Calipatria graduates move on to pursue big dreams
CALIPATRIA — Although a total of 89 graduates departed from Calipatria High School after their commencement ceremony Thursday, one of them, Cecilia Marquez, was certain all of her classmates will retain a cherished place in her heart.
I’m going to miss them because I made memories with all of them,” Marquez said. “But I’m also excited because we’re ending high school and starting a new beginning.”
Marquez, who plans to be enlist in the Air Force in the near future, believed it was a bittersweet experience walking alongside her classmates one last time across Veterans’ Memorial Field to receive their diplomas.
“I don’t know if I’m going to see everyone again, but I know we’re all going to do something cool,” she said.
Calipatria High’s Class of 2018 was the largest in school history, compared to last year’s class of 84 graduates.
This year’s class was presented by Calipatria Unified High School Superintendent Douglas Kline, and the graduation was confirmed by CHS counselor Amy Fargo.
During the ceremony, Fargo and fellow CHS counselor Alfonso Romero were awarded with the Helen Lackey Cox Award for their work this past school year.
Katelyn Magdaleno was the Class of 2018’s salutatorian, and Joel Cortez was the class valedictorian.
“Calipatria High School is really unique compared to other schools in the Imperial Valley simply because of its size,” Magdaleno said. “With its size comes a great bond between the students and faculty. What I’m going to remember the most from being here is the bond that I had here with everyone. I’ll never have that at any other university or institution I go to.”
The salutatorian plans to temporarily stay in the Valley following her graduation and attend classes at Imperial Valley College, then transfer to study at the University of California, Davis.
“Family is a really cliché word when you’re describing high school, but it really is like a family here,” Magdaleno said.
The salutatorian was one of 13 members of the Class of 2018 to graduate with a GPA of 4.0 or above.
Also among this group was graduate Christopher Zendejas, whose excellent grades helped him get accepted into the University of Tennessee this fall to major in Sports Management.
“A lot of people talk about leaving the Valley as if it’s a big thing, but I’m excited for it and I’m ready,” Zendejas said.
While he’ll soon be attending a university with an enrollment of more than 28,000 students, Zendejas said he believes the memories he’s made with his class of less than 100 students will stay with him for the rest of his life.
“No matter what high school you graduate from, you’re always going to have memories,” Zendejas said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s big or small, it’s going to be some of the best years of your life. Not the best, just some of the best.”