Graduation Photos

It's the heart of graduation season and we've got grad photos.
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Karen Quincy Loberg / Star staff From left, friends Jason Hurtado, Pablo Ramos, Raul Ramirez and Andrew Kutbach adorned their mortar boards with their initials for graduation. They were among the 240 graduates in the Fillmore High School class of 2008 — the largest class in the history of the school.

By their own admission and according to several school officials, Fillmore High School's Class of 2008 was sometimes a handful.

But as the graduates donned blue robes and took that last walk across Fillmore's Central Avenue campus as high school students Thursday evening, they said they were ready to take life by the horns.

"This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time. Live each moment to the fullest, and greatness will come," Valedictorian Shaun Stehly told fellow graduates and family and friends who packed the bleachers of the school's new athletic field.

After acknowledging lightheartedly that the Class of 2008 "made a reputation for ourselves," Stehly wagered the class surprised many who pegged them as underachievers.

Government teacher Darby Schieferle touched on the same theme.

"You guys are smarter than anyone has given you credit for," Schieferle said, noting that this graduating class was the school's largest.

The vast majority of the class' 240 graduates plan to continue to higher education, said Fillmore High School Registrar Debora Curnett.

While checking out of school in preparation for graduation, 30 students told Curnett they plan to attend a four-year college or university, and 160 said they plan to go on to a two-year college or trade school, Curnett said. More were accepted at four-year colleges but couldn't afford to attend.

Most of the remaining 50 graduates said they planned to go to work, and a handful said they were considering joining the military, Curnett said.

Before the ceremony, a few graduates said they were a little nervous about the ceremony, but many said they were ready to dive into the next stage of their lives.

Erin Baker said she plans to go to college, then work as an investigator in the criminal justice system. For Gus Briseno Ortega, the future holds fashion school in Los Angeles, he said. Other graduating seniors mentioned becoming nurses and social workers, and entering the military.

As graduates filed into Fillmore's football stadium to receive their diplomas, cheers and blasts from air horns filled the air.

About 25 members of Javier Candelario's family held up signs, rang bells and called out his nickname, Bofo. Many of them wore blue T-shirts with pictures of him growing up from a kindergartner to a high school senior.

"I have chills all over," said Candelario's proud mother, Libby.

Maria Olague of Fillmore was ecstatic that her daughter Elaina Marie was graduating with honors, despite struggling with diabetes, she said. "It's a dream come true."

This will be the last graduating class for Principal Rebecca Larkin, who is retiring this year.

Larkin served in the school's top position after spending three years as assistant principal, Senior Counselor Al Arguelles said. She plans to return to her home state of Texas with her husband, Steve Larkin, who served as principal of Fillmore Community High School.