep in Santa Rosa; and 
  • Dr. TJ Owens Gilroy Early College Academy.

To see Eric’s and Queenie’s individual valedictory speeches in their entirety, visit:

https://www.ktvu.com/news/class-of-2020-valedictorians-deliver-socially-distant-graduation-speeches