Graduation Photos

It's the heart of graduation season and we've got grad photos.
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Joseph A. Garcia / Star staff Jose Alcantar, right, runs ahead of classmates Angel Ascencio Jr. and Raul Arteaga to get his diploma.

Joseph A. Garcia / Star staff Hueneme High School students Sandra Alcantar, left, Diana Alvarez and Jacqueline Alvarez cheer along with their class during commencements.

Joseph A. Garcia / Star staff Hueneme High School seniors Leticia Ojeda, left, and classmate Nelson Rivera wait to participate in commencement Friday afternoon.

With a big cubic zirconia stud in his ear, Luis Zizumbo waited in the gym for his last waltz through campus as a Hueneme High School student.

"In part I'm relieved," said the 18-year-old as he waited in line with 420 graduates who picked up their diplomas Friday.

The boisterous ceremony marked the end of Zizumbo's high school career but the beginning of another.

He'll be heading to Oxnard College along with more than 100 of his classmates. Eventually he plans to study architecture at UCLA, and he won't be alone.

The Hueneme High School Class of 2008 distinguished itself by landing more students at four-year colleges than any other class in the school's 48-year history, said Melissa Buac, a graduate and the class president.

Among the distinguished graduates was Erica Fernandez, who helped rally local activists to defeat BHP Billiton's plan to build a liquefied natural gas facility offshore of Oxnard and who received a Brower Youth Award for her work. Her work attracted the attention of internationally known scientist Jane Goodall, who spoke at the school in April.

Fernandez was also one of two class members to receive Gates Millennium scholarships, given out by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She plans to attend Stanford University. The other winner, Mario Magana, is headed to UCLA.

On top of recognizing their own accomplishments, class valedictorian Jessica Lienemann reminded students to reflect on what it took to get there.

It wasn't just about waiting in line for a piece of paper, Lienemann said.

Finishing school is a fulfillment of all the choices the students made over the years and all the help and goading they got from friends, family members and teachers on the way, she said.

Stephanie Logbicho, there to see her nephew Isaac Brown graduate, knew what Lienemann was talking about.

"Sometimes it was like pulling teeth," said Logbicho, "but we're proud of him."

Erica Guy, 23, was there to congratulate her brother, Evan Smith, who managed to land "a full ride academic scholarship" at Texas University. Smith, who not only excelled in school but also played football, basketball and track, worked hard too, his sister said.

Smith's father, Clinton Thompson, dressed in a black bowler and long white jacket, also attended the school.

He smiled at the thought of all the family members who'd gone through Hueneme High. Finishing strong at the school has become a sort of family tradition, he said.