Stepping inside with limited or even no knowledge of English might prove torturous for those deposited at the front door of larger high schools. But for Heydi Flores, stepping inside Arlington Community High School was the start of something special.
“Slowly but surely, I began to feel at home,” Flores said of the experience attending a school that “welcomes students with open arms and joy.”
Flores was among 49 members of the school’s Class of 2024 – ages ranging from 16 to 50-plus, mostly immigrants and many juggling employment and family responsibilities with their educational responsibilities. (The school’s nickname – the Mavericks – was chosen to celebrate students’ adaptability.)
At times, some of the other responsibilities students face must take priority. Such was the case for Nicole Sotelo Carrasco, who needed two years away from pursuing her high-school diploma. But when the time was right to return, she was welcomed back.
The experience provided at the school “extends far beyond textbooks and classrooms,” Sotelo Carrasco said, praising the Class of 2024 as “an exceptional group of students who work so hard.”
Commencement exercises were held June 14 at Washington-Liberty High School, marking the end of graduation season for Arlington Public Schools.
The graduation ceremony provided an opportunity to showcase “the individual stories – stories of resilience, stories of perseverance and, on this day, stories of accomplishment,” principal Lori Wiggins said.
Wiggins, who became principal last year, said the non-traditional high school serves as “an obstacle- and barrier-free place” where students can engage their “own innate brilliance.”
Like many who speak at graduations, Wiggins urged those earning diplomas to remember they didn’t get to the day alone.
“Applaud those who have been in your corner,” she said.
In addition to parents, friends and coworkers who provide bedrock support, the school’s teachers emphasized “their belief in you” and staff provided “lots of love to get you to this place today,” Wiggins added.
Flores and Sotelo Carrasco took courses in the daytime, while their classmate Mariano Tun Morales was among those taking evening classes. The Guatemala native spoke no English when he arrived to start an educational journey that was a seven-year experience.
“There is always a way,” Tun Morales said, speaking both to those in the auditorium and others, like his parents in Central America, who were watching online.
“Go into the world and do good,” he encouraged classmates.
At the ceremony, scholarships were awarded by the Arlington branch of the AAUW (to Sotelo Carrasco) and Arlington Rotary Club (to Idalia Villatoro), who each will be continuing their studies at Northern Virginia Community College.
Members of the Class of 2024 not only had to contend with the impacts of COVID like every other local student, but also last fall experienced a change of venue. The school’s previous home has been razed to make way for a successor to the Arlington Career Center, and Arlington Community High School programs are now temporarily being housed in a Ballston office building. Eventually, students, faculty and staff will occupy purpose-built space in the Pentagon City environs.
