About 80 students celebrated the culmination of their high school careers Wednesday evening at the graduation for La Cuesta Continuation and Alta Vista Alternative high schools.
Students in black caps and gowns with burgundy or blue tassels gathered with friends and family at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse Sunken Gardens to mark the occasion.
Graduates from the two alternative schools within the Santa Barbara Unified School District posed for pictures and listened to spirited speeches from Frann Wageneck, principal of both schools, and their peers before taking home diplomas.
Alta Vista seniors Angelica Esparza-Aldana,Yesenia Gutierrez Mora and Zoey Luna looked back on the past four years, and La Cuesta graduate Wendy Meza also congratulated the class of 2014.
Student speakers remarked on the successes and challenges they’ve faced — some of which helped lead them to attend Alta Vista, a high school that serves students in four grades who prefer independent study.
La Cuesta Continuation High School also offers an alternative education program that caters to students in grades 10 through 12.
The Class of 2014 for La Cuesta includes the following graduates:
Evaristo Arriola Munoz
Kelley Aviles
Michelle Bernal
Catherine Carranza
Manuel Cisneros
Kenia Corcuera
Lauren Crawford
Bianca Cuevas-Nava
Jose Escareno
Jacob Escobar
Bruce Figueroa
Roberto Fuentes
Luis Garcia Mota
Keery Gomez
Angel Gutierrez
Yvette Hernandez
Alyah Terrazas
Isaiah Juarez
Ruben Laborico
Desiree Leonard
Austin Long
Kassandra Manzo
Wendy Meza
Eduardo Moreno
Marcela Perez
Julio Rea
Alejandra Renteria
Manuel Rodriguez
Nayely Rodriguez
RJ Romero
Bianca Rosas
Adilene Sanchez
Cristian Sanchez
Lizet Soto
Wilibaldo Vazquez
Alexis Zazueta
The Class of 2014 for Alta Vista includes the following graduates:
Victoria Baker
Ruby Buddemeyer
Bailey Chaconas
Kelly Colee
Francis Curran
Wyatt Dale
Airi De La Cruz
Miguel Diaz
Angelica
Delaney Fruin
Michaela Gradstein
Madeleine Greenbaum
Marguerite Gregston
Francisco Gutierrez
Yesenia Gutierrez Mora
Katelyn Harmon
Amber Holland
Grey Ingersoll
Jessica Klein
Margaret Leach
Taylor Lewis
Hunter Lum
Zoey Luna
Keenan Manpearl
Esparza-
Aldana
Alister Mason
Carolina Norris-Clay
Christian Okpysh
John Page
Zachary Parker
Jade Patton
Parker Pelletier
Daisy Pena
Emily Renteria
Cherayla Rentie
Alexa Robinson
Halie Robinson
Nathan Rodriguez
Eric Rosenfeld
Fernanda Santini
Heather Stultz McCue
Amelia Taylor
Yana Thompson
Evan Thomson
Autumn vanDiver
Ashleigh Vargas
Alex Wolfe
Tiffany Marina
— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at gpotthoff@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
