(Arapahoe, WY) – Arapaho Charter High School graduated its largest class in school history Wednesday evening, sending 21 seniors into the world during commencement in Arapahoe.
The ceremony opened in Arapaho tradition, with a processional honor song and flag song from the Little Brave Drum group, the Arapaho Dancers, and the Arapaho Color Guard. Students led the Arapaho Pledge, and Agnes Logan offered the Arapaho Blessing.
The Arapaho Dancers enter the gym at graduation. h/t Carl Cote Little Brave welcomes the 2026 Arapaho Charter graduating class with an honor song. h/t Carl Cote A girl eyes decorations on graduates sitting in front of her. h/t Carl Cote Students await to be called onto stage at graduation. h/t Carl Cote
For Principal Katie Law, the night held extra significance. It was her last graduation at the school before she takes over as principal at Wyoming Indian. In an emotional address, she told the graduates that the numbers, the largest class, the gains in participation and test scores, the near doubling of on-time graduates, mattered less than the people behind them.
“Behind every number is a person,” Law said. She talked about students who carried adult responsibilities long before they should have had to, who helped raise siblings, who faced hardship and instability, and showed up to school anyway. “You showed up because you matter,” she told them. She pushed back on the idea that students at an alternative school should be defined by what they lack, arguing instead that they had learned perseverance, adaptability, and a kind of perspective that comes early to people who grow up fast.
Law said she chooses a word each year to describe the graduating class, and this year the word was puzzle. Each student, staff member, and family, she said, is a different piece, and only when they come together do they form the full picture.
“To the graduating class of 2026, each of you has made history here today,” Law said, noting that some graduates were the first in their families to finish high school and others would be the first to attend college.
Superintendent David Holbert also addressed the class, telling graduates he had known many of them since elementary school and keeping his remarks brief. Board of Directors Chairman Becky Bell offered remarks on behalf of the board. Graduate Ryan Dancing Lyte Oldman delivered the student address, thanking her classmates, Law, and her teacher Heather Pasquinelli for her guidance and friendship.
The Board of Trustees, Law, and Holbert certified the graduates and presented diplomas. The class chose the blue rose as its class flower and “Meet Me Halfway” by the Black Eyed Peas as its class song. The class motto: “Sometimes you’ll never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.”