Graduation season may be over, but we can’t stop (and won’t stop) celebrating our Summer Search grads!

For the past couple of months, our mentors have had the honor of cheering on our new graduates, and the rest of our Summer Search family has celebrated them from around the world on social media, through the hashtag #SummerSearchGrad.

So in case you missed it, let’s look back at some remarkable Summer Searchers who completed their high school journeys last month and shared those triumphant moments with us in part 1 of this year’s #SummerSearchGrad blog series!

Tamara and Aminata — New York City

New York City Summer Searchers Tamara (left) and Aminata (right) graduated from University Heights High School and are both headed to college this fall! Tamara will attend SUNY Binghamton and Aminata is off to SUNY Albany. In the middle of these two graduates is their proud mentor Nancy.

Zayquan — New York City

Zayquan also graduated from University Heights High School and will head to Brandeis University in Massachusetts. Accompanying him at the graduation ceremony is his mentor Nancy, who was all smiles on Zayquan’s big day!

Kiyneeanay — Philadelphia

Kiyneeanay graduated from KIPP DuBois Collegiate Academy in Philadelphia. As a keynote speaker, she delivered a moving speech titled “The Long Game,” where she shared how her little brother inspired her career goal: occupational therapy. Kiyneeanay will head to Lincoln University this fall, and Summer Search is thrilled for her to start this new journey!

Zack — Philadelphia

Zack graduated as a valedictorian at KIPP Dubois Collegiate Academy! He will attend University of Pennsylvania in the fall and we all (especially his mentor Kaitlin) can’t wait to see what amazing things he accomplishes in the future!

A-Queen — Seattle

A-Queen was the first Summer Search Seattle high schooler to walk across the commencement stage when she graduated from Bonney Lake High School, cheered on by her mentor Jonathen. She will attend Washington State University Vancouver this fall and wants to study behavioral analysis. Congrats A-Queen!

Nicholas and Isau — Seattle

Here’s Nicholas and Isau celebrating their success with mentor De’Andre at their graduation ceremony from Mt. Rainier High School. Nicholas will attend University of Washington Seattle in the fall and plans to major in Biology. Isau will also stay in Seattle and is headed to Seattle Pacific University.

Sofi and Flor — Seattle

Rounding out the Mt. Rainier grad squad are Sofi and Flor, who will also be staying local in the state of Washington. Sofi will be attending Highline College and Flor is going to Western Washington University!

Selena and Natalia — Seattle

Starting us off with the Renton High School crew are Selena and Natalia! Selena (left) will be joining Flor at Western Washington University. Natalia (right, accompanied by Seattle staff Jonathen and Sergey) is continuing her educational journey at Washington State University – Pullman.

Ellie, Ariana, and Naima — Seattle

Continuing with the Renton High grads, Ellie (far left) shares her big day with mentor Jonathen, while Summer Searchers Ariana (center-left) and Naima (right) celebrate together! Ariana will be attending the University of Washington – Seattle and Naima has planned to take a gap year to work. We are so proud of them and excited to see what they do in the future!

Michael and Cristian — Boston

Here are two proud Summer Search Boston grads, Michael and Cristian! Michael is attending Framingham State University and Cristian is off to Bunker Hill Community College. Both were joined by their mentor Armani at their graduations, who is also a Summer Search alumnus. How amazing it is to see things come full circle?!

Eileen, Maria, and Yesica — Boston

Joining Cristian at Bunker Hill Community College this fall is fellow Boston Summer Searcher Yesica (right). Eileen (left) is heading to UMass Boston, and Maria (center) will participate in Year Up, a one-year program that provides academic and professional training. All three were joined by their mentor Jonathan at their graduations!

BONUS: Read about Maria’s Summer Search journey in this article from WBUR »

Bay Area

Last, but certainly not least, is this group of Summer Search Bay Area grads celebrating together at their Senior Sendoff. We love their smiling faces, supportive spirits, and those beautiful Summer Search graduation stoles – made specially for them by their mentors!

Thank you to these high school grads who allowed us to brag about them and their incredible accomplishments. We are so proud of ALL our graduating and next-step-taking Summer Searchers who are ready to take on the world!

Stay tuned for our next #SummerSearchGrad story!