SISD celebrates first high school graduation ceremony

Carmen Garcia walked across the stage Thursday gleaming as she was handed her high school diploma.

She was a student at Options High School, the first in the Socorro Independent School District to hold a graduation ceremony.

Like many soon-to-be graduates, Garcia, 17, said she has a big decision to make: What to do with the rest of her life?

“I want to go to college starting like right away, but I also want to join the military,” Garcia said. A decision she want to make this summer so she can “leave starting fall.”

Around 3,000 SISD seniors from eight different campuses will be graduating on Saturday and Sunday.

Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education Carmen Crosse said Options High School was chosen first because of the challenges many student had to overcome in order to achieve their educational goals.

“We are focusing on a campus that helps students that may have struggled,” Crosse said. “It (Options High School) provides them a self-paced graduation pathway, so students that may want to graduate early, or may have fallen behind and now want to catch up, it provides than that opportunity.”

Garcia was one of those students. She said she focused on work, which caused her to lose credits at her home school, but thanks to faculty at Options she got back on the path to graduation, more serious than ever.

“My principal, she was really motivational,” Garcias said. “She always told us to give it our all, and it was going to pay off. It really did: I graduated a year earlier before my class.”

Crosse said she is proud of all SISD seniors, many of whom will go on to college and the Armed Forces.

“We are predicting $45 million in scholarship money that our students have earned,”Crosse said with pride. Students at ” Socorro High School earned more than $13 million on their own.”

The district’s success, Crosse said, is a combined effort.

“Team SISD,” said Crosse.” You know it comes down to the kids and to the parents, it comes down to the staff that works with them, and the vision that we have for them — that they allow us to push them forward.”

Here is the list of SISD graduations this weekend:

Saturday, June 2, 2018 at the Don Haskins Center

– Pebble Hills High School, 9 a.m.
– Mission Early College High School, 1 p.m.
– El Dorado High School, 3:30 p.m.
– Americas High School, 7 p.m.

Sunday, June 3, 2018 at the Don Haskins Center
– Eastlake High School, 9 a.m.
– Montwood High School, 1 p.m.
– Socorro High School, 5 p.m.

You can also watch the commencement ceremonies online at sisd.net.