The Jamestown High School Class of 2022. Submitted photos

Cecelia Eklum, valedictorian of Jamestown High School’s Class of 2022, noted the extraordinary circumstances seniors overcame in making it to graduation this year. The COVID-19 pandemic, she said, posed “one of the biggest educational challenges in the history of time” for students.

Those efforts have now paid off.

Eklum recognized her fellow students during Jamestown High School’s graduation ceremony Friday at the Chautauqua Institution Amphitheater.

She said the soon-to-be graduates were “strong like a rock,” noting that rocks hold a special meaning for her.

“Since I was small, when I would find a special pebble, whether at the park, beach, vacation, or on a walk, my mother would let me bring it home and put it in a special jar,” Eklum said in her speech. “This jar sits on a window sill in my dining room. This jar is what I hold in front of you tonight and was right there glistening in the window during my remote days studying.

“These rocks are from special places and they remind me of important journeys and people in my life.”