Her babies grew up – all 64 of them – and moved their tassels
right to left to become the largest graduating class in Central
Continuation High School’s 32-year history.
”
These are remarkable young people. And thank you for believing
in them even though there were times when they did not believe in
themselves,
”
Principal Irene Macias-Morriss said to the crowd of several
hundred at the Community and Cultural Center amphitheater
Thursday.
Her babies grew up – all 64 of them – and moved their tassels right to left to become the largest graduating class in Central Continuation High School’s 32-year history.
“These are remarkable young people. And thank you for believing in them even though there were times when they did not believe in themselves,” Principal Irene Macias-Morriss said to the crowd of several hundred at the Community and Cultural Center amphitheater Thursday. *The ceremony was momentous for the class of 2010. For many, it was a day they never thought they would see.
Just a week before final grades were due, John Ybarra’s name was not on the list. Macias-Morriss said he studied all day and night, through the weekend and the Memorial Day holiday to make it to the stage Thursday.
“But I did it though, and I’m so glad I did,” Ybarra said. He is the first of three children in his family to graduate from high school.
“He’s seen a lot of struggles. His father’s serving a life sentence. He’s been through a lot. I’m so proud,” said Ybarra’s mother Suzanne.
Ybarra will continue his education and start taking courses at Gavilan College in the fall.
School board members and Superintendent Wes Smith attended the ceremony to support Central and offer handshakes and smiles of encouragement.
“I should have taken a picture of you on the first day of school,” Macias-Morriss said about her students. They were different people, with their heads down and their spirits broken, she said.
“You don’t look like that now!” Macias-Morriss shouted to a response of bull horns honks and whistles.
Josiah Pete, Central’s student body representative, cracked a wide grin as he told his story of stepping foot on Central’s campus for the first time.
“I thought it would be a dirty school with the worst teachers. And a principal as strict as a prison warden. But I’m here to set the record straight – our principal is more strict than a prison warden,” Pete said.
In a school setting as small as Central, Macias-Morriss knows each and every student’s story and their parents personally. She deeply cares for her students, Pete said, and with tough love has encouraged them to do their best and never give up.
When Pete called out to his father, Charles, to thank him for his support – he stood up both hands raised in the air, yelling “Yeah! Yeah!”
“My son has crossed many hurdles,” Charles Pete said after the ceremony, his arm around Josiah’s shoulder. “But he buckled down and did a good job. Words can’t express the gratitude that I feel.”
Attending college is in Pete’s future, first to West Valley and then onto a San Francisco State University, where he wants to study psychology.
“My cheeks are hurting from smiling,” Pete said.
Last year, Central graduated just 29 students among a senior class of more than 60. The continuation high school is part of the Morgan Hill Unified School District and gives students a second chance at a diploma if their grades or behavior has slipped beyond continuing at Live Oak or Ann Sobrato high schools.
“I get choked up because I’ve seen them struggle, I know their stories, what they’ve gone through,” said the only English teacher at Central Ken Piccolo. He serves as the “gatekeeper” he said, since all students must pass his class. Piccolo has no children of his own, so his students are his, he said. “I feel like a proud parent. I tell them ‘Go conquer the world.'”
Scholarship recipients:
Morgan Hill Rotary Club – Josiah Pete
Morgan Hill Kiwanis Club – Alondra Garcia Torres
Henk Marselis Memorial Scholarship – Jomar Rojas
Morgan Hill Mushroom Mardi Gras – Melissa Hershey and Adriana Elias
AAUW – Aida Rodriguez
Robert Fischer Award – Grecya Moran
MHUSD District Office Scholarship – Jeannette Kinner
