A change in venue could not dampen the spirits of Benicia High School’s 117th commencement ceremony Saturday, which was held at Diablo Valley College as work finishes up on the high school’s own football stadium. Principal Brianna Kleinschmidt called the day one of “reflection and celebration,” Superintendent Charles Young talked about the school’s recent Gold Ribbon Award and told graduates “Take comfort in the fact that you are graduating from a well-recognized, award-winning school,” Kleinschmidt recognized a record number of Principal’s Scholars who had a 4.0 GPA or higher all throughout high school, salutatorian brothers Brian and Michael Chou talked about treasuring the past and put new twists on inspirational phrases, valedictorian Stella Li quoted 50 Cent and also mixed insight with humor (“Be nice to your family. If anything goes wrong, they’re your best choice for a spare kidney”), Joseph Carretta presented new panther costumes as the senior class gift, and the ceremony ended with the senior performers from the spring musical “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” with a rendition of that show’s number “The Last Goodbye.” The tradition will return to BHS next year when the Class of 2018 graduates in the new George Drolette Stadium. (Photo by Nick Sestanovich)