Newtown High School graduates are to remember “today and every day” the 20 classmates who were killed as first graders.

NEWTOWN, Connecticut (AP) — It was an emotional graduation ceremony for high school graduates in Newtown, Connecticut, who observed a minute of silence to remember their 20 classmates who were shot and killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Principal Kimberly Longobucco on Wednesday read the names of the first-graders who were killed along with six other teachers on Dec. 14, 2012, as the graduating class of 2024 and their families listened to the sight, Hearst Connecticut Media reported.

“We remember them for their courage, their kindness and their spirit,” Longobucco said. “Let us strive to honor them today and every day.”

Chris Melillo, superintendent of Newtown Schools, told the 335 graduates, “Life is too short to do something that doesn’t set your soul on fire – something that doesn’t give you meaning and purpose. Never settle for less than what sets your heart on fire.”

About 60 Newtown High graduates attended Sandy Hook Elementary School and survived one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.

With the exception of two local news organizations, Wednesday’s graduation ceremony was not open to the media.

Sandy Hook survivors who spoke to the Associated Press before their graduation ceremony said their thoughts were with their deceased classmates.

“I’m definitely going to have a lot of mixed emotions,” said Emma Ehrens, 17. “I’m so excited to be out of high school and moving on to the next chapter of my life. But I’m also so … sad, I guess, that I’m going to have to walk across that stage alone. … I like to imagine that they’re going to be there with us, walking across that stage with us.”

Some Sandy Hook survivors speak of their community as a “bubble” that protects them from the outside world.

Grace Chiriatti, the runner-up in her class, said during the ceremony that part of her wished things could stay the way they are is because as graduating seniors, “we have a certain level of comfort.”

“Everything seems so perfect when I’m surrounded by the people I love… it’s hard to leave now that I’ve got everything sorted out,” Chiriatti said. “But if we start something new, we won’t have to start over again.”