Celebrating Identity, Belonging, and the Next Generation of Leaders
Nearly 200 middle school, high school, and college graduates from across the Eastside are recognized during the YES Latine Celebration of Graduates, joining hundreds of family members and supporters for an evening honoring academic achievement, cultural identity, and community. Photo by Barrie Silvia, Bellevue School District.
How the YES Latine Celebration of Graduates reflects a year of connection, culture, and community.
Before graduates crossed the stage at this year’s YES Latine Celebration of Graduates, they received something they hadn’t earned through grades, tests, or diplomas.
A colorful stole.
To an outside observer, it might look like another graduation accessory. But for the nearly 200 middle school, high school, and college graduates recognized this June, the stole represented something much deeper: sacrifice, resilience, family, culture, and the generations who made this moment possible.
A graduate receives a personalized stole before crossing the stage. More than a graduation accessory, each stole symbolizes sacrifice, culture, family, and Orgullo — the deep pride shared by graduates, their loved ones, and the community celebrating their accomplishments. Photo by Barrie Silvia, Bellevue School District.
“As you see these stoles in a sea of graduates,” former YES participant and Sammamish High School alumnus Erik Mercado told the audience, “feel the orgullo we feel for you” — the deep pride, love, and joy of a community celebrating its graduates.
For many families, it was a celebration years in the making.
For Youth Eastside Services, it was the culmination of a year’s worth of relationship-building, leadership development, student voice, cultural connection, and mental wellness support.
More Than a Ceremony
For 58 years, YES has worked to help young people navigate life’s challenges. Within its Latine Youth & Family Services Program, that work takes on a unique form.
“We believe that culture heals,” says Tina Morales, Program Manager of Community-Based Programs.
That philosophy shapes everything the program does.
Alongside fellow YES staff members Judith Mercado and Banessa Gomez, Morales helps create spaces where young people can strengthen their cultural identity, develop leadership skills, build community, and know they belong.
Throughout the year, students gather in after-school leadership groups, organize community service projects, celebrate cultural traditions, mentor younger students, explore identity, strengthen family connections, and build the trust that allows them to ask for help when they need it. Rather than treating culture as something separate from behavioral health, YES recognizes belonging, identity, and community as essential ingredients of wellness.
The graduation celebration is where all of that work becomes visible.
A Celebration Built by Students
Made possible through partnerships with Eastside schools and community organizations, this year’s event brought together nearly 200 graduates and more than 400 family members from communities across the Eastside, representing Lake Washington, Bellevue, and Issaquah school districts. Youth helped organize and lead the celebration, inviting classmates, coordinating the program, and creating a space where families could celebrate together.
For Morales, one of the most moving moments wasn’t on the stage.
Members of the Danza Azteca group Nahui Ollin Tezcatlipocatl perform during the YES Latine Celebration of Graduates, honoring traditions that have been passed down through generations. At YES, cultural connection is an essential part of helping young people strengthen their identity, build belonging, and support mental wellness. Photo by Axel Martínez MAX ESSENCE.
It was seeing students proudly embrace parts of themselves they hadn’t always felt comfortable sharing.
She recalls one graduate who had not participated in many of the cultural activities because sports kept him busy. Watching him stand proudly among his peers, celebrating his Latino heritage alongside his family, felt like a gift.
“It’s part of their identity,” she says. “The pride and love for the culture and families was the highlight across the board.”
That pride extended well beyond the graduates themselves.
“Ultimately, this is a celebration for parents as well,” Morales says. “The students know that is part of the acknowledgement that takes place by them being recognized.”
Honoring the Journey
The tradition has grown significantly over time.
What began more than a decade ago as youth-organized celebrations honoring graduating high school seniors has evolved into one of YES’s largest community events. In 2016, students expanded the celebration to recognize learners from preschool through college. Today, it honors eighth-grade promotion, high school graduation, college degrees, and beyond, with graduates wearing different colored stoles representing each milestone.
The meaning of those stoles has never changed.
Youth leaders on stage during the celebration. Throughout the year, students help shape the Latine Youth & Family Services Program by organizing events, developing leadership skills, and creating spaces where their peers feel seen, supported, and connected. Photo by Barrie Silvia, Bellevue School District. Photo by Barrie Silvia, Bellevue School District.
“They are a symbol of sacrifice, culture, and orgullo,” Mercado told graduates.
“Our parents planted seeds, which I witness here today, that have bloomed and will continue to grow.”
That message resonated throughout the evening.
Families were thanked in both English and Spanish for the sacrifices they made to help their children pursue opportunities they themselves may never have had. Guest speaker Catherine Cruz, founding member of Latino H.E.A.T. and now Family Engagement and Community Outreach Coordinator in Lake Washington School District’s Department of Student Excellence and Engagement, encouraged graduates and their families to celebrate both their accomplishments and the communities that helped make them possible.
Graduates were reminded that they carry not only their own accomplishments, but also the hopes of the communities that helped raise them.
The Next Generation of Leaders
One of the strongest measures of the program’s impact isn’t found in attendance numbers.
It’s found in who comes back.
Former participants have returned as college graduates, community leaders, and even YES staff members, helping create the same sense of belonging they once experienced themselves.
For Morales, those moments affirm what years of consistent engagement can accomplish.
“Our constant outreach, letting them know we’re here for them, pays off,” she says. “They see that others care for them. It goes a long way.”
Following the ceremony, keynote speaker Michelle Enriquez embraces one of the graduates she first taught as an elementary school teacher. For many families, the celebration honors not only academic achievement, but also the lasting relationships, encouragement, and support that help young people reach this milestone. Photo by Barrie Silvia, Bellevue School District.
In a world where many young people quietly carry the weight of anxiety, discrimination, family hardship, or uncertainty, YES believes healing begins by helping them feel seen.
That is what this celebration has always been about.
Not just recognizing graduates.
But recognizing who they are, where they come from, and the communities that will continue cheering them on long after graduation day.
See More Photos
Want to experience more of this year’s celebration? Visit our Instagram for a gallery of additional moments from the YES Latine Celebration of Graduates.
Invest in belonging. Invest in wellness.
At YES, we know mental health support doesn’t only happen in counseling sessions. It also happens through trusted relationships, cultural connection, and communities where every young person feels they belong. Your support helps make programs like the Latine Youth & Family Services Program possible.