001e e might e the for e I [Music] e [Music] for e [Music] hello everyone just get your attention really quickly while it's still early I want to take a I want to take a moment to ask everyone to please move to the center so that we have enough seats available for families that are continuing to arrive please move into the center of the auditor fill in the seats around you so that we have space for all of our families please and thank you help us out move in a bit squeeze in squeeze in we would really appreciate that thank you we still have a few minutes before we get started thank you so much for being here [Music] yes [Music] e e [Music] for e [Music] e [Music] for e [Music] for [Music] e
002[Music] e [Music] he [Music] spe [Music] all [Music] your [Music] mhm hello [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] I got a feeling that tonight's going to be a good night that tonight's going to be a good good night I feel it that tonight's going to be a good good good night T night let's live it up I got my money let's spit it up go out and smash it like on my God jump out that s let's K it off I know that we'll have a ball if we get down and go out and just loose it all I feel [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] yes oh [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] e for e e for you [Applause]
003okay graduates please be seated good evening graduates families Administration and our supportive staff we have the honor of the class of 2024 sponsors for the past several years and we have watched these graduates throughout High School to make sure that we are all R wounded of who you are now today the class of 2024 in front of us all we know who they are and they're ready to attack the world from going into high school as a freshman to our florists and artists trade workers and Beyond we are proud of you all throughout the years we've known each other and we've been filled with amazing experiences we've all learned and grown a lot not just in the classroom but working and helping our community at pdsd our senior class of 20124 has fundraised collectively over
004$7,000 has hosted prom twice and have made opportunities possible for each student in the room and for our class mates at home that's important for recognition graduation is the time to celebrate reflect on and honor the wonderful students in the class of 2024 we have seen our students become great young adults and we admire each graduate in their own way we have 25 graduates here with us tonight and we wanted to recognize something special about each of them we admire your confidence Max we admire your attitude Anthony we admire your Independence Jesus we admire your thoughtfulness taquan we admire your determination adah Maurice we admire your generosity a we admire your persistence a we admire your persistence and Adriana your creativity Travis we admire your wit and humor Phoenix we admire your responsibility Jason we
005admire your loyalty arelia we admire your empathy Nate we admire your curiosity Luna we admire your bravery Sarah we admire your growth Jaden we admire your respectfulness Thomas we admire your friendliness Sandrine we admire your self- advocacy so sopia we admire your spirit Ducati we admire your leadership Sarah we admire your motivation Silva we admire that you're a role model kotu we admire your willingness Miguel we admire your commitment Pearl we admire your strength it has been our privilege to work so closely with all of our graduates it is our honor and pleasure to introduce toon tonight the graduating class of 2024 and start the ceremony would you please help us in welcoming our national anthem signers Ducati kamacho and Sophia tanquin we actually have a big surprise from the class of 2024 for Emma
006and gunar oh thank you so much that is so kind thank you also we know that you're going to be we you started us off as freshman on Zoom um and we felt kind of down about it but seeing you on screen always made us feel happy so we'll miss [Music] you oh can you see by the [Music] what so proud We at the Twilight less [Music] gleaming who's brought stripes and Bri Stars through the time for [Music] we watch was so G [Music] screaming and the rocket R the bombs bursting [Music] in Pro through a night the was still there oh [Music] Spang for the free and oh [Applause] bra I would like to now introduce the pdsd principal Jill voy welcome I'm so happy that you're all here with us today thank you
007to the board members who are in attendance the board president Su kifil is here this evening as well as board member Lyn Davidson and Colette Chapman as well as Linda B and Britney Buchanan and C uh Katherine CCO Earl Terry and Mike Gordon thank you so much for being with us tonight also like to recognize superintendent Annette reichman thank you for coming Annette assistant superintendence Orin catch off and Shaya Cooper thank you so much for your support thank you to the teachers who are here the countless hours that you have poured into these students grading papers changing lessons all of the things you have done for them thank you so much thank you to the parents who have spent even more hours driving back and forth to practices performances and you have even seen me
008sometimes thank you so much thank you to the therapists the counselors to everyone has advised and influenced these students to become the outstanding students they are today thank you to our transportation staff our maintenance staff and our security staff for helping to put on on this event tonight thank you to the interpreters as well for your support I'm sure that I've missed a few who are good friends um and supportive individuals um but thank you as well to the families and friends that are in attendance we are here today because of your academic Journey this starts a new chapter in your life I want you to think about and reflect on your journey both your individual Journeys and your Collective Journeys today we support you here together and you have shown the power of perseverance
009and the support of your loved ones your mentors the entire School Community has been there to support you and to bring you to this success so thank you so much to our community just like those Mountaineers that came to visit us Scott and Shaya you remember Scott and Shaya coming to campus they work tirelessly to climb mountains to achieve that Summit you have done that as well you have faced challenges and you have conquered those challenges and torn down those barriers you may have faced frustration but you did it congratulations as you know the theme this year was together we climb I want that traveling Spirit to stay with you throughout the rest of your life you can navigate through academics navigate through problems you may face think about that Spirit of together we climb
010you have created a bond in supporting each other and that Bond will not be broken you may leave here and go your separate ways but you will always have that bond with your class remember you will get your diplomas tonight but you will also have those shared values knowledge experience own that this experience will serve as a compass to guide you through the rest of your life and you will make great contributions to this world I know for sure remember remember you will face challenges along your journey but as long as you have that determination and a strong mindset and maintain that Spirit of togetherness as you climb you'll be fine you are not alone we will continue to support you and celebrate your successes we will support you on that road ahead congrat conratulations
011graduates and now we celebrate your hard work your bond will keep you together as we climb that mountain congratulations next I'd like to introduce Michelle Kelly Michelle is the person who truly organized this entire event to make sure that our graduation celebration was incredible she is our Student Life supervisor Student Life supervisor Michelle Kelly come on up thank you so much Michelle for all of your hard work on this event hello hello my name is Michelle Kelly I am the student light supervisor here I am thrilled to see all of you senior all the senior families here tonight to celebrate our graduating class these seniors have worked hard just like Joel said and we are excited to see you guys graduate finally I would like to have the honor of introducing our senior student representative
012these seniors voted for this person to represent the class of 2024 this evening it just so happened that this senior is under my house under the Red House go Bob cat raar I look forward to this I loved seeing the students grow at pdsd he joined the battle of the books academic bowl and traveled to Italy with the International Studies group not only this but he played football basketball track during high school he is also president of the Roadrunner student body government this year Well Done he is a well-rounded student and a perfect one to represent our senior class of 2024 please welcome ducatti kamacho good evening everyone thank you so much for being here to celebrate this special event with us including those watching on the live stream our families friends teachers staff our
013principal Jill voy our assistant principals sber Taylor and Flint fears as well as our superintendent Annette rikman and our assistant superintendent Orin catcha there we go and of course a class of 2024 let me hear it my name is zatti kamacho and I am honored and flattered to be the speaker for the senior class and I am honored to have been voted on by my peers I came into pdsd a a very very very long time ago when I was a very young child I remember asking one of the teachers assistants when I got to go to high school and when I would get to graduate and that teacher's assistant said don't worry it's a long time you've gotten plenty of time and here we are there have been stressful nights long nights of studying
014long nights of no sleep and we have finally made it we are soon to go out into the real world as adults time is our greatest friend because in each moment we can make the best of it we can create Precious Memories we have to make wise decisions and be careful with our time as well because it is short and it can be an enemy as an adult your job is to make decisions which is something that you are going to need to do well out in the world when you're on your own when you graduate you will become a functioning member of society you will have life and the palm of your hand you're not going to have parents and teachers telling you what to do because you know what to do it can
015be very scary to feel like you're alone in the world but you're never actually going to be completely alone you have many many years of memories and friends that you will meet along the way some will stay some will be with you for a short time some will be with you for the rest of your life your friends families co-workers will be by your side you will build those relationships and support each other from these individuals you Dev will develop a support system and this is just a small aspect of what it is to be a human in this world another aspect is knowing yourself and finding your identity that's incredibly important in this new chapter of your life when you walk out of this place and you go exploring your going to have to
016put your heart out there you're going to have to assess and analyze your identity and who you are and if you don't do that you'll get lost in this Great Big World figure out who you are when you know yourself the rest of life is going to make more sense keep an open mind and be true to yourself now as you go out finding who you are and you find that support system then what that's where you decide your own fate do whatever you desire pursue those dreams and catch them because life is short you don't know when it will end and we all have a long list of the things that we want to do or be be yourself in this chaotic World many people aren't going to care so don't worry about how
017you stand out in the crowd don't worry about how to make others happy Earth is a big floating rock with billions of people on it out in the middle of space so just be yourself don't try to be someone else I would like to take this moment to appreciate the biggest support that I've received from the world out there and that is my family my teachers mentors and my peers of course I thank you as well thank you for making me who I am today most especially my family my family is something that I could not imagine living without growing up I always remember everyone including my mom my dad siblings Theos theas stepmom even my cousins pushing me to be my best self and I am incredibly grateful for that because that is something
018unique that a lot of people don't have I am incredibly grateful and so fortunate to be standing here today as my best self because of my parents and because of my family who loved me and had a strong belief that we should stay together that we should support each other as a family and be strong in the future I will make you proud I will take all of your support and all of your wisdom that I have received and I will use that well I hope that I make you proud kisses to my mom and dad to my peers to my peers you are my second family you are my home we have known each other for most of our lives and because of that our bond is Unbreakable and Incredibly precious growing up I
019saw the potential in each and every one of you to become incredibly strong do not doubt yourselves all of us have made memories here at pdsd and that is something that we will hold in our hearts forever I will always think of you of this class now in a few minutes a few hours you will receive your diploma and officially graduate consider this a privilege and do not take it for granted as a person with a diploma you can go anywhere so make the best out of that go out there and go big this chapter will be closing soon once we graduate we turn the page and start a new chapter that you get to write in your own life class of 2024 congratulations and always remember be yourself good luck out there and don't
020forget to stay pretty inside and out love love love to all of you from me duat kamacho and now it is my pleasure to introduce our 2024 commencement speaker Maryanne Leon the senior class selected maranne because she supported us so much during the year with our senior planning our driver's education our finance class and I want to give a brief introduction of Maryann she graduated from the Kentucky school for the deaf and attended gadet University where she received a bachelor's and a Master's in science Maryann worked for a federal Agency for 34 years before retiring she and her husband decided to move to Arizona where she thought she would be a substitute teacher just to see if she liked it turns out she loved it so she became a long-term sub and then she taught
021first grade for a while and then she became a CT te Career Technical education teacher for 12 years she loves her job at pdsd because she gets to see students grow and become who they are we the senior class are very excited to sit back and watch our commencement speaker Maryann please come on up hi hello oh before you get started the senior class wanted to show our appreciation and gratitude with this gift thank you do we need to open it now open open oh how cute it's so beautiful I love you thank you there's more oh my goodness oh bubbles thank you thank you oh thank you I am so happy to be here to see all of you seniors on stage it just touches my heart some of you I've taught for 4
022years some maybe longer you all are beautiful people inside and out anyways before I get off topic good evening welcome families and friends of our graduates thank you so much for coming to celebrate this momentous day this is your special day now to our graduates we are here to celebrate your graduation this is an important and exciting milestone in your lives graduation from elementary middle school where are we you're not graduating Middle School it's gradu uation from high school and I am delighted to be here with you today I wanted to make my speech interesting meaningful and I know that I want it to be something that you don't hear every year at graduation I want it to be inspire iring and I thought of Winston Churchill Winston Churchill was England's most famous prime minister
023I'll spell that everyone here knows I like to finger spell but he was asked to come and speak to one graduating class from a former School and as he slowly walked across the stage he wasn't young anymore but he was very wise very wise and he said simple words to the crowd never give up never the end never give up never how inspirational wish I had thought of that short and sweet and then after those four words he turned around and took his seat that was his entire speech the graduating class and cra thought what and yet how memorable is that I would say the same thing to you never ever give up you know that you can do it I have faith in you and just like all of the other teachers who have
024worked with you we have faith in you and we've seen you succeed tonight you seniors are graduating from pdsd this room is packed with your friends your family and every person is so proud of you your teachers our staff our faculty are all so proud of you your accomplishments and the goals that you've reached are the reasons we're here if each of us were to write down a definition of of a successful graduate we would quickly dis discover some themes dedication we would talk about dedication determination some other themes for this class fairness honesty conscientiousness dependability and hard work or as you guys would say ha we made it P right that's how we say it in ASL let's take a few minutes and look back like ducatti mentioned when he was little looking up
025at the high school graduates looking back at the last 16 to 18 years of your life you have blossomed physically you've grown mentally you've grown and emotionally and psychologically this has been phenomenal our theme this year is together we climb as graduate remember that this is just the beginning of your journey and I know we've said the journey over and over tonight but it's true this is a journey there will be small mountains and large mountains you'll face obstacles sometimes small sometimes large I say this to say embrace the challenges ahead of you with courage and confidence you have to have courage and confidence to not let obstacles and barriers stop you from succeeding you have the power to tear down those barriers with a positive mindset you can do it I know I have
026seen so many students get frustrated when they make mistakes when it comes to studying or classwork and sometimes the stress brings us to tears when we work overnight but every mistake is progress every time you mess up in your life you make make progress who in this world is perfect is anyone perfect not a one not a one of us is perfect all we can do is try to be the best person we could possibly be mistakes are not a tally of your unworthiness I am not keeping a tally of mistakes it doesn't Define you and it doesn't mean that you're unworthy making mistakes actually is a gift why would I say mistakes are a gift because it helps you become a better person if everyone in this world was perfect what a boring place
027this would be again mistakes are a gift because they teach us how to set boundaries how to be kind how to be gentler how to live in the present and plan for the future everyone makes mistakes sometimes me as a teacher I write on the board and my students have to say oh Maryann You misspelled that I have to find myself fixing my mistakes thank you I'm a human who makes mistakes too when you start to see mistakes as gifts forgiveness towards yourself happens much more quickly when you forgive yourself that helps you learn and grow rather than staying stuck in self-loathing or denial where you're far less likely to grow mistakes are gifts use them to be better going back to experience experience is the best teacher as you get more experience you'll make
028better decisions the new decisions and more difficult decisions are doable you can do it you just need to climb one L one rung on the ladder at a time do we have a picture of a ladder there we go it might seem insurmountable but if you approach it one one small rung at a time you will find success if you try to jump a couple rings what's going to happen you fall down right thank you aelia you'll fall down take Life One rung at a time after each success continue to climb until you reach the top oh that was butterflies oh I looked around and saw butterflies I was very confused was supposed to be a letter it's okay if when you start to climb you find that you need to take a step back
029in order to assess yourself in order to re-evaluate to find what it is you really want to do maybe that means changing jobs moving finding a different place moving to with different roommates changing Hobbies plan wisely and make wise decisions take your time make every step a strong where's my ladder where's my there's butterflies again those butterflies are distracting you need the skills and experience that will help you continue to climb and be successful in whatever you do whether it be work college or trade I know life after graduation won't be perfect high school wasn't perfect I wasn't perfect I made lots of mistakes after I graduated and went into college but I learned and I'm thankful for the education I received from my high school and from college be ready to face obstacles pdsd
030your family and your friends will always be there rooting for you when you find yourself saying that can't be done I've seen it before students say oh that's too hard I can't do that stop just stop you have to let yourselves have an open mind to Simply say I can do it I'll try I when I see students say well I'll try my best that brings me so much joy it's also important to know that no experience is foolproof if you apply for a job and sit and wait and don't hear anything don't assume that another company won't hire you keep at it apply for as many as you can the door of opportunity will open for you go for it I know some of you know about my granddaughter my deaf granddaughter was 17
031years old and unfortunately her life was cut short here on Earth she had to leave us early her birthday's coming up in a couple weeks my my point in bringing this up is that while I grieved absolutely I also have to recognize the impact that she had on so many people I learned from friends family teachers at mssd who would talk to me about the impact that my grand granddaughter had she was the social butterfly that made a huge impact in that short amount of time I'd like like to tell a true story three years ago I went to Cracker Barrel it's not a a grocery store it's a restaurant silly me you know Cracker Barrel the restaurant I told my husband to stay at home I wanted to go by myself I wanted a
032quiet moment to reflect and connect with my granddaughter who I carry with me I would wanted to sit by the fireplace and of course I texted out what what I wanted pancakes and coffee and showed it to the server they went and as I ate I waited and waited I was ready to pay I held up my credit card and said excuse me I'm ready to pay and they gestured to me no no no and I was confused they wrote a note and said someone else has paid for your breakfast I looked around the restaurant you know us deaf folks have good eyes I wanted to see who paid for my breakfast but I couldn't figure it out I started to tear up as I looked through the crowded restaurant I wanted to stand up
033and say thank you but then knew most people wouldn't understand my signing and I was starting to cry so I sat just left the restaurant got in my car and started sobbing thinking what are you trying to tell me took a deep breath got a hold myself and then the following year I went again to Cracker Barrel ordered my food had a different waitress and then waited for my bill held up my credit card and said ma'am I'm ready for my my bill and got a note someone else is taking care of your food today two years straight I looked back and forth in the restaurant and started sobbing I had to leave the restaurant as soon as possible to cry in my car and I thought maybe it was a sign my granddaughter was
034trying to tell me something and then this past December I went again as I was sitting I saw a family come in and sit down I had my order ready to go on my phone and as I was ready to pay sure enough again I got a note that said your breakfast has been paid for and I said who and she gested to this family and then this little girl came over gave me a hug and signed Merry Christmas while they were eating she had looked up on her phone how to sign merry Christmas and I started to sob seeing the power of a six-year-old who just looked just like my granddaughter I hugged her and said Merry Christmas her mom said Merry Christmas Grandma said marry is Christ and we fixed it said Merry
035Christmas and then I started sobbing the family wondered why is she crying and I said you didn't have to but thank you so much for paying and then they wrote a note to me on a napkin that I still have that says every year I come to Cracker Barrel as in honor of my granddaughter who passed away and the family wrote back to me it says written on a napkin you gained a granddaughter today referring to the six-year-old and a family they had lost several family members due to co and then we all started crying but that family and I became friends in a moment what a butterfly effect Pay It Forward be a good samaritan you never know that the people around you could be hurting when you're out in public sometimes I'll do
036the same now and I'll say I'll pay for that person but don't tell them it was me to our graduating class you are such beautiful people inside and out you have a purpose in this life love yourselves cherish every moment go and spread your wings fly the sky is unlimited be your own butterfly that's why I love butterflies when I see a butterfly I immediately think of my granddaughter being with me in spirit you can't always choose the path you sometimes are placed on a path but the good news is you can choose how you respond choose to learn to grow to love yourself to have empathy and humor I know a few of you seniors are very funny my point about the butterfly effect is that your small actions or your small choices can
037still have a huge impact you have the power to lead your own lives make good decisions one last story that I just have to share it's a little funny and I always think that laughter is the best medicine one morning when I was teaching first grade I had a student who would stare at me and then asked me Miss Maryann why do you have brown spots and skin tags and I said well my friend these are wisdom spots right and we all know that it means old age but I chose some nice words these are wisdom spots my friend and he said well what is wisdom and I said it's w s d o m he said I don't know what that word means I said well it it's like smart and he said well
038I want to be smart like you I'm like you're already smart my friend and he's like but I don't have any spots oh I had to change the subject but sometimes a stuff folks can be very blunt or say whatever we're feeling that's not something to be rude but took me back in that moment I share this because I am certain when it comes to wisdom I know that each of you will grow your own wisdom through experience that will make you who you are now with pdsd we're always here to support you you as you leave and go on your journey keep in touch with us I know some of you are sick of me I've been pestering you about typing up applications for scholarships I know I've hounded some of you right are
039you still happy with me or are you sick of me I don't give up and I hope that you won't give up either you are unique and we love each of you we have faith in you be a good role model be a Good Samaritan be respectful and be positive be a good friend be a thoughtful person be compromising in every situation be compassionate be you because you are a beautiful person just the way you are much love to you all and finally on your graduation night this is the ending of your high school days the new beginning is waiting for you the Journey of life has so many beginnings and endings and us here are so proud of you all of your teachers are so proud of you and will miss you myself included
040good luck and congratulations to the class of 2024 I almost said 2023 meaning you guys would have to stay for another year but no no no spread your wings and be my butterflies congratulations class of 2024 [Applause] thank you Maryanne for sharing your stories oh let me move into the light all right thank you Maryanne for sharing your stories um and your words of wisdom my name is Jeff I am the athletic director at pdsd I am the honor here today salutatorian to announce the salutatorian and the head of house full of energy this house was The Foster House included with the rsbg our Roadrunner student body government and our three Sports football basketball and track and field this member of the uh was a member of the boys basketball team within the Western States
041basketball Classics Champions and wow he earned 23 medals in track and field this year as a senior also he set five track and field records for pdsd this year he is an amazing student an amazing person a good teammate and a great friend and this person I would like to introduce kotu Ramadan Sali hello my name is kotu and I am honored to be the salutatorian this year I am so happy for graduation but I I will miss you all the class of 2024 is like a team I've enjoyed my time on this team with you and now we're done I was on the track team this year for track there are several things you need you need to keep your head your muscles and your legs you got to be smart for track you
042have to be brave you have to know how to get faster and to use your muscles and have appropriate frame form we learn from our responsibilities we learn from our families and so thank you to our families next in track we need legs to help you move to help you go faster and to support you so class of 2024 this is what we have as potential as high school is finished and our support here is done as we graduate I'm so happy that we've made it thank you and happy graduation I love kot's uh Speech yes thank you um it's good to look back and apply it to sports or any other organization and clubs and you apply that and see that Journey that you have in life together so that's great my name is
043Sabra Taylor and I'm the assistant principal here at pdsd for the K through 12 I mainly focus on uh student life skills student behavior and specials hello graduation students family staff and and everyone it's beautiful to see you all here tonight this moment is specious and precious for all you seniors CU soon you will now become our alumni after this it is a really special moment and I feel honored that I get to stand here today and announce our other salid torian this student is known for her Charis charismatic smile she's a head of gadet house which is the yellow house with strong leadership skills within herself she also won the icev floral design award at Metro Tech which is our partnership school she learned how to Str flowers and won the award not just
044that award her teacher at Metrotech considered her as one of their top students it is my honor to invite our senior class of 2024 salutatorian Sila Abdul Rami congratulations hello everyone my name is Silva and I am honored to be selected as salutatorian I can't believe we made it congratulations class of 2024 I'm pretty sure we have all faced challenges I have faced many challenges I am a refugee and I moved here from a different country I had to learn a new culture and two new languages along with many other new things along my journey I am standing here now stronger than I was I used to hate challenges because they're emotional roller coasters and sometimes I wanted to give up but my mom told me if a flower didn't grow in challenging circumstances they
045would all look the same they wouldn't have different colors different features and it would be boring we don't want to see the same flowers everywhere do we we we get to see flowers of many different shapes different sizes different colors they're different because they face challenges in their environment some of their environments have no water some of them have terrible soil or high temperatures or crazy weather but yet those flowers Thrive and that's like us I faced challenges and these challenges are nutrients to my life I have a quote from a person who is a refugee like me her name is yra Marini and she is from Syria she said just because I am a refugee does not mean that I do not get to dream and live the life I wish for no matter
046where you are from your race your background your gender your disability whatever challenge you face no that you have opportunities you have opportunities we can be like those flowers regardless of our environment we can overcome those challenges we can keep our dreams congratulations class of beautiful speech Silva now I look at all these graduating seniors and when I started my job here in 2015 you guys were about in the third or grade and now I've been in this journey with you all did move to Tucson I did that for about three years and then came back the perfect year and with our theme together we climb that was our point for this year good evening everyone my name is Christopher Flint fears and I am the assistant principal of curriculum and instruction K through 12
047I am very thrilled to see our seniors families the board here tonight celebrating for their graduation all of your wonderful accomplishments I know that for many years you've worked hard and continued and never gave up and the point is is that now as you arrived we are very proud of you all now tonight is a big milestone in your life in starting a new chapter I have the honor of introducing our PDS pdsd valedictorian as I've seen her in the past two years she's worked really hard and her dedic ation in her academics and socially she herself is representing the house of gadet go rabbit she has participated in different activities such as basketball volleyball track and field academic bowl and Roadrunner student body government I'm happy to introduce our senior class of 2024 valedictorian
048Sarah [Applause] duken hello everyone I would like to extend a warm welcome to our graduating class the dedicated Educators who guided us our loving families and supportive friends who have gathered here with us today I would also like to welcome superintendent Annette rikman assistant superintendent Orin katov and Shaina Cooper members of the asdb board our principal Jill Voit and our assistant principles Flint fears and sabber Taylor our Student Life supervisor Michelle Kelly and our athletic director Jeff plol your effort and commitment have created the way for our success and we are forever grateful for your invaluable contributions to our educational journey I stand Here honored to be the validor my theme for this year as valedictorian is chase your dreams no matter what when the Corona virus hit everything changed for all of us and
049the world it was really sad but it was reality as Co went through the world and impacted everyone's lives rather than being sad we had the experiences of other pandemics to learn from our pandemic just happened to be covid it was hard on us for sure but we faced that challenge and as I said everything changed but it became our reality it especially impacted us the class of 2024 now we are graduating high school and entering the adult world and we will face countless challenges we will face those frustrations and we will experience hard times but we have to learn how to manage all of that and keep our lives balanced there might be times when we feel like just giving up but we can never give up because we don't know what the future
050holds for us we haven't experienced it yet we might be tempted to let our dreams go or to drop things because the pressure is overwhelming but as we get older we will realize that we would regret not chasing our dreams one reason we don't chase our dreams is because we just let fate happen but sometimes fate doesn't work out how we expect so we have to work hard and make our dreams come true plus this is a whole new beginning and a new step we can pursue our dreams and what we truly desire in life as I stand here before you today I'm reminded of the dreams that have guided me since childhood a strong desire to become an educator and a leader who inspires young people through self though self-doubt threatened to ruin my
051dreams I remained committed to the promise I made to my younger self to become a better person for others to rely on my dedication was rewarded with honorable recognition and opportunities to participate in gadet youth program Battle of the books and academic Bowl countless people have praised me for my kind nature and expressed confidence idence in the promising future that lies ahead of me I'm determined to uphold my reputation and continue spreading positivity follow your intuition follow your gut and you will Thrive remember the important things first and foremost never give up pursue the things that you desire in life and if you haven't achieved dream yet don't stop whether your dream is owning a business or going to college go for it there will always be people willing to support you along the way
052for some people their dream is traveling the world if that's your goal work hard earn money and when you come back you can share your amazing experiences with everyone around you the truth is there's nothing that can stop you nothing that can limit you and stop you from achieving your dreams don't let obstacles get in your way of going after what you really want in life as long as you stay determined and never give up you can make your dreams a reality just believe in yourself in House of galet our quote was a dream without a plan is just a wish and that quote was very impactful for us our dream was to win the house Championship even though we had a small group but we knew if we just waited for it and didn't
053take action it would never happen so we worked extremely hard we showed kindness love and guided each other down a positive path we performed positive actions and this really influenced every member of our house our house was cooperative supportive and spread warmth to our peers and the younger students even our staff our dream was to be house Champions but we knew if we didn't make a good plan and put in the effort it would just be a Wish by truly committing ourselves we ended up winning the championship this year now we hope the good influence through spread will continue in future years even though there are five separate houses at our school we are still one Community one school we should all help each other out because that's how we achieve our goals working together
054allowed us to turn our dreams into a reality chasing your dreams is not a bad thing at all if you want to do something go for it don't let anyone stop you if someone tells you it's impossible tell them that it's possible if you work hard you can achieve anything I believe in every one of you I believe that you each have an incredibly bright future ahead of you in including the senior class of 2024 we will all support each other and we have the support of our family friends and teachers we must pursue our dreams but we don't have to pursue them alone we have a ton of support behind us as long as we stay positive and persevere we can achieve our dreams don't let anything stop you from pursuing the dreams that
055you want to perceive and if you persevere you will shine Cong congratulations class of 2024 [Applause] hello hello hello hi my name is Valeria and I am Pablo and we are thrilled to announce that we we do have our pdsd fight song to be performed this is the senior Edition this is incredibly special moment for our seniors we are going to have four folks performing two on the drums and two signing those individuals are zandr Rivera Padia and Pearl annia Williams doing the signing our drummers will be Miguel Hernandez and Alysa Clark deer all e e e now it is my honor to introduce our superintendent Annette rikman if you could make your way to the stage and share some words of wisdom hello big round of applause thank you so much Annette oh thank
056you hello class of 2024 when Jill asked me to add some words of wisdom I found myself thinking H I feel like I just sat listening to all of the words of wisdom you've already heard so many words of wisdom already tonight so I'll just recap what you've already heard I'll make a brief summary when you arrived here at Phoenix Day School for the Deaf some of you were super small little babies some of you got here in high school regardless I'm sure when you arrived you felt unsure of yourselves tried to fit in and then as time went on you began to learn how to connect with your teacher teachers you began to make connections with your classmates you started making friends and started having fun you started learning how to read and write
057some of you learned not just a first or second language but also your third or fourth but with dedication and determination to your studies you started learning math and other academic skills you've been involved with sports you've been involved with other extracurricular activities you've had a life and a community here you've had friends that have become your second family that have been here along your journey to today where we take our first step soon you will no longer be students of pdsd soon you will join the alumni class of pdsd very soon you will all start your next chapter in your life as adults and I hope you start right away don't wait go to college go to school go get your jobs don't sit at home life is too short and it happens too
058fast make the most of the moment you have right now tonight we will move your tassle to the other side and you will officially graduate tonight please take time to thank your families your extended families your friends thank your teachers thank Maryanne she has been a phenomenal teacher thank the other staff that you see here all of the professional staff as you see them our teachers or instructional assistants bus drivers everyone who has been here along your journey taken an interest in you supported you and believed in you and know that you could after graduation you will have a successful life you will be going to school or work you may get married have a partner in the future but I know that a good life is in store for you because of the experiences
059and skills that you had here congratulations to our class of 2024 thank you so much Annette do I stay um you I think can have a seat for just a moment and we'll have you come back hello everybody class of 2024 I've got about 18 pages of notes here but I'm going probably throw those out I think I'm just going to keep it short and sweet okay I'm excited Nate's excited okay here we go let's get the show on the road right first Silva where are you Silva congratulations Silva I am so proud of you you have earned a certificate and floral design and you have had many many other achievement M ments you have absolutely thrived and you are an outstanding student congratulations I am proud of you please come back and visit and
060I will buy flowers from you in the future ducatti where's ducatti your fashion sense I mean look at you and your signing is just gorgeous when you came up and you were waving hello to everyone I was like goodness gracious this this kid you are amazing you are the first and only student who have earned the Seal of biliteracy huge congratulations to you Ducati fantastic and ducatti got certified in fashion design as well congratulations I hope one day in the future I can buy your clothes Louise where are you my friend Louise there you are you are so funny you light up the room you make me laugh every single day and I know I'm going to be seeing you on a comedy show one of these days I just know it keep that up
061and as Maryann said laugh is the best medicine congratulations Louise Max there's Max my goodness you impressed me with your patience your patience with the elementary students interacting with them is just incredible to see your knowledge about horiculture which you learned at metroe is outstanding and I am confident that you are going to be a wonderful farmer I know that you plan to work in Lowe's and I think you're going to do great at that job congratulations Max Sarah there we are you are a quiet leader and I love that I love it so much you're not out there bossing people around and telling people what to do you're quiet and you lead by example and you are incredibly smart you are so creative congratulations as on being valedictorian of this class I am so
062very proud of you and please come back and visit again and tell us all about your outstanding accomplishments Anthony Anthony where are you Anthony there we are I really admire the way that you love your grandparents it's just incredible you are so supportive of them and they are so supportive of you you are an inspiration Anthony you are incredible at track you an incredible athlete you help your friends you're amazing but your love for your family and for your grandparents in particular is something that I truly look up to congratulations Anthony Jesus there you are jus this year I finally saw you smile got a round of applause for that smile from elementary through high school I have seen an incredible transformation in you I am so proud of you the way that you work
063with our elementary students with reading your reading buddy how you sit and tell stories it is just amazing I'm really impressed with you Jesus congratulations on everything and please come back and see me okay taekwan where is taquan tawan there we are hi you have such a warm smile I'm going to miss you so much you are very humble and you take care of everyone around you I've been very impressed with you you have really made a huge Improvement this year and I am very excited for your future I cannot wait for you to get your driver's license Miguel Miguel where are you may go there you are right in front you believe in yourself and in everyone else and that is something that I really look up to your compassion your caring for your
064family for your friends for me thank you you always ask me if I'm okay okay if I need anything like I'm all right I'm here I'm okay but truly truly I've have been impressed with your deep love for this community thank you for leading Adam marce Adam marce there she is I was thinking about what characteristics sticks Ed marce has and there were two things that stuck out in my mind one was her math abilities which are outstanding and second was her fashion and art sense I mean look at you you are dressed to the nines you look beautiful and I love it so much thank you for showing us your spirit congratul ations Adriana Hill Adriana is right there I am confident that you will be a successful artist I have a strong feeling
065about you your hat design is gorgeous and I am so impressed with you congratulations on a wonderful High School career I am so proud of you a do I see a there's a your determination of graduating your incredibly hard work and your online classes powering through those was just amazing to watch can you come back and tutor please pretty Pleasers you did amazing congratulations on your success and achieving your goals Travis what a transformation from elementary where you had so much self-doubt and anxiety to being in the the being on a stage in downtown Phoenix wow Travis that was incredible what a transformation you have truly succeeded to new heights like Maryann said you climbed that mountain and I know for sure that you will do amazing things in the future good luck and congratulations
066with everything Tommy there's Tommy I am so excited for you Tommy you have improved so much you have become so independent I see you roll around campus I'm like oh hey Tommy check you out congratulations I can't keep up with you anymore well done great job Tommy Phoenix Phoenix where's Phoenix there's Phoenix Phoenix you have faced challenges in your life I know that but oh my goodness have you overcome those challenges you have broken down barrier after barrier and you have not given up and you are an inspiration when I'm having a bad day I think to myself well what would Phoenix do that's what I do congratulations Phoenix well done Jason Jason you are a helper you are so happy to help everyone around you help chrisy the counselor help me help anyone who's
067willing can you help me I need help right now congratulations Jason I am so proud of you I am sure that your future will be bright congratulations zenrin there's zenrin hello wow there is a Litany of successes that I could list for you just the last thing that you and I did together was Optimus club and you won a scholarship incredible congratulations when you set your mind to something you will do it I'm so proud of you congratulations I can't wait for you to come back and see what you do in your future arelia hello you are so very kind so incredibly kind to everyone here you may be quiet but oh my goodness your spirit radiates to everyone around you it fills the room congratulations I'm very proud of you and keep up the
068good work kotu right here in front was it 23 medals 21 21 medals 23 Med oh excuse me 21 medals oh my goodness congratulations I still have a thank you card from you on my refrigerator that says thank you so much Jill for buying me new basketball sheet shoes and I hope um it will make me a better basketball player I would buy you shoes every year since then every year for the rest of your life right track shoes if you need them just let me know anytime you need new shoes cot to I know that I'm going to see you at the Olympics one day I absolutely will congratulations on everything you've accomplished kou Nate Nate is right there Nate I'm going to miss you I love all of your questions you have so
069many questions you're so curious and you constantly want to learn oh Nate I will truly truly miss you congratulations on this huge milestone I am so proud of you and I know that your family is so proud of you congratulations sopia keep dreaming big okay bigger and bigger and bigger you can do it I know that you are capable and believe in yourself you will do outstanding things you were involved in that play as well off campus and did an absolutely outstanding job so impressive in many ways your academic improvements and everything else in your life congratulations on this huge step proud of you Luna now it's your turn Luna big round of applause for Luna you are a free spirit my friend yes you do you yes I will call you yes Luna I
070will call you I promise I will call you Luna I will you got it okay all right round of applause for Luna I swear in front of witnesses I'll call you Luna next she has the kindest Spirit we love Luna what an amazing kid it's been my pleasure working with you Luna Sarah I remember the first day that you came to school in my goodness you were learning language you knew Mexican sign language but not American Sign Language and there was a lot of confusion it was really hard but oh my gosh we did it we did it together congratulations I am so proud of you and I know that you work worked so incredibly hard for this great job Jaden hello Jaden we spent a lot of hours working together in tutoring and math
071help and I have been so impressed with you I've most impressed with the way that you support your family your mom you help take care of just incredible thank you Jaden you are an amazing kid you did great work and you're going to be just fine in the future come back and see me okay and last but certainly not least Pearl there's Pearl you are fabulous your creativity your designs I mean look at your hat that thing's incredible you can be very quiet sometimes but your voice radiates when you start signing people watch Pearl has something to say everybody stands up to attention I am so proud of you congratulations Pearl and keep it up good luck in your future I am incredibly impressed with all of our graduates congratulations class of 2024 I love
072you guys and come back let's throw these papers out now and get this show on the road shall we okay will the graduates please line up you guys can go are those folks handing out diplomas can go ahead and come on up as well e now it is my honor to present these diplomas to the graduating class of 20124 first I would like to recognize Silva Abdul raheim [Applause] congratulations ducatti Giovani kamacho [Applause] [Music] Luis Umberto Korea Castro [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] maximiliano Dominguez baros [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Sarah Jasmine Duncan [Applause] [Music] I did it Anthony Kel Flores Ventura [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Jesus Gallos [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] taquan Swan Hall [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] uhoh Miguel anel Hernandez [Applause] [Music] adamaris Emir ernandez amesa so beautiful [Music] [Applause] Adriana Jade Hill
073[Applause] a fad jaad [Applause] Travis Jaden Martinez Cron [Music] [Applause] Thomas Angel Mahia [Applause] Phoenix Richard Williams Perry [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Jason Omar Ramirez chilel [Applause] zenrin China Rivera Padia [Music] [Applause] [Music] I did [Music] it our Helia Laura [Music] [Applause] [Music] roas thank you [Music] [Applause] [Music] 2024 by bye kotu romadan Sali [Music] [Applause] [Music] woohoo Nathaniel Alexandro Santana [Applause] [Music] I did [Applause] [Music] it Sophia Samantha Valencia [Applause] blank congratulations [Applause] Luna [Applause] ieto job [Laughter] I got to shake hands take my [Applause] [Music] picture shake my hand too [Applause] Sara jelle Vasquez Alvarez [Applause] [Music] [Applause] jayen Xavier Velasquez [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Pearl annah Williams [Music] [Applause] w [Applause] congratulations to everyone we'll be seated thank you again to all of you for coming it really means a lot to us and
074to our community thank you also please stay for some refreshments in the lobby feel free to mingle we'd love to chat with you we also have a photo Bruth that is in the dance room for folks to take pictures now I present the graduating class of 2024 come on out guys [Applause] [Music] and now congratulations class of 2024 together we have climbed our [Music] Mountain you may move your [Music] tassel I get a good feeling yeah I get a feel feel that I never never never never no no I get a good feeling yeah oh sometimes I get a good feeling yeah I get a feeling that I [Music] never yes I leave running with this pull me grab me grab in the can't have me I'll be the president one day J be first
075oh you like that guy go like you the one drinking what goip now I got a word for your tongue how many roll Stones you want yeah I got a brand new spirit speaking in this G woke up on the side of the bed like I want like aest that son G5 in the US to Taiwan now who can say that I want to play back Mama knew I was a need with a h stack body boy plus made back I got a feeling in the grab hey