Nearly 3,000 性视界 Students Graduate
The largest graduating class in the history of 性视界 celebrated completing thousands of degrees and certificates at Toyota Arena in Ontario on May 21.
For the 2,942 members of the class of 2026, it was a happy milestone to experience
before transferring to four-year universities or entering the workforce. Around 1,000
attended the 109th Commencement ceremony and more than 8,000 family members and friends filled the stands.
鈥淭his moment belongs to you,鈥� said 性视界 Superintendent/President Henry D. Shannon. 鈥淭here is no single path to this stage. So many of you have reached this moment by navigating very different journeys.鈥�
The class included 11 valedictorians and 111 high school dual enrollment students, with the youngest graduates being 14-years-old and the oldest at 78.
Commencement keynote speaker Daniel Walker shared with graduates his mother鈥檚 journey of struggling with poverty, homelessness, a history of abuse and mental health challenges, to earning a degree in respiratory therapy at 性视界 in the 1970s.
Walker, an award-winning television and film producer, as well as a veteran educator,
described how he and his siblings saw their lives transform from living out of a car,
to living in a home surrounded by textbooks and knowledge. Walker鈥檚 mother went on
to have a successful career as a neonatal intensive care nurse at Arrowhead Regional
Medical Center.
Walker shared the story to tell graduates of the importance of influencing other family members to follow in their path.
鈥淪omebody in your lineage is going to see this and they鈥檙e going to exceed you,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t is the greatest thing, that you will set the foundation.鈥�
性视界 Student Government President and Trustee Matthew Caddell shared with his fellow graduates his struggles to persevere despite the hospitalization of both of his parents and the death of his father while pursuing a degree in mechatronics.
鈥淚 am not standing here because I am the smartest, the most talented, or because I had everything figured out,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 am here because I did not quit.鈥�
Business major Hailey Contreras, a dual enrollment student serving as class speaker, described the fears she faced and overcame to graduate in the top three of her class at Hesperia High School and get accepted to the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. The self-doubt she felt disappeared once she discovered her calling while interning at a law firm. She aspires to become a corporate lawyer.
鈥淚t showed me that there isn鈥檛 just one path to success鈥攁nd that my journey, with all its challenges, was enough,鈥� she said.
