Youngest Graduate Is 15, Oldest 80; 159 Under 18 Earn Credentials, 60 Receive Bachelor’s Degrees

During the May 3 graduation ceremony on the Verde Valley campus, Yavapai Community College President Dr. Lisa Rhine highlighted the wide age range of students attending  the Community College’s seven campuses and centers. The impact of its work with high school students was especially evident, with 159 graduates under the age of 18 receiving certificates and degrees this year.

Dr. Rhine also noted the growing success of the College’s recently established Bachelor’s degree programs, with at least 60 students graduating with a bachelor’s degree. Below is the information she provided:

1. 1. The youngest graduate is 15 and lives in Prescott. He completed his certificate in culinary arts fundamentals.
   2. The oldest graduate is 80 and lives in Prescott Valley.  He completed his advanced certificate in gun smithing.
   3. There were 159 graduates under the age of 18.
   4. There were 30 graduates over the age of 55.
   5. There were 9 graduates over the age of 65.
   6. There were 60 graduates who were awarded  a Bachelor’s (4 year) degree.
   7. The Community College served over 483 veterans last year.
   8. Report says 427 graduates attended the College’s Prescott Campus graduation ceremonies at the  Findlay Toyota Center  (College press release).  The total number attending the Verde Campus graduation ceremony was not announced.

Total of 916 degrees and certificates awarded in all ceremonies in the District

Yavapai Community College reported that 686 students who graduated this spring earned a combination of 916 degrees and certificates.  It said that students as young as fifteen and as old as  72 earned degrees or certificates during the past term. 

According to the Community College, Verde Valley graduates accounted for 21 percent of the total graduating this spring with degrees and certificates from the institution.

The Community College offered two Verde Valley ceremonies, at 9 a.m. and noon on Saturday, May 7, at the Sedona Performing Arts Center.

The Mayor of Jerome and former Director of the Arizona Department of Health Services addressed the Sedona/Verde Valley graduates on Saturday in Sedona.  He urged the graduates to pursue their passions, take compassionate leadership roles in their communities and value integrity above all. “No matter how good your knowledge or skills, nothing will define you, and affect the success of your career and your relationships more than your integrity,” he said.

Source:  Yavapai Community College press release dated May 10.

Maria Ortiz received AA Degree in nursing last month;  library staff celebrated her success January 31 with a party

Yavapai Community College student Maria Ortiz has been using the Beaver Creek Library quiet room to study for her courses for the past two years.  At times, her young sons accompanied her when she was accessing  library computers and books. She received her AA Degree in nursing in December.  In recognition of her commitment and success, the library staff celebrated and honored her  Friday, January 31.

Beaver Creek’s librarians noticed Ortiz “come in to the library to study on a continuing basis for two years,” said Library Coordinator Beth Franklin. ” According to Franklin, Ortiz “has done some networking and has already secured a job with Yavapai County.”

“We are so proud of her accomplishments,” Franklin said. “Good things are happening in our wonderful Yavapai Free Library District.”

New officers joining eight law enforcement agencies across Arizona

Twenty-two law enforcement recruits collectively swore to protect and serve and wore their badges for the first time May 23. This signaled the end of their 20-week training journey and the start of their careers as peace offers.

The 22 new officers joining eight law enforcement agencies across Arizona participated in a traditional graduation ceremony for the Northern Arizona Regional Training Academy headquartered at the Yavapai Community College Prescott campus.

NARTA Class 46 President Stephen Hunt, who is joining the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office, described his class as “one of a kind” because of their shared triumphs and a few “speed bumps” that helped them learn and grow. “I believe we have been refined through this process. But I know we still have a long journey ahead of us.” Hunt encouraged his classmates to keep learning and to find the joy inherent in “answering the call to serve a purpose much bigger than ourselves.”

Prescott Mayor Greg Mengarelli, in his keynote graduation address, thanked the recruits for answering the call to duty and service. “I am certain you will live up to the high standards expected of you and you will serve your communities well.”

NARTA Class 46 graduates and their sponsoring agencies are:

Joseph Adam Campas and Garrett James Schweikert, Coconino County Sheriff’s Office.

Brant Cameron Chapin, Anthony John Cordes, Siearra Rhea Paddilla, Joshua Cornelius, Flagstaff Police Department.

Kody Anderson, Payson Police Department.

Julian Andrew Navarrette, Logan Joseph Weindel, Lizbeth Lorena Zarate, Pinal County Sheriff’s Office.

Nathanial William Namanny, Ralph E. Reily Jr., Blake Louis Elton Schermer, Prescott Police Department.

Isaac Gallo Corrales, Prescott Valley Police Department.

Catherine Ann Beers, Sedona Police Department.

Kenyon David Adamson, Stephen Hunt, Andrew Lang, Tanner McCrae Presson, Arie William Terpstra, Gilbert Wakefield, Cody Patrick Winton, Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office.

Information for this article obtained from various press releases including one contained in the Verde Independent, June 14, 2019.

Featured speeches included students Alexandra Barr of Prescott Valley and JoDe Ann Moore of Sedona

Forty GED earners participated in an award ceremony in Prescott May 18.  Among those celebrating, were ten students from the Verde Valley. A Community College news release about the event written by J.J. McCormack, Yavapai College Community Relations on May 21, follows immediately below:

Bullying, young motherhood, substance abuse and shattering molds were among the reasons cited by the latest group of GED earners for rerouting their educational journeys. Courage and hard work got them all to the graduation stage May 18 at Yavapai College.

“There were many times that I wanted to give up, convincing myself that if I failed my tests, then it wasn’t meant to  be,” 46-year-old Jennifer Trisdale said in an address to fellow GED earners and audience members gathered in the YC Performing Arts Center. “Well I failed many, many times. Each time I became a little wiser, a little stronger and a little more brave. You see, my test wasn’t about passing. My test was about persevering. For every single time I had failed, I was succeeding. I hadn’t just become a student, I had become fearless.”

Trisdale said her teen-age daughter telling her “You Can” inspired her to “show up” and get her GED. “…I realized my daughter had faith in me when I didn’t even have faith in myself.”

Trisdale of Dewey was one of 180 Yavapai County residents who obtained their GEDs, many with assistance from YC’s Adult Basic Education program. Approximately 40 GED earners participated in the award ceremony that also featured speeches from students Alexandra Barr of Prescott Valley and JoDe Ann Moore of Sedona.

Barr told fellow graduates earning a GED “opens doors of opportunity to continue growing and learning new skills that we will carry with us for the rest of our lives.” Moore talked of her “great math battle– ” a battle that she won after initially testing at a fourth-grade level. Earning a GED at age 51, Moore said, has given her the confidence to “start a new life” and pursue her dream of working in the rehabilitation field.

Mark Frederick, a YC ABE Instructor, said in his heartfelt remarks that GED students have taught him a lot about respect, intelligence and hope. He said GED instructors need to earn the respect of their students, that most GED students are as smart or smarter than many college students and that “every GED student – every single one – has a fire of hope inside and as success follows success it burns brighter.” He implored the graduates “to go and see in others what you have taught me to see in you – respect, smarts and hope.”

YC President Dr. Lisa Rhine also spoke at the GED award ceremony, telling the graduates to take pride in achieving a personal milestone that required courage and commitment and “one that proves all things are possible.”

Dr. Rhine encouraged the GED earners to continue investing in their educations. “The courage and commitment you have demonstrated in achieving this goal are exactly the characteristics that you need to continue your education beyond today. Yavapai College is ready when you are to help you to continue your educational journey.“

For more information about Adult Basic Education at YC, or English as a Second Language, visit www.yc.edu/ABE.

Following are the GED Earners who participated in the May 18 award ceremony at the YCPAC.

Sylvia Coke and Ignacio Mejia of Camp Verde

Janell Canuel and Shayna Granillo of Chino Valley

Jocelynn Graham of Coolidge

Emily Crane, Calista Newell, Brieanna Sincleair, Jennifer Wilson, Christopher Brunner and Jessikah Bonner of Cottonwood

Jonathan Vernon, Jennifer Trisdale, Clarineth Miller and Tiffany McKinley of Dewey

Rachell Lueck, Lauren Harris and Zoey Ross of Prescott

Elizabeth Ameral, Deborah Atkinson, Francesca Cesarini, Alexandra Chester Barr, Leighann Hjelm, Gayle Koehn, Grant Matsuda, Heather Murphy, Stephen Norris, Kassidy Nunnally, Kayla Self, Theodore Simpson, Destanie Reid, Heather Dodson, Nany Garcia Arellano, Justin Kelly, Stephanie Morningstar, Maribel Bugarin, Garett Allen and Gabriella Caratachea of Prescott Valley

Mia Strydom of Rimrock

JoDe Moore of Sedona

Capacity crowd joins with students in celebration at Mabery Pavilion

According to the press release by Yavapai Community College, Eighty Verde Campus students participated in an evening commencement ceremony at the Mabery Pavilion on Friday evening, May 5. The students were joined by a capacity crowd of friends and family including proud parents, spouses, and their children.

The press release commented that “Student commencement speaker Yerania Rodriguez-Ibarra delivered one of the evening’s most poignant moments when she thanked her mother for making her achievements possible. “My mother gave up her whole life in Mexico to give her children the opportunities she didn’t have,” said Rodriguez-Ibarra. “We started from zero. It was a tough transition and I complained. I don’t complain anymore. It is because of her that I have now graduated from college.”

“After arriving in the U.S. only 12 years ago, Rodriguez-Ibarra overcame a language barrier and her family’s financial stress to earn All Arizona Academic team honors and the President’s Award for Excellence, the college’s highest honor.

“It is hard to imagine only a few years ago I was in high school, skipping classes, not worrying about the future,” Rodriguez-Ibarra told the audience, adding, “But I had a dream and an ambition so great it would not allow me to remain stagnant. I had to develop myself to be better and to overcome my fear and doubt.”

“The first-generation college student also thanked her English professor, Dr. Barb Waak, and advisor Linda Evans, noting that both women “helped shape me into the person I am today.”

“The Northern Arizona University-bound Rodriguez-Ibarra plans to pursue a career in dentistry on a full-scholarship and urged her classmates to keep Yavapai College in their hearts. “Occasionally stop, look back and wave to those who have shown us the way.”

Source:  Yavapai Community College press release.