Anzar High School celebrated its graduating seniors on June 9 in a sentimental commemoration held in the the school gym. Principal Charlene McKowen opened up the service with a heartfelt speech in which she thanked the parents and families of the 84 students graduating that day.
“The faculty and students of Anzar have seen each other at our best, and also at our worst–the true definition of family,” McKowen said to the crowd. “We, as second families, thank you, the first families, for trusting us with your sons and daughters for the last four years.”
Valedictorian Nathaniel Hsia-Coron greeted the crowd next. “I would like to thank my parents, for being so supportive during my times of need,” he said. “And to my teachers, thank you for teaching me how to speak good, math well, and lots of other cool stuff.” Hsia-Coron is set to attend the University of California, Santa Cruz in the fall. Salutatorian Carly Offerman, also honored for her high academic merits, will attend Northern Arizona University
A handful of other seniors took turns at the podium, thanking their families in attendance and the members of the school staff. Isabel Tamayo and Lizbeth Vital, who spoke after the valedictorian gave thanks in Spanish to the audience. They said goodbye to their peers by expressing: “There’s one thing we all have in common, and that’s family. We’re all family.”
Michelle Serna, another student speaker, thanked all the different tiers of staff at the high school: “To Mike, thank you for fixing everything that we broke. To the bus drivers, thank you for getting us to school on time, most of the time. Lou, thank you for roasting me every single time I showed up to your class late. And to the rest of the staff, thank you a million times over.” Serna ended her speech by reiterating a sentiment that was expressed time and time again by the staff and students in the graduation: “When people ask what Anzar is, we can’t explain because sometimes you can’t put into words what can only be felt.”
Nearing the end of the processional, Senior Advisor Adam Causey communicated his pride for the graduating student body: “You have learned what situational racism is and how to have educational discourse while feeling uncomfortable. Your racial education has given you the most unique high school experience,” said Causey. “All my expectations, you’ve surpassed. I am so proud of you guys.”
Senior Advisor Heather McMillin gave a final send off with a quote by Judy Garland: “Always be a first-rate version of yourself, not a second-rate version of someone else,” she said. “All my advisees are here. And they’re all first-rate versions of themselves.”
Principle McKowen spoke to BenitoLink after the ceremony about the particular strength of the Anzar High graduates, saying, “All our students find out what it means to try your hardest, which most of us didn’t do in high school. We find that once they know what they can do, they’re ready to graduate. We’ve done our job if they don’t need us anymore by the time they leave here.”
A total of 87 students graduated from Anzar this year; 84 at the ceremony on Thursday and another three are set to finish after summer school. All Anzar seniors are required to take a variety of college prep classes before graduation, as well as put in 100 hours of community service learning. Their hard work often pays off, as many of the graduates are set to attend colleges in the fall, ranging from local community colleges to universities in Arizona, Nevada, and Washington.
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