Nina Zamora, principal of Jereann Bowman High School, could not contain her excitement for the 2025 graduating class at the 56th Bowman High graduation at the College of the Canyons stadium on Thursday evening.
“The perseverance and resilience you have shown is truly remarkable. Each of you came to Bowman for a reason, bringing an open mind and trust in us to help you grow. At Bowman, we ensure every student knows that they truly matter,” Zamora said.
Zamora left the graduates with a quote, “If you chase butterflies, they fly away. But if you create a beautiful garden, the butterflies will come. And if they don’t, you still have a beautiful garden. So, the more we chase things like love, success or happiness, the more they can slip away.”
Graduate Bette Fox had the crowd laughing and clapping after she impersonated one of her teachers during her speech.
Fox, one of the senior speakers, said that she had lost who “Bette” was before she came to Bowman High and was able to rediscover herself and what her passions were.
“Unfortunately, my life before Bowman was so filled with anger, hatred, and disappointment in myself, I would look at myself in the mirror and be disgusted, knowing I could not bring myself to get out of bed and go to school,” Fox said. “I was losing myself as a person and had absolutely no idea how to get my life back together.”
She recalled her first moments of going to Bowman, speaking with Richard Haring, the assistant principal at Bowman High, and how he told her she “would love this school,” and that Fox did not believe him at first.
Fox said that she began to understand the concept of why Bowman High exists during her senior year.
“The teachers are not there to degrade you or make you feel bad for not being able to focus. Instead, they understand the struggle and reassure you that moving at your own pace is more than OK. I began to feel like myself again, only a month into my senior year,” Fox said.
She finished her speech with some advice for her classmates.
“Class of 2025, something to always remember: always be you, strive for success, work hard, and never forget that you matter. Once a Bulldog …” Fox said, waiting for her peers to finish the sentence.
“Always a Bulldog!” the graduates shouted back at Fox.
Jenna Villasenor, Associated Student Body president, began her speech with her own struggles, starting with the “sophomore slump,” as she called it.
“School felt like a struggle every day. I was unmotivated, disconnected, and honestly, I felt invisible, like just another face in a crowd at a big school,” Villasenor said. “I had lost my passion for learning, and I wasn’t interested in getting it back. But then I found Bowman. For the first time in a long time, I could breathe again.”
Villasenor said that Bowman gave her something she did not even realize she needed and that was a second chance.
“A second chance, a chance to reconnect, to grow, to start fresh. At first, I wasn’t sure what it would look like. But I kept an open mind, and that made all the difference. I was told about all the resources here and one, in particular, stood out to me: ASB,” Villasenor said.
She said that ASB became more than a class to her; it became a community, and she was able to learn to lead with intention, how to collaborate with her peers and how to use her voice.
Villasenor finished with some words of encouragement to her fellow graduates.
“The class of 2025 didn’t get here by listening to the noise. We’ve made mistakes; we’ve had setbacks. We’ve had days where we wanted to give up, but the important thing is, we didn’t,” Villasenor said. “We had trust in ourselves, and we had trust in ourselves and the process. We grew, we adapted, we showed up for ourselves, and we showed up for each other.”
Graduate Jayleen Cortez read a poem she wrote, “Parts of a Story,” for the crowd and dedicated it to her godfather who died days before the special occasion.
Cortez’s poem had four different chapters to symbolize the four years of high school, each chapter beginning with the first day of each year.
“Climax, chemistry, compounds, covalence. Three Cs on my report cards. D’s and Fs mean my dreams; my goals are now corked in a glass bottle. Put on the highest shelf out of my reach. Nobody sees, nobody sees me. My ship has sunk; I’ve accepted that I can’t pull myself up,” Cortez recited from her poem.
Cortez continued reading the poem, with each line getting more intense, but ended it with a beacon of hope for herself and her classmates.
“Ten years later, where will we be? Only time will tell. Our stories will keep going, our families will be growing, but today, we’re only teens basking in our victory. So, with my heart full of hope and tenacity, I would like to say, congratulations to the class of 2025. As the ship sets sail, may we leave a lasting legacy? We are golden,” Cortez finished, with a huge wave of applause from the audience.
During the ceremony, there were recognitions for students and staff, scholarships awarded, and academic achievement awards given to students by their teachers.
Michael Vierra, superintendent of the William S. Hart Union High School District, presented the class of 2025 by certifying their completion of high school.
Vierra, Jon Carrino, superintendent of business services, Jan Daisher, director of special programs, and Jordan Meraz, director of technology services awarded the graduates their diplomas.
Zamora finished the ceremony and said the words that everyone was waiting for.
“You may now shift your tassel to the left. And with the awarding of your diplomas, you are now and forever graduates of Jereann Bowman High School. Congratulations,” Zamora said.
