In San Luis Obispo County's final major graduation ceremony of the year, Central Coast New Tech High School celebrated the achievements of its 54 Class of 2024 graduates during a commencement ceremony on Saturday.
This marks a 100% graduation rate for the Nipomo class that began their freshman year online during the COVID-19 pandemic, Principal Sarah Butler told the Tribune ahead of the ceremony.
She said there were eight valedictorians on this year's valedictorian roster: Cole Aguirre, Skylar Cross, Lily Gash, Leo Ramirez, LilyAnna Ramirez, Victoria Reese, Katie Slawko and Leila Zavala.
Butler said the class “did incredible academic performance on state tests” in the third grade, with 91 percent meeting or exceeding standards in English, 70 percent meeting or exceeding standards in science and 44 percent meeting or exceeding standards in math.
“In addition, many are athletes, performers, artists, social reformers, environmentalists and science-minded people,” Butler said.
The graduating class will be moving on to a variety of career paths in the fall: 21 will attend Cuesta Community College, 13 will attend California Polytechnic University, three will attend Allan Hancock Community College, two will attend University of California, Santa Barbara, and one each will attend University of California, Davis, University of California, Santa Cruz, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Reed College, Tufts University, Mount Mercy University, Long Beach State University, California State University, Monterey, California State University, Los Angeles, California State University Maritime Academy, Rogers State University in Oklahoma, and Santa Rosa Junior College.
One of the students plans to join the Air Force, one will attend SLO Beauty College and the other plans to enter the workforce.
Graduates received a total of $110,000 in scholarships.
Butler described the graduates as a “resilient, deeply supportive and empathetic group of students.”
“The students really care about each other, their school and their community,” she said.
