High schools from Arroyo Grande to Cambria salute Class of 2019

San Luis Obispo County celebrated its biggest day of high school graduations on Thursday.

High schools from Arroyo Grande to Cambria saluted the Class of 2019 on Thursday, with the graduation of more than 800 students.

“This class can will be forever defined by their kindness, care, and selfless nature,” Principal Kyle Pruitt said of the graduating seniors at Morro Bay High School. “They are a group of passionate, driven young people who show empathy and understanding towards all who they come to encounter.”

Arroyo Grande High School

Arroyo Grande needed lots room at the podium this year — the school had 11 valedictorians to honor at its graduation ceremony on Thursday — all with GPAs of 4.5.

According to a Lucia Mar Unified School District spokeswoman Amy Jacobs, officials believe this is the largest group of valedictorians in the school’s history. The school did not name a salutatorian.

In total, AG High honored 468 graduating seniors from a class that was awarded a total of $235,000 in scholarships, logged roughly 10,000 hours of community service among them and includes 11 signed collegiate athletes, according to Jacobs.

“This class of students is truly unique and we are so pleased that they get to experience a one of a kind graduation,” Principal Dan Neff said Thursday before the ceremony. “We are eager to see the great things they do out in the world.”

Of the graduates, 85 are going to four-year public California universities including UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, UCLA and UC Berkeley. Of those, the largest number, 31, are going to Cal Poly. One student is headed to Yale, and another is going to MIT.

Fifty-three of the seniors will attend Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, and 172 will attend Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo. Eleven students are expected to join the military.

During the ceremony, the high school also honored Harou Hayashi — a 93-year-old noted local farmer who was sent to an internment camp when he was just 16 years old. Because of his incarceration, Hayashi was unable to graduate from Arroyo Grande High School — but that changed this year.

On Thursday, the school decided to honor Hayashi, alongside his grandson, Kobe Hayashi, who was graduating from the high school.

Morro Bay High School

More than half of the 2019 class of Morro Bay High School graduates will take advantage of the Cuesta Promise scholarship program.

Thursday’s commencement marked the completion of high school for 183 seniors — of whom 102 will attend Cuesta College.

Morro Bay High students collectively pulled in $245,000 in local scholarships, said Betty Ayotte, the school’s college and career specialist.

Additionally, six seniors will move on to Cal Poly, four to UC Berkeley, three to UCSB and three to San Jose State, among a host of other colleges.

“This class will be forever defined by their kindness, care, and selfless nature,” said Principal Kyle Pruitt. “They are a group of passionate, driven young people who show empathy and understanding towards all who they come to encounter. I am so proud of what this group has achieved, and look forward to watching their positive impact on our community.”

The school’s 2019 valedictorian is Val Audrey McClish, and the salutatorian is Sal Kennedy Robinett.

Two graduates plan to go into the Air Force, one into the Navy and one the Marines.

Templeton High School

Templeton High School celebrated 165 graduates on Thursday at an evening ceremony at Eagle Volunteer Stadium.

“I feel extremely blessed to have served as counselor for this graduating class,” Lenora Jeter, a school counselor, said of this year’s seniors. “They are an immensely talented group of individuals who are going to do great things.”

Vincent Corella was honored as valedictorian, and Nathan Lebens was named salutatorian. Corella plans to attend Cal Poly, and Lebens will enroll at UCLA.

Many graduates will attend University of California or California State University schools, including 13 students who will study at Cal Poly. Others will enroll at Chico State, Fresno State, Cal State Monterey Bay, San Diego State and UCLA.

Forty-one students plan to attend Cuesta College. Other students will enroll at private or out-of-state schools, including USC, Baylor University, Texas A&M University, Smith College and Colorado State University.

Coast Union High School

In a whirl of red and gold, Coast Unified High School graduated 39 seniors Thursday afternoon.

Coast counselor Mary Stenbeck said co-valedictorians Karis Lawson and Victoria Ehlers soon will head for Cal Poly and Lawrence University, respectively. Lawson will major in landscape engineering, and Ehlers will major in pre-law with a minor in music.

Salutatorian Luis Plascencia also will attend Cal Poly in the fall; he plans to study computer science, Stenbeck said. Three other Coast grads are also headed to Cal Poly.

Three grads will attend Woodbury College to continue their studies of digital arts and filmmaking. Other will attend a variety of colleges and universities, including Cuesta College.

Leffingwell High School

Leffingwell HIgh School in Cambria honored six graduating seniors at a ceremony on Wednesday afternoon.

School registrar/secretary Joey Davis said that the intelligent, hard-working students had persevered, accomplished a lot and grown a lot.

“It’s to the point of tears how proud of them I am,” Davis said before the graduation. “And they get it, how huge their accomplishments are.”

Jazlin Rixman received a special award given in honor of former Leffingwell educator Grant Phillips.

Lopez High School

Lopez High School celebrated its 77 graduates in an evening ceremony on Wednesday, including valedictorian Catalina McCullough and salutatorian Kristina Bishop.

According to Aurora Munoz, the school registrar, 50 of the graduating seniors will be going on to community colleges, three into the military and one to a four-year trade school.

“Lopez students have GRIT,” she said. “They are goal-oriented, have respect for themselves and others, independence to govern and direct themselves and teamwork.”

Paloma Creek High School and ACE Academy

Two alternative high schools in Atascadero also celebrated 97 graduates at a Thursday ceremony at Colony Park Community Center.

Paloma Creek High School graduated 60 seniors, and Atascadero Choices in Education Academy graduated 37 seniors.

All Paloma Creek graduates will start classes at Cuesta College this fall, Principal Chris Balogh said.

Ninety percent of ACE Academy seniors plan to enter the workforce or attend college.