24 JUNE 2022 By Mallory Gleich This year, 400 seniors took their final steps as students of Arcadia High School and will now head off into the next chapter of their lives. While there are various activities that the seniors partake in to celebrate their graduation – prom, senior breakfast, the parade – a new tradition also took place this year: the grad walk. On May 13, seniors were invited to visit their elementary and middle schools: Hopi, Echo Canyon, Tavan and Ingleside, to walk the halls and say farewell to the teachers that helped encourage and support them through their educational careers thus far. The students dressed in full regalia and walked through the main hallways of the four schools while teachers and younger students lined up and cheered on the graduates. Some students even made cards with well wishes for the participating seniors. “It’s pretty powerful to see a teacher who has been there for decades, see their students come back to them 10-12 years later. To see how they’ve succeeded and made a huge difference in that student’s life,” Principal Cain Jagodzinski said. Here’s how AHS graduates felt on Grad Walk day: “It’s important for the kids to see us do this grad walk because it gives them something to look forward to and shows them that staying in school really is worth it, even if it doesn’t feel like it is at times. The most enjoyable thing for me was seeing a lot of my old teachers and being able to go back to where I first started in SUSD.” – former Tavan student Dallas Ligon “While visiting Hopi and Ingleside, the schools I grew up at, I was able to reflect on my life and how far we have all come. The kids were enthusiastic and smiled at everyone. It reminded me to never stop being a kid, and to relish the memories I have made the past 12 years in the Arcadia area.” – Camy Carden “I loved the grad walk because I got to see all the teachers who made a difference in my life. They created a love for learning in many students lives and it is because of them that we are going off to do great things.” – former Ingleside student Ella Canada “I loved the grad walk because it was like a walk down memory lane. It was so fun to spend the day with friends I’ve had since kindergarten, talking about memories over the years and seeing teachers that made such an impact on our lives. The kids were so excited for us too, which made it even more special.” – former Hopi and Ingleside student Grace Reed “The Grad Walk was incredibly fun, mainly because of seeing all the kid’s excited faces. It really put into perspective how young I really was at Echo Canyon, rather than how old and mature I thought I was back then.” – Luke Nolen Grad Walk: Arcadia seniors bid farewell in a big way Brophy Prep hosted their Senior Farewell Dinner in April, as well as a school-wide graduation party after the ceremony on May 21. Food, entertainment abound - the Xavier seniors and were invited, too! The St. Thomas Clap-Out is a long- running tradition of clapping out eighth- graders on their last day of school. Students’ first grade buddies also sang them a song. There was a Graduation Dance on one night, and at the conclusion of the graduation ceremony a video compilation of pictures from the past ten years the students have been at STA was shown – a highlight for everyone. Christ Lutheran School ’s graduation included a special moment where each advisor had the opportunity to share a Bible verse with the graduating class and then read the names of their advisees before they received their diplomas. St. Theresa ’ s younger students prayed over the graduates as they were honored at the end-of-the-year Awards Assembly. Accolades included St. Theresa Award winners, Student Council awards, presentation of NJHS honor cords, Art Awards and recognition of staff that have helped guide the students. Veritas Prep ’s Senior Celebration, A Night in Morocco, was celebrated in May at the Phoenix Zoo. Students took a Safari Cruiser ride to the Desert Tents to enjoy dessert, snacks and live entertainment to cap off their final year of high school. On Saturday, May 14, 257 seniors from Xavier Prep graduated. Earlier in the week a Baccalaureate Mass was also held at the church for seniors and their parents. (back) Rylie Ryans, Grace Hull, Ashley Burros, Ali Harris, Grace Helenic. (front) Nicole Chirumbolo and Corinne Cordell. GRADUATION FUN AROUND TOWN Alexa Smigel, Olivia Richardson, Ella Crowson, Sophia Alba and Alyssa Blanks. Pat Brannan and Jackson Dwyer-Kim. Jesse Damam and Alexa Smigel. Elsa Steen Koppell, Zoie Thomas, Carmela Seiss and Bill Trang. John Harman, Ryan Evans and Adam Fernandez. Class president Olivia Richardson and her little sister at Hopi. PHOTOS: SONYA KIM PHOTO: DOMINIQUE PAPLACZYK

25 JUNE 2022 Contact Roni@Arcadianews.com today to find out how you can save up to 46% on your ad investment! Reach 45,000 potential patients or clients... The Arcadia News Health & Wellness Guide is the perfect way to promote your practice or business to the affluent, educated and health-minded readers of the Arcadia News . A Directory of local providers JULY 2022 DEADLINE: FRIDAY 6/17 A Directory of local providers By Mallory Gleich On the cover of the May 2022 edition, Arcadia News featured a group of kids (and a mom!) standing in front of a homemade lemonade stand. Now, we’re here to explain what those kids were up to. PANDA – People Acting Now Discover Answers – is the Phoenix Women’s Board of the Steele Children’s Research Center. It’s an entirely volunteer-run board with 200 Phoenix-area members. PANDA was created 23 years ago to bring awareness to the brand-new (at the time) Steele Children’s Research Center at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. “The organization supports discovery processes to improve treatments and cures for devastating childhood diseases at the Steele Children’s Research Center. More than $22 million has been raised since 1999!” President-elect Courtney Gaintner said. “The Steele Children’s Research Center is Arizona’s only academic pediatric medical research center.” The physician-scientists and researchers at Steele help children through science, translational and clinical research, education and care – and have been for 30 years. Gaintner said that the physicians conduct more than 60,000 annual visits with patients throughout Arizona. Lemonade Stand Day – the photo featured on the May cover – was created to “engage the next generation of philanthropists in the community.” In April, kids around the Valley hosted lemonade stands to raise money for Steele Children’s Research Center. A committee of PANDA volunteers created the event back in 2018. This year, over 30 stands were set up with multiple families participating, and these young philanthropists raised $18,500. “The Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation sponsored Lemonade Stand Day and offered a $10,000 fundraising match, which brought the donation total to $28,500,” Gaintner said. Sprouts and Danzeisen Dairy supplied the lemonade, cups, ice and lemons for this year’s event. Funds raised will go toward the PANDA Children’s Genome Sequencing Project. “All of our fundraising events for 2021-22 will allow us to purchase the NovaSeq 6000 System, a state-of-the-art whole genome sequencing machine that is faster and more efficient than past equipment. With this new equipment, whole-genome sequencing can be completed on 48 children in as little as 40 hours,” Gaintner said. PANDA events include the “Children Helping Children” Fashion Show & Luncheon, started in 1999 by the 35 founding members. They also host Pandas for Patients, PANDA Prowl & Block Party, and various campaigns with businesses throughout the year. Selling a cool drink for an even cooler cause (back) Olivia Pakis, Harper Driscoll, Kinsley Edwards. (front) Avery Estes, Lexi Lewis, Asher Estes, Adelynn Rowe, Lilly Pakis, Caroline Christensen. PHOTO COURTESY OF HEATHER DRISCOLL