This year, the Class of 2526 at Redwood celebrates their graduation, sharing cherished memories, the bittersweet nature of their journey, and valuable advice for underclassmen. Seniors like Jimmie Burk, Nathan Delgado, Elle Pinheiro, Alina Cervantes, and Thai Dinh reflect on their experiences in sports, community, and the excitement of moving forward, while encouraging younger students to embrace opportunities and stay involved in their school community.

Our seniors have officially graduated from the 25-26 school year, and we cannot be prouder of them here at Redwood.  How do they feel, though? Are they going to miss anything? And is there any advice they could give to underclassmen?  Well, let’s take a deeper look into that.

 I would like to point out that our seniors have definitely made this school year a blast. Most of our seniors were either on Varsity Sports Teams or running clubs that shaped the school to be fun and thrilling.  however they’re graduating is making room for new officers and new varsity Sports players. Will they miss it? Jimmie Burk ‘26 says his favorite memory here at Redwood was “playing football with everyone, getting to know everyone, and just breaking the record.”  Burk ‘26 was a well-known Varsity football player here at Redwood who broke the all-time  Russian record here at Redwood. I think I speak for all of Redwood when I say it was outstanding seeing Burks ’26’s determination throughout this season, and how he committed himself to football was inspiring for all of us.  He represented Redwood with passion and spirit. Burk ‘26 says, “To be yourself and don’t try to be anyone else and hang around the right people”   as his advice to underclassmen.

 Some of our graduating Rangers are excited for this new chapter in their life according to Nathan Delgado ‘26, “It’s really exciting. I’m so ready to graduate, but it’s also very, like, bittersweet, and definitely, uh, nerve-wracking because, like, I know I’m going to Cal Poly, but, like, just, like, what’s my career after that? It is kind of scary moving, you know?”  Delgado ‘26  seems to be very excited but nervous for this new journey, and I don’t believe that moving that far to attend school is definitely nerve-wracking.  However, this big step in his life will definitely be something he won’t regret.  After High School, most teenagers look forward to the freedom and ability to become independent. Delgado ‘26 says, “I’m just so excited to go to college and just like be independent and like learn and just like grow at, like I’m going to Cal Poly. So I’m so excited to go to the beach on the weekends and just like, you know, chill and have fun. I’m assuming”  Delgado ‘26  has a lot to look forward to, and I’m sure a lot of our seniors feel the same way.  Well, are the Rangers moving on to new places and new experiences? They’ll always have a home here at Redwood.  Delgado ‘26 says, “ Don’t be like scared to audition for that role or like try out for that team. Just do everything and anything you can do and have as much fun as possible.” 

One of Delgado ’26’s favorite memories here at Redwood was homecoming week, he says, “I feel like definitely one of my favorite memories is gonna have to be like homecoming week. That was so awesome, and especially just like doing it with Elle Pinheiro ‘26. Um, that was really cool. And then both of us winning at the end of it was great.” Homecoming week is definitely a very special week here at Redwood due to everybody’s enthusiasm and our community’s atmosphere.   Delgado ‘26 and Pinheiro ‘26 were the homecoming king and queen, and both of them shared that the experience was “super fun.” Pinheiro ‘26, and definitely their favorite memory here at Redwood.

Pinherio ‘26 shares that she will miss, “the different communities that you can find here. I think that, yes, Redwood is a community as a whole, but there are so many different communities that are so diverse that you can find here. You kind of just like immerse yourself, and if you get involved in so many different things, those communities are so strong. 
I’m proud to see I’m involved in a few of them, so I feel like I’ve definitely seen that be prevalent on campus.” she shares that Redwood is full of diverse communities and she’s proud to have experienced some of them and just get to know people from different backgrounds which I think is such an important part of redwood because you never know who you are going to meet and what they may be like well yes we are one Community but we’re full of so many different kinds of people and I think that’s what makes us who we are. Pinherios ‘26  plans after high school are to “attend Chapman University in the fall, and study public relations, advertising, and entertainment marketing, and then, yeah, we’ll see from there.” The Rangers are truly impeccable.  Hearing this, it makes me realize how far we strive and the goals we accomplish. All thanks to Redwood, we can have these opportunities and grow, knowing we can be proud of our achievements. For underclassmen, Pinherios ‘26 says to you,” Get involved, for sure you know, it’s nice to have a group, but know, keep an open mind, try new things in new clubs, meet new people. I’m constantly meeting new people, and I feel like I’ve made so many new friends that way. Just really enjoy and cherish everything. 

The next two seniors that I’ll be talking about and will be sharing their voices are both a part of the mock trial team and seem to really encourage the student body to join for its amazing community and the memories you’ll make. Alina Cervantes ‘26 says her favorite memory at Redwood is “joining mock trial and competing at state for 3 years in a row with my team.” Mock trials provide the opportunity to express legal arguments, like in court trials, but as high school students training to pursue law. Cervantes ‘26 shares that leaving high school is bittersweet, because I enjoy coming to Redwood, and it’s a very good school, and I’m gonna miss it, but I’m also very excited to graduate and just move on.”  this thought is very common with a lot of our seniors because Redwood is truly a wonderful school the impacts every single one of its students in a positive way giving Rangers that initial Bittersweet feeling on wanting to leave.

 As a farewell gift to our underclassmen, Cervantes ‘26 shares, “get involved, it’s more fun when you put yourselves out there and take risks, because you’re never gonna find out what you like until you’re trying new things.”

Our second mock trial member is Thai Dinh ‘26. Dinh ‘26 says leaving high school is “relieving, a lot of stress is off of my mind now, but also very sad. 
Like, obviously, leaving behind a lot of great friends. But it’s exciting. Moving on to college and things like that, so I think it’s been worthwhile in high school for sure.” It’s always hard to leave good things behind, but it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make room for new experiences and memories. Dihn ‘26 says his favorite memory here at Redwood has been “competing with my mock trial team. its a great community. that has been fostered over the past 4 years. There were a lot of seniors on our team. 
So, competing alongside them, at every level, competition has been super rewarding and exciting.” How fun it must have been to experience a mock trial with all these amazing seniors.  If you’re looking to compete in a mock trial, it’s suggested to join for its amazing community and memories that you’ll make.  To our underclassmen, Dinh ‘26 says to you, “Spend your 4 years here wisely. Do every opportunity that interests you. Make good friends with people and talk to your teachers often. 
Like you should always be comfortable confiding in them and being able to ask them for help,”  as he said always be involved and casually known with your peers and teachers, for it’s easier to talk to someone you can feel comfortable with. 

 Well, the time has come to save our world for our class of 2026 seniors. As a final goodbye, we hope all of our Redwood seniors leave high school with the memory of Redwood in mind, and before becoming anyone else, remember you are a ranger at heart.  do amazing things and become who you’ve always wanted to be. Don’t let anyone stop you from being you and changing the world, for you are our future.

Serenity Ceja
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