Lawrence High graduates Josh Axlund, right, and Nico Carlson hug following the 2017 Commencement on Tuesday, May 23, 2017 at Lawrence High School.

Overcast skies, chilly temperatures and damp bleachers didn’t faze Lawrence High School’s class of 2017.

More than 300 seniors filled the school’s football field Tuesday night for a graduation ceremony that set a decidedly sunny tone for the years ahead.

“When I look at you, I see more than graduates. I see hope for a future that’s bright for all of us,” Superintendent Kyle Hayden told the graduates Tuesday. “Trust me, you guys are the difference makers. You’re the promise of better things to come.”

Weather conditions were somewhat bleak for LHS’ 143rd commencement ceremony, which had been delayed 30 minutes because of rain. But on the football field, dressed in their black caps and gowns, graduates spoke of their positive experiences at LHS, all while their peers volleyed a colorful beach ball back and forth in the crowd.

In her remarks, graduating senior Julia Hamill spoke about her formative years at the high school. As freshmen, she said, she and her peers forged friendships that would last throughout their four years at LHS. As sophomores, she said, they came together to stand against “racism and hatred” when the school’s football field was vandalized with a racial epithet. As juniors, Hamill said, they rallied around their LHS Chesty Lions as several of the school’s sports teams advanced to state championships.

By the end of senior year, she said, they’d matured into young adults with big dreams.

“We are all moving forward, leaving this safe environment. We are going out into the rest of the world, our dreams to fulfill. We are the class of 2017,” Hamill told her fellow graduates. “Now, we need one more thing from our classmates, teachers, family and friends — you need to teach us how to say goodbye, say goodbye one last time.”

In his humor-tinged speech, senior Parker King took the time to thank the teachers who’d served as mentors to him and his peers while at Lawrence High. Thanks to four years of debate and three years of forensics with teacher Jeff Plinsky, King said jokingly, he “can now give a flawless graduation speech.”

“The next chapter starts today, promising to be filled with lots of excitement and worrisome grandmothers,” King told the crowd. “But no matter what college, whether you stay local at KU, depart far away to Virginia or even to the miserable state of Missouri, keep your friends close and your calculus professors closer.”

King also advised his peers to “take bold steps in the direction of your success,” he said, “ignoring the possibility of failure.”

Failure, to contradict the old adage, is always an option, Lawrence school board president Marcel Harmon said in his remarks Tuesday. But, he told that evening’s graduates, it’s also something to embrace in the years ahead. Mistakes will be made, he said, and that’s OK.

As he closed his speech, Harmon paraphrased the author Neil Gaiman:

“As you leave this stadium and begin the next chapter of your life, make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes,” Harmon told the crowd. “Bend, or maybe even break, a few rules along the way. Keep learning, find ways to give back, and leave the world a more interesting and hopefully better place for you being here.

“Congratulations,” he added, “And good luck.”