Fair View, Oakdale hold joint commencement
75 graduate; two speakers endured adversity before attending Fair View
CHICO >> Perseverance was the theme at the joint Fair View High School/Oakdale School graduation ceremony at DeGarmo Park in north Chico on Friday morning.
Fair View, a continuation high school, and Oakdale, an independent-study school, share a campus at 290 East Ave. They’re both categorized as “alternative education” models and thus had a combined commencement, which saw 75 students march across the stage to collect their diplomas.
Graduating seniors Hailee Hughes, Havyn Morris and Ashely Saligan-Pano delivered the student addresses, with Hughes and Morris describing how they overcame significant adversity; Saligan-Pano focused on thanks for the teachers and staff who supported her and her peers in their education efforts.
Hughes and Morris were both Paradise residents at the time of the Camp Fire, which burned most of their town Nov. 8, 2018.
Hughes recalled how the fire — as was true for thousands of people affected — caused her to move to an unfamiliar town. She lived with her mother and stepfather in Elk Grove, but returned to this area and attended eighth grade at Durham Intermediate School.
“I was always the kid who needed extra time,” Hughes said. “I always struggled with school, but COVID” — and the online study that came with the state-mandated isolation — “made it worse.”
She continued to experience academic trouble but enrolled in Fair View last fall. “I was comfortable out of my shell,” Hughes said. The school has some “sweet teachers,” she said, and Hughes joined student leadership as well as the Every Fifteen Minutes program, aimed at showing teens the dangers of driving while intoxicated. She has also registered for classes at Butte College.
Morris called “Fair View … my second home. It will always be my second home.”
She began her freshman year at Paradise High School but the school wasn’t a good fit for her; she transferred to Pleasant Valley and tepidly recalled, “It was OK.” After falling behind with her required credits, Morris transferred again — this time, to Fair View.
“I hated it at first because it was all online,” she said, “but looking back, all kids hated it.”
Morris then shared fond recollections of teacher Tricia Homesley, whose influence on Morris was profound.
Saligan-Pano recalled COVID restrictions and how students believed isolation restrictions would only be in place “for two weeks.”
“Two weeks became two months, which became two and a half years,” she said.
To her teachers and staff, Saligan-Pano said: “Thank you for being here to support us. … Once a Falcon, always a Falcon,” referring to Fair View’s mascot.
Fair View principal Andrew Moll gave lots of encouragement to the students as they officially began their adult lives. He said teachers, staff and administration are “humbled by the transformation” they see in students every school year.
Based on their presence at graduation, “Absolutely nothing can stop you,” Moll said. “Keep focused on your network of support.”