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2 days ago | 
desertsun.com | Jennifer Cortez |Andy Abeyta
Coachella Valley Unified School District kicked off graduation season with Coachella Valley High School's Class of 2025 commencement ceremony on Tuesday, June 3. Held at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, the Mighty Arabs’ student presentations opened with senior class president Anessa Hernandez, followed by the senior class greeting from ASB president Emily Torres.
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6 days ago | 
desertsun.com | Jennifer Cortez |Andy Abeyta
Pomp and pride filled the Knights Stadium at the graduation ceremony on Friday, May 30, as Shadow Hills High School bid farewell to the Class of 2025. Damariz Hernandez, the ASB executive vice president, led the Pledge of Allegiance. As senior class president, Izabella Nuñez welcomed her classmates and later guided the traditional turning of the tassels. This year's senior speech was delivered by Priscilla Guajardo, the ASB executive president. Scroll down to see photos from the ceremony.
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1 week ago | 
desertsun.com | Jennifer Cortez |Andy Abeyta
Palm Desert High School honored its graduating seniors during its Class of 2025 commencement on Wednesday, May 28. ASB President Emily Dohrman led the Pledge of Allegiance and later addressed the Aztecs with her remarks as the student body president. Senior Class President Parker Finnell introduced the graduating class, while Lyle Dela Luna, Rachel Sanford and Zack Blandon-Smalaj delivered a joint "Salute to the Class" speech.
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1 week ago | 
desertsun.com | Jennifer Cortez |Andy Abeyta
College of the Desert celebrated its Class of 2025 graduates at its 61st commencement ceremony on Tuesday, May 27 at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert. A total of 1,920 graduates, representing 29 countries, earned 2,183 degrees and certificates from the community college. Scroll down to see photos from the ceremony.
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1 week ago | 
desertsun.com | Jennifer Cortez
DeJa Brown arrived at College of the Desert with a personal vow — and left as a force for change and community. When DeJa Angelique Nicole Brown arrived at College of the Desert in 2023, she came with a promise to herself: this time would be different. A Navy veteran, Brown had already weathered the challenges of multiple colleges, military life and a break from education. But after moving to the Coachella Valley with her wife and spending time in reflection, she decided it was time to try again.
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1 week ago | 
yahoo.com | Jennifer Cortez
When DeJa Angelique Nicole Brown arrived at College of the Desert in 2023, she came with a promise to herself: this time would be different. A Navy veteran, Brown had already weathered the challenges of multiple colleges, military life and a break from education. But after moving to the Coachella Valley with her wife and spending time in reflection, she decided it was time to try again. "I made myself a deal," Brown said.
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1 week ago | 
desertsun.com | Jennifer Cortez
We're in the final stretch of the 2024-25 school. But even with summer break on the horizon, there's still plenty happening across schools in the Coachella Valley — like the recent recognition of Indio’s Marisa Gaytan from Mecca Elementary School, named one of Riverside County’s 2026 Teachers of the Year. And at La Quinta High School, speech-language pathologist Vanessa Abraham is turning personal struggle into strength, recounting her fight to regain her voice in a moving memoir.
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1 week ago | 
desertsun.com | Jennifer Cortez |Andy Abeyta
Xavier College Preparatory High School celebrates its Class of 2025 SaintsWith proud families and faculty looking on, Xavier College Preparatory High School in Palm Desert marked its 16th commencement on Saturday, May 24, celebrating the graduation of 161 students of the Class of 2025. The graduating class received more than 780 college acceptances from nearly 220 institutions and collectively earned over $22 million in merit-based scholarships and financial aid.
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2 weeks ago | 
desertsun.com | Jennifer Cortez
A teacher at Coachella Valley Unified's Mecca Elementary School is one of Riverside County's teachers of the year. The honor, announced at an assembly Thursday, was a surprise for Marisa Gaytan and her students. The school's principal praised the ways Gaytan empowers and encourages students to succeed.
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2 weeks ago | 
yahoo.com | Jennifer Cortez
Vanessa Abraham dedicated her life to helping students find their voice — until, one morning, she lost her own. In March 2019, Abraham, a speech-language pathologist at La Quinta High School, woke up feeling unwell. She went to work anyway, attending an IEP meeting and whispering her way through it. "I was a speech therapist without a voice," she said. "It was like this joke at the meeting, like, 'Oh, we've got the speech therapist.
