'Destination: Graduation' comes to an end

Thousands of Rio Rancho Public Schools students reached their destination as they officially graduated from high school in May.

For seven of those students, it was not only the end of their high school careers — it also closed out a year-long project called “Destination: Graduation.”

RRPS partnered with Edit House Productions this school year to produce a video series to showcase the “senior year experience” for those seven students across the district.

“Destination: Graduation” began in October and followed and documented the lives of seven members of the Class of 2024 as they navigated their final year of high school.

The participating students come from each of the district’s four high schools (Rio Rancho, Cleveland Independence high schools and Rio Rancho Cyber Academy), and all represent different goals, pathways, backgrounds and talents.

“We are eager to showcase the experiences that are shared by all of our wonderful seniors this year with ‘Destination: Graduation,’” RRPS Superintendent Dr. V. Sue Cleveland said when the show launched. “These outstanding students represent the dedication to academic excellence that exists in our entire student body, and we cannot wait to see what they accomplish in their final year with our district.”

Tuesday the series concluded with an emotional farewell to high school from the seniors.

In the final episode, the seniors reflected on their high school experiences, sharing moments of accomplishment, resilience and reflection. They also expressed gratitude for documenting their senior year and emphasized the importance of sharing their experiences.

The seven contributing seniors featured in the show are:

Maya Anderson, Cleveland High School

Anderson was the senior class president of CHS and actively involved in most of the activities that happen at school. She is highly focused on learning while also maintaining a vibrant and active social life.

“'Destination Graduation' meant a lot to me over the last nine months. It was very meaningful being able to pull out my camera and video the most important parts of my senior year,” Anderson said. “It's been so meaningful, and I have the videos. It's on YouTube. I can look back in 10 years and say I was a part of that. It’s so cool. It's very special to me.”

Kaiya Brown, Cleveland High School

Brown created the Native American Student Union at CHS and is a member of the New Mexico Indigenous Youth Council. She is dedicated to educating her peers about indigenous culture and uniting indigenous youth across New Mexico and beyond.

“'Destination Graduation' gave me an opportunity to share my experiences as a senior,” Brown said. “We all had such vast diverse experiences our senior year, and I think it was a wonderful opportunity to give us a platform to talk about what we're doing.”

Tamaya Oliver, Rio Rancho High School

Oliver is an active member of RRHS’s Black Student Union and Yearbook Club and has taken four years of American Sign Language classes. After graduation, Oliver is interested in becoming a doctor of audiology with an emphasis in speech pathology.

“This opportunity has allowed me to look back at the videos that I've submitted and just occasions in my life during the school year that I'm like, ‘Wow, I did that,’” Oliver said.

Diego Solano, Cleveland High School

Solano, the CHS student body president, was an active member of the CHS Student Government, a pole vaulter for the CHS track team and the co-creator of the CHS Multicultural Club.

“It was a really good experience,” Solano said. “I feel like hopefully it will show other people what high school is like now for people and show other students that the students that are in school with them are experiencing similar stuff.”

Alex Thompson, Rio Rancho High School

Thompson is a member of the RRHS JROTC and recently completed basic training with the U.S. Army over the summer. He also played baritone in the RRHS marching band and is committed to successful academic outcomes.

“'Destination Graduation' was a very new and exciting experience for me,” Thompson said. “Just being chosen to be the face, someone who would represent the school, it was interesting. I felt like I finally had a voice.”

Ranaya Westerman, Independence High School

Westerman is an outgoing student at IHS and is interested in pursuing a career in child care after graduation, with an end goal of someday becoming a third-grade teacher.

“The journey has been exciting and very rewarding. It's kind of surreal, I think, as well because I didn't think I could get here,” Westerman said. “I think what's special about Independence is the fact that we were all given different paths or thrown different things in life but we're all getting together to walk across the stage. We're all kind of the same but different, I think, because we all went through different things but we're all sharing this moment here.”

Alyssa Zielinski, Rio Rancho Cyber Academy

Zielinski took several advanced placement courses to receive college credits before graduation. She is also a lettered member of the RRHS diving team and has been a gymnast for most of her life.

“Documenting my year with 'Destination Graduation' has been absolutely amazing,” Zielinski said. “Even just the little accomplishments and each little spirit week or each little event that I go to because it reminds me to enjoy it, it reminds me that I did have fun this year.”

“Destination: Graduation” will return next school year and will air monthly on the RRPS YouTube channel, Facebook page and website.