This month the PRT begins a series of profiles of the PUHS senior class of 2020.
Johnny Quiroga
by Nicholas Dekhytar
PUHS senior John “Johnny” Quiroga is a current senior at Patagonia High School. Johnny, known by his friends to be a joyful, funny, intelligent, kind, and loyal friend, is also the captain of the chess team, participates in the drama club, and multimedia creations. Johnny is described among his friends as quite the chess master whose classmates are like family to him. When Johnny first came to Patagonia, he soon realized how quickly the work piled up, but he persevered and came through.
Johnny stated that his favorite subject is English because he loves literature and theater and that math was very challenging for him. Even so, Johnny says his favorite teacher in high school was Mr. Melanson, saying “Mr. Melanson has been there for me through many of my struggles; he was my chess coach and my mentor. He was inspiring, making you your best self and try your hardest. His puns were always the highlight of my Monday and he was so great with the students. His impersonations were amazing.”
Johnny has always been close with his senior class and says he would describe himself as a good friend to anyone in need. As he looks back at high school, he reflects that the hardest lesson he had to learn was that a person can learn from everything that is thrown at him throughout his life. He says he has learned two things, “1, to better myself and 2, Not to make the same mistake again.”
Johnny’s advice to his younger classmates is to get over the idea that no one person is better than another. Everyone should be his own person and follow his own heart.
Reyna Ochoa
Reyna Ochoa, a senior at PUHS, has been involved in much during her high school career including FFA, poetry and short story writing dual credit classes, Poetry Slams, and Student Council. This dynamic, pink and purple haired queen says that what surprised her most about high school was the atmosphere. She stated, “it was way better than middle school and my relationships with my teachers, they are meaningful and deep, I will always carry everything they taught with me.” Reyna said it is hard to pick just one favorite teacher and says that all her teachers have amazing qualities and teach well, and she believes they have all worked very hard and contributed to her education.
She stated that her favorite subject is English because “Mrs. Hayes is the best at reading stories.” Reyna found that the most challenging part of high school was finding out who she really was while being surrounded by schoolwork and pressure. Reyna recounted that the best thing to happen to her in high school are all the friendships and relationships she has developed over the years. She is loved by many of her classmates and can be described as funny, energetic, kind, crazy, and trustworthy, but Reyna likes to describe herself as “sparkly!” Reyna would like to be remembered as someone who is bubbly and kind to everyone.
Looking back on her high school years, Reyna explains that the hardest lesson she had to learn was that the world doesn’t stop for your problems and the best advice she can give to underclassmen is to remember to try and make the best out of everything. Reyna plans to attend cosmetology school in Tucson after graduation.
Russell Sherman
By Jordi Peterson
Russell Sherman is a high school student who has played basketball, baseball, soccer, and football throughout his four years at Patagonia High School. Clearly a person with a passion for sports, he also had an academic side, his favorite subject being English, as he liked writing and getting his opinion down on paper. Russell has accomplished much throughout his high school career and he feels it has gone by very fast, which he says is what surprised him most about his time at PUHS.
Russell found that managing his time was his greatest challenge, and he admits that his most embarrassing moment in high school was the time he wore tights in front of the school during Ms. Lucas’ production of Once Upon a Mattress.
Along with the bad times, of course, come the best times, as Russell realized how close he became with his friends at a school where they were once strangers.
Russell says his favorite teacher would have to be Mr. Hayes, because he has been like a father to him all four years at PUHS.
Russell says that “one of the hardest lessons I learned in high school would be dealing with people no matter how much they get on your nerves.” His friends and teachers describe Russell as reliable and gentle, hardworking and kind.
Russell’s advice to underclassmen would be to stop procrastinating and get your work done on time!
After high school, Russell will be joining the ranks of the U.S. Marines and then he wants to become a special education teacher. English teacher Journee Hayes says of him, “we need more teachers like Russell. He will make an amazing educator”.
We wish him luck, but we know with his hard work skills and his dedication that he won’t need it.
Jose Santos
Jose Santos is known around the PUHS campus as a loyal and caring friend with a big heart. During high school he participated in many extracurricular activities from music, drama, art, radio broadcasting (who could forget those dance moves?!), multimedia creations, soccer, and yearbook. While an essential part of each of these clubs, Jose’s presence will most be missed on the basketball court. Jose served as the boy’s basketball manager and student coach all four years of high school. Coach Kenny Hayes said of Jose, “Jose was more than a manager; he was like an assistant coach. He helped the coaching staff and myself develop and support the players at PUHS.” Jose’s positive attitude and dedication to the sport will be greatly missed.
Jose says he was most surprised about how much you have to stay on track with your school work when he came to high school. He states that math is his favorite subject because he enjoys solving as well as creating problems. Jose says he would like to be remembered as “that one kid who will put a smile on your face when you are having bad day and also the kid you can come and be yourself around.” He admits that procrastination was the most challenging problem he faced in high school and that the hardest lesson he had to learn was the importance of turning work in on time, but that the best thing to happen to him was making new friends and growing closer to his classmates.
Jose would like to thank every teacher he has had in the course of his four years at PUHS because, he explains, “you learn that they really want to help you exceed. But, if I had to pick one, I would choose Mrs. Hayes because she has helped me since I’ve been a freshman in high school and she has also helped me out with so much, who I’ve become, and without her honestly I wouldn’t be wanting to read books anymore.” After high school, Jose plans to attend Pima Community College and then continue on to ASU to pursue a degree in Cyber Security. And of course, he’d like to be a basketball coach someday too, like his “dad” Coach Hayes. Jose stresses the advice of not falling behind in class work to his younger classmates.
Kaelyn Kueneman
“High school was a big change for me, Kaelyn Kuenaman said. “I assumed that my experience would be something not too dissimilar from movies like Mean Girls. To my surprise, I found there were many different groups of people who were all accepted by others.”
Kaelyn’s favorite subject is English. “At first, I was a little weary of the subject, considering most of the work was essays. As it turned out, the English essays would be the most memorable thing about high school.” “Mrs. Hayes is a huge reason English was my favorite subject. I love listening to her read stories,” she said. Her favorite teachers have been Mrs. Hayes, for her understanding nature and loving approach to both teaching and her students’ lives; Mr. Hayes, whose teaching style is consistent and doesn’t leave students guessing; and Mrs. Lemons, who has really been there for her over the years.
The most difficult thing about high school was learning to manage her time – how much time she needed to finish a project, how many breaks she could take, which projects take priority, etc. “It took me a long while to figure out the balance of things with the help of Mrs. Gortaraz and Mrs. Meckler,” she said.
“I want to be remembered as a kid who tried her best even though she wasn’t naturally gifted,” Kaelyn said. “I also want to be remembered for winning the apple bobbing contest and immediately falling over afterward.”
Kaelyn describes herself as “determined.” She hopes her classmates would describe her as a loving and caring person who tries to make light of everything. Her advice for underclassmen would be to not take everything so hard. “You just gotta ride with the wave and do your best not to fall in. You’ll get out alright,” she said.
Kaelyn plans to attend Pima Community College and then attend an in-state university.
Karina Norton
Karina Norton participated in volleyball, basketball and student government for the past four years, tennis for two and chess for three. Her favorite subject is history. “I really enjoy learning about how things have come to be as we know them today,” she said. “The most challenging part of high school for me was learning how to time manage because we’re such a small school that you can be involved in so many different clubs and activities at one time. You just have to learn how to put an equal amount time and effort into every commitment you’ve made.”
She feels that some of the best things to have happened to her in high school were all her academic and athletic achievements, such as female athlete of the year in the 2018-2019 school year. One of the worst would have to be the stress of senior year and trying to figure out what she will do with her life after school.
One word that she feels best describes her would be ‘adventurous.’ “I love to turn the littlest of things into adventures,” she said. “Even if it’s just going for a drive, you can bet yourself that I’m going to turn my playlist on, roll the windows down and have a concert with you in the car.”
Her advice to the underclassmen would have to be to live life to the fullest. “Try something new and if you don’t like it then at least you can say you tried it. Take the opportunities that come your way and don’t take any of it for granted. The memories that you make in your four years are what YOU make of it. Don’t decide to do something because someone told you what to do. Your happiness is decided by you, not them. Make your own mistakes, grow from them and just learn how to be yourself.”
What surprised Karina most about high school is how sad she is to be leaving the place that she couldn’t wait to get out of at 3:15 every day. She plans to attend either Pima Community College in Tucson or the University of Valley Forge in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. She plans to major in Criminal Justice.