'Nothing Short of a Miracle': Graduating From Paradise High After the Camp Fire

The 220 students who graduated from Paradise High School on Thursday night have been through a lot together in the aftermath of the Camp Fire.

But for Kirsten-Grace Baker and her twin brother, Nicholas Baker, there's something more.

"To spend it together means more than people can understand, and to have someone to share it [with] is just indescribable," Nicholas said after graduating alongside his twin sister.

"Graduating together is the absolute perfect conclusion to our 13 years of school together and our 18 years of life together," added Kirsten-Grace, valedictorian for the Class of 2019.

The Bakers, like countless other students at Paradise High, lost their home to the Camp Fire, which erupted Nov. 8 and was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in recorded state history. Since then, Kirsten-Grace, Nicholas and their mom, Karla, have been living in a small apartment in nearby Chico.

For Nicholas, losing their home hasn't just meant losing a place to eat and sleep. It's meant losing memories, losing their childhood.

"I can never describe the gaping hole that's in me. I can never describe what it's like to have your entire childhood ripped away from you," he said.

What's helped them get through it, Kirsten-Grace said, is their community — specifically the support of fellow classmates.

"We all have come together so much," she said. "We love each other to death and I think that most of us would die together. We've got that Paradise pride in us that just can't be replicated."

In the immediate aftermath of the Camp Fire, students finished the semester by taking virtual classes. The school eventually moved to a temporary facility near the Chico Municipal Airport, which students have jokingly dubbed "the fortress."

Many graduating seniors, the Bakers included, never thought they'd be back at their high school in Paradise. But on Thursday night, they and 218 of their peers walked across Paradise High School's football field to graduate together.

"It's a dream come true. None of us thought we were going to graduate here, let alone be here with everyone else, so just this here, right now, is a blessing," Nicholas said. "It's nothing short of a miracle, and I can't ask for more."

Kirsten-Grace will be attending UC Berkeley in the fall, where she plans to study molecular biology. Nicholas will be going to Vanguard University in Orange County, where he hopes to walk onto the basketball team.

Going to school at opposite ends of the state, Kirsten-Grace said, will be "really bittersweet." But the two are glad they had the chance to spend one last night at Paradise High alongside their classmates and with their family.

"Just to have everyone there, it meant more than graduating," Nicholas said. "It's probably going to be one of the greatest memories that I have."