A photo spread by J.D. Fiztgerald

Northwest Tucson has 13 new firefighters. The recruits graduated the Golder Ranch Fire and Northwest Fire/Rescue districts’ joint fire academy, and were pinned during a ceremony held March 17 at the DesertView Performing Arts Center in SaddleBrooke. They are, in alphabetical order, Victor Aranda, Brandon Daily, Casey Johnson, Peter Kamboukos, Jacob Lamoreaux, Stephen Ledoux, Chad Manuel, Peter Paddock, Kyle Rhein, Brian Robinson, Tris Rollins, Derek Schloss and Greg Smith. Family and friends helped with the ceremony.

They've stuck together in their pursuit of careers as Oro Valley cops, as they were told they must.

All high schools in the Northwest hosted ceremonies last week. Including, Marana High School and Mountain View High School in the Marana  School District ct. Ironwood Ridge High School, and Pusch Ridge Christian Academy held ceremonies last week. To see more photos from last week’s ceremonies, look at pages 4 and 5. For more from all ceremonies, please visit The Explorer’s web site at www.explorernews.com.

Next week, high school students flip their tassels from one side of their mortarboards to the other, and toss the hats into their air.

The Arizona Graduate Winds will introduce its new members this month in their debut recital presented by the School of Music at the University of Arizona.

Perhaps one of the lasting legacies of being a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point is that you do not leave your experiences behind you.

Three Northwest graduates have earned scholarships from the Oro Valley Rotary Club.

Armando Romero was one of 59 Pusch Ridge Christian Academy graduates to proudly hold up a diploma on May 18, and while the traditional blue gown and gold tassel didn’t distinctly set him apart from his fellow graduates, his story of trial and tribulation does.   

Kevin Chandler, valedictorian. Chandler said "the last time I checked in December" his GPA was about a 4.61. During his years at CDO, Chandler was president of Key Club, a member of National Honor Society, the environmental club and the Academic Decathlon team. He plans to study chemical engineering at the University of Arizona.

There were six when they stepped off the stage at the Holiday Inn Holidome a year ago in December, graduates of the largest class of Oro Valley police recruits ever.