ASK Academy celebrates Class of 2024

More than three dozen graduates from The ASK Academy were feted Friday morning during a ceremony at the National Hispanic Cultural Center.

The ASK Academy’s Governing Council, Executive Council, faculty and staff joined dozens of friends and family in wishing the 45 graduates a fond farewell from the Rio Rancho charter school which focuses on STEM careers within the areas of biomedical sciences and engineering and design.

CEO Edward Garcia kicked off the commencement program with an introduction of the Class of 2024.

Graduating student Arjan Tafoya did like Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock and belted out a stirring rendition of the national anthem on a guitar.

Garcia again took the stage to welcome everyone to the event and share some words with the graduates.

“It has been said that it is never an end, but it’s always a new beginning,” Garcia said. “Today’s ceremony will symbolize the end of high school, the end of your mandated education and being told what to do, what to wear, where to go. But it’s also the beginning of something new and exciting.”

Principal Nadyne Shimada and Michael Smith, Governing Council chair, then spoke before High School Project Manager and Department Chair Cheryl Walker gave a humorous and emotional commencement address.

Walker, a Rio Rancho High School graduate, said goodbye to her first class of eighth graders at The ASK Academy, who she called her “angel babies.”

“You’re the only class I’ve ever had the pleasure of teaching from eighth grade through your senior year and the only class I ever will because I just don’t have the same mental fortitude as these other colleagues of mine,” Walker said. “I want you to know that you changed me for the better in that first year. I was honestly in awe, already, of how complex you were as young people and that we would authentically cry and laugh and learn things together in ways that we only continued to do for five years. I just want to say, I seriously love you guys from the bottom of my heart. Congratulations on this moment.”

Salutatorian Jack Bowles gave a speech followed by words from Valedictorian Garnet Waldrop.

Waldrop has an impressive resume not only of academic excellence but also a commitment to serving others and making a positive impact on the world. Waldrop started a grassroots project called Ray of Sunshine when she was 7 years old. Since then, Waldrop has worked to give more than 800,000 items to those in need, including the homeless population of Albuquerque. Her efforts have been recognized in magazines, TV interviews, and she was a speaker at a TED Talk event in 2019.

During her senior year, Waldrop was an intern at Los Alamos National Labs, working drones as part of her internship, Waldrop was licensed as an FAA drone pilot.

Waldrop gave an emotional speech thanking her mother for her unwavering support after her father passed away unexpectedly in 2019.

Waldrop then shared memories of her time at ASK with her classmates and gave them advice for the future.

“I cried so many tears, Calculus 1 and 2 is a demon my friends, 0 out of 10, would not recommend. But here I stand, dream accomplished. I say that not to brag but to acknowledge that self-doubt and self-defeated side that lives in all of us,” Waldrop said. “Over time, you internalize that whisper of a voice that says you’re not enough, that says no you can’t instead of you are magnificent, you are fierce and yes, you can. We found out who we are and who we are not. We are braver, smarter and more courageous than we ever imagined. That self-doubting, internal whisper has no power over us. We are the Class of 2024.”

The seniors then joyously walked one by one across the stage to receive their diplomas, a symbol of the end of one chapter and the beginning of another in their lives.

After each graduate received their diploma, they all stood, switched the tassels from one side to the other and tossed their hats high in the air to celebrate an academic achievement that was well earned.