Yuba City Charter School: small class with big dreams
For the 15 Yuba City Charter School graduates, Saturday’s ceremony was a time to reflect on the years leading up to that point, but as they crossed the stage and received their diploma the focus shifted to the future.
“I’d suggest that instead of waiting for the world to change you, for you to go out and change the world,” said Principal James Ferreira. “Be a force of good; a builder, not a destroyer. Be what I know all of you are because we all know you deserve it.”
Parents, family, friends and faculty members filled the pews inside the St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Yuba City on Saturday night to honor the graduating class of 2017 – 14 seniors and one sophomore.
State Sen. Jim Nielsen, the keynote speaker, congratulated the graduating class on their achievements and told them the future was in their hands.
“I’ve been blessed with a profession that has taken me in so many different directions. Now as graduates, you have that in store for you, too,” Nielsen said. “You can be the vessels that strengthen this country again.”
Four students graduated with valedictorian and salutatorian honors: Spencer Tull, 18, Annabelle Lopez, 18, Joel Po’oi, 16, and Ibrahim Bath, 18.
During their speeches, they thanked their teachers and school administrators for helping them prepare for the next step in life.
“I think (YCCS) is better than some of the other bigger high schools because the small class size allows teachers to spend more time with each student. I feel like it’s a family with all of the teachers and students,” Tull said.
Po’oi received his diploma as a 10th-grader. While enrolled in the YCCS in its independent study program, he took courses at Yuba Community College. His siblings also graduated from the school earlier than their peers do.
“My parents didn’t really force me to, but because my older siblings did it I felt that it was sort of my responsibility,” Po’oi said.
Now that their high school years are behind them, each student said they are ready for the next step. Tull isn’t sure what he wants to do, but said he will figure it out while he attends college.
Lopez wants to attend law school. Po’oi wants to be a commercial pilot, while Bath has his mind set on becoming a school teacher.
“This year’s class has had a real challenge. This has only been the second year that we’ve had a full academic program. With only about 46 students in the high school, everyone has to work together to get something accomplished. Almost all of the kids in the graduating class participated in ASB (Associated Student Body). These kids have risen to the challenge,” Ferreira said.
Ferreira said he knows each of the graduates have what it takes to succeed.
“I’m proud of them. Our kids work really hard. They are what make this school work,” he said.
Other graduates included Brandon Anderson Smith, Abdulrahim Arghandiwal, Shelby Blankenship, Muhammad Chechi, Shania Mcquay, Shane Petty, Sagedah Saeidah, Mackenzie Shaw, Elisha Stewart, Simran Thiara and Oscar Webb.