FUSD graduates showed their commitment and determination at summer commencement

It might not have been the traditional end-of-the-high school year graduation, but it signified something important for the students who walked across the stage of the Roosevelt High School’s Audra McDonald Theater Friday morning: They graduated!

Fresno Unified School District Trustee Keshia Thomas had a message to graduates: “Never quit.”

About 103 seniors from 11 high schools – Bullard, Cambridge, DeWolf, Edison, Fresno, Fulton, Hoover, J.E. Young Academic Center, McLane, Roosevelt and Sunnyside – took part in the the ceremony.

“Never quit, you can always do it. You just have to try hard, and you graduate, and you move on to your better career,” Thomas said. “I am so proud of these kids. I am so very proud, and it is my pleasure to be here today.”

The graduating students attended summer school to complete graduation requirements.

Edison High grad Kenny Rodríguez said “I am just really excited. I still graduated. My family is here and I just really excited.”

The 17-year-old Rodríguez said he might take a gap year and start working first to save money before going to college.

His mother, Verónica Rodríguez, said she was very proud of him.

“He struggled. We are just very proud that he finally made it. Every day he was like ‘mom can you believe it.’ I said, ‘no I can’t believe it, but yeah you did it,” Verónica Rodríguez said.

Roosevelt High graduate Aaliyah Méndez was “very excited, finally, did it.”

For Méndez, walking across the stage was “honoring my parents and thanking my mom specifically for pushing me to finally do it and to do better.”

Méndez plans to attend Fresno City College and major in education.

Alejandra Rodríguez, who graduated from J.E. Young Academic Center, said, “I feel very proud of myself.”

The 18-year-old Rodríguez plans to go to Fresno City College in the fall to pursue business.

“I feel very happy because (she) has accomplished yet another achievement and we hope it is not the last,” said Rodríguez’ mother, Bertha Aparicio Rodríguez.

María G. Ortiz-Briones

The Fresno Bee

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María G. Ortiz-Briones is a reporter and photographer for McClatchy’s Vida en el Valle publication and the Fresno Bee. She covers issues that impact the Latino community in the Central Valley. She is a regular contributor to La Abeja, The Bee’s free weekly newsletter on Latino issues. | María G. Ortiz-Briones es reportera y fotógrafa de la publicación Vida en el Valle de McClatchy y el Fresno Bee. Ella cubre temas que impactan a la comunidad latina en el Valle Central. Es colaboradora habitual de La Abeja, el boletín semanal gratuito de The Bee sobre temas latinos. Support my work with a digital subscription