Honoring the Top of the Class of 2021

As graduation day for area high schools approach, The Progress spotlights the Valedictorians and Salutatorians from each of these schools. Due to the number of qualified students, this is the first in a two-part series. The Progress will highlight students from Beaver Dam High School and Moapa Valley High School in next week’s edition.

By CHARLENE PAUL

The Progress

VVHS Valedictorian Michael Castro decided to be a straight-A student well before entering high school.
“In middle school, I was making good grades,” Michael said. “That’s when I thought I could get straight A’s. I didn’t really think much about becoming Valedictorian because there are usually multiple people who are Valedictorians at Virgin Valley High School. I just decided I was going to get straight A’s.”
Like of lot of school valedictorians, Michael’s favorite school subject is math.

“Math just makes sense,” he explained. “English classes are the ones I struggle with. I want to go into the engineering field, so math is necessary for that. I’m not sure which engineering field yet, but it will definitely be some type of engineering.”

When VVHS returned to in-person learning, Michael made the choice to stick with online learning.
“I just didn’t feel comfortable going back,” he said. “My motivation changed with working from home. Obviously, I still keep up with my work, but back when I was in school in person, I was on top of my game. As soon as I would get an assignment, I usually completed it pretty fast. Now, I am still doing my work, but I feel like I’m not as motivated. It’s tough. Our senior year was kind of robbed, but I can’t blame anyone. I mean, it’s COVID. Everyone’s just trying to be safe. At least I’ll have a cool story to tell my kids.”

Michael is a member of the National Honor Society and Interact.
“I got involved with the National Honor Society in my junior year,” Michael said. “When we went online, it just kind of stopped. With Interact, we got involved in helping with community stuff. I did track in the past, but this year I didn’t do any sports.”

When asked what he liked most about being a student at VVHS, Michael didn’t hesitate with his answer.
“The thing I liked most is just the people,” he said. “That’s what I missed the most, just talking to people.”

Michael’s advice for next year’s high school students is one of preparedness.
“Be prepared for all the college stuff you have to do if you want to go to college,” he said. “Make sure you get your verifications, applications, and FAFSA done early. Don’t wait until the last minute because that is just too stressful.”

Living in a small town has been the perfect place for Michael.
“My favorite part is how calm it is over here,” he said. “If you go to Vegas, there’s so much traffic. I feel like I’m pretty safe here because there aren’t that many people.”

After graduation, Michael plans to attend college, although he hasn’t yet decided where he will go.
“Right now, it’s a choice between Reno (UNR), Cal State Fullerton, Cal State, and Cal Poly Pomona,” he said. “I haven’t decided yet, but it will be one of them. Reno is giving me a scholarship for being Valedictorian, and if I go there, I will get in-state tuition, so that’s the one I’m seriously considering.”

Michael is the son of Jose Castro and Angelica Pelayo.

Valedictorian Jaden Tan made the decision in middle school to work toward being one of the VVHS Valedictorians.
“I just thought it would be super cool if I could get Valedictorian,” he said. “My brother, Andy, was Valedictorian for the VVHS class of 2020.”

As they have for all of the students at VVHS, the COVID restrictions made life a little more difficult.
“It’s been okay,” Jaden said. “But it’s also been a little difficult because I wasn’t able to return to in-person learning when everyone else did because my grandma lives with us. I’ve missed out on a lot of stuff. I played tennis for the past three years, but I couldn’t this year because of COVID. This year has been pretty rough.”

When he learned that he would be learning from home, Jaden set a personal, daily schedule to help him keep up with his work.
“Every day after school, I started to take a 30-minute break because learning hurts my brain,” he said.

“After that break, and after I eat, I get started on my homework. Depending on how much it is and how worn out I am after the school day, it will take me anywhere from six o’clock to seven-thirty to finish. I have a routine where I work for 45 minutes, and then I take a 15-minute resting break. That allows me to keep peak function.”

Jaden’s favorite subjects in school are math and science.
“Math is just straightforward,” he said. “You know, you fill out an equation, follow the steps, then get the answer. I like the sciences, particularly biology and human anatomy. And I like statistics. I use a lot of statistics for biology when I’m doing experiments to see if my experimental data is correct.”
A people person, Jaden plans to go into the medical field.

“I want to work with people,” he said. “I want to get my Bachelor’s of Science to become a registered nurse. I will get 2,000 clinical hours, and then I will apply for physician assistant (PA) school. I’ll be underneath a doctor, but I’ll work a little more closely with patients in a hospital setting.”

Jaden has been involved in a variety of activities during his high school years.
“I was in varsity tennis my freshman through junior years,” he explained. “In my junior year, I was in marching band until COVID. I was also in jazz band. I dabbled in orchestra and guitar in my freshman and sophomore years. I play the trombone, euphonium, guitar, and piano.”

Jaden plans to attend UNR in the fall and is waiting to hear about scholarship awards.
“I haven’t heard back on too many local scholarships yet,” he said. “I hope to get a least a couple. And I also interviewed with the Rogers Foundation, so I’m hopeful.”
Jaden has good advice for incoming students.

“The point of life is to be happy,” he said. “That’s why people go to school because they want to get money and be happy for the rest of their lives. If you’re going through thirteen years of torture all to get a job, I mean, it’s worth it. But don’t lose sight of happiness.”

Jaden is the son of Yao Tan and Cindy Zhou.

Valedictorian Giselle Guerrero is grateful for the patience of her teachers during all of the COVID restrictions.
“At first, it was pretty tough getting the hang of doing school online,” she said. “It was hard to stay motivated and focused because of so many home distractions. But the teachers were so patient with us, probably because they were going through the same thing. I am very grateful that the teachers were very helpful.”

Extracurricular activities have been limited, so Giselle took the time to improve her talents.
“I’m in choir and band, but we haven’t had any performances this year,” she explained. “I play the trombone, so I have been trying to take time to practice and get better so that I’ll be a better musician overall.”

Giselle’s older sister Humana Guerrero was VVHS Valedictorian for the class of 2019.
“I wanted to follow in my sister’s footsteps,” Giselle said. “I saw how hard she studied and tried to get involved in school, and I want to be able to challenge myself the same way.”

Giselle’s parents set a good example for her while she was growing up.
“My parents didn’t finish high school, but I admire them so much,” she said. “They believe education is important for me, and they support me in school.”

Attending a small high school wasn’t always what Giselle wanted to do.
“At the start I wished I could have gone to a bigger high school so I could have had more of the normal high school experiences,” she said. “But towards the end of high school, I’m grateful that I went to a small school in a small community.”

Giselle’s love of music has been enhanced through being part of the VVHS music program.
“Mrs. Palmer has been my music teacher for four years, and she got me out of my comfort zone,” Giselle explained. “I joined choir my freshman year to challenge myself. I always love singing, but I was too shy to sing in front of people, even my family. Mrs. Palmer pushed me to put myself out there and audition for solos and things like that.”

While the COVID restrictions have taken a toll, Giselle chose to make the best of the situation.
“At the end of my junior year when we had to do school online, I was sad because I had prepared the whole year for some spring performances,” she said. “At the start of my senior year, I figured we would stay online. From then on, I tried to think of the positives of how I would have more time to myself to figure out what I want to do with my life.”

Giselle has been interested in math since she was in middle school and plans to pursue a career that will utilize those skills.

“I’ve been thinking about going to Dixie State University and enrolling in the college of business where I will study finance,” she explained. “I would also like to continue my music education, maybe join the marching band or join some jazz bands.”

Giselle has some advice for her classmates.
“Try your best at everything you do,” she said. “If you practice and if you’re patient and work hard, you can achieve anything you want. People’s opinions of you don’t matter. You’re the person in charge of your own life. Dream big. If you’re scared, that’s normal. You are really your biggest motivator.”

Giselle is the daughter of Angel and Sonia Guerrero.

Ethan Woods never set out to be class Valedictorian.
“I’ve just been trying to get the best grades I could,” he said. “I was able to maintain my grades, so this is a bonus for sure.”
Last year’s school changes weren’t a setback for Ethan.

“It was different, for sure,” he said. “But it wasn’t something I was going to allow to get in the way of my goal. I think we all just accepted it. It’s a part of our lives now, and we’ve got to make the best of it.”
Making the best of it meant staying busy for Ethan.

“I was able to hold my grades, and I also became a lot closer to my siblings,” he said. “I’ve been able to practice sports, even though it wasn’t a typical sport where you go to the school. We couldn’t compete in wrestling, but we still got to practice. I was still able to enjoy my senior year.”

The COVID restrictions allowed Ethan to discover a new hobby.
“I stumbled upon cross country, which I’ve never done before, and I tried it this year,” he explained. “I’m able to do pretty well. I think I might have been fast enough to get scholarships for it.”
Ethan doesn’t work in abstracts; he is a very logical thinker.

“I really enjoyed math classes because it’s logical thinking,” he said. “There’s one right answer.”
“I’m also very outdoorsy, so wood shop is something that really grabs my attention,” he added. “I love hands-on learning. I built a shuffleboard table for my family, and we play it all the time. Although we weren’t able to build anything this year.”

Ethan is a small-town boy and enjoys living in Virgin Valley.
“I love Mesquite,” he said. “You know a lot of people here, and they are so kind. And then, at any moment in time, you can kick off your shoes. You can go to the mountain and hike around. It’s just a good place to live.”

Ethan is headed to college after graduation.
“I got the Presidential Scholarship at the University of St. Mary in Leavenworth, Kansas,” he said. “And I have a wrestling scholarship there, too.”

Becoming a surgical Physician’s Assistant is Ethan’s ultimate goal.
“I’m thinking about majoring in exercise science and then going on to PA school,” he said.
Ethan isn’t one who typically dishes out advice, but he did offer a few words of encouragement.

“Life is hard,” he said. “But what defines you is not how your get knocked down, but how you respond to the trial. You’re not going to be defined by your trials but how you respond to them and how you rise above them. And the person you become because of them.”

Ethan is the son of Jeremy and Chrissy Woods.

Salutatorian Zoey Tobler has worked hard to make good grades and to push herself to continue to do better.
“I’ve always wanted good grades for myself,” Zoey said. “I didn’t really think about being Salutatorian. I’ve just always pushed myself, and getting A’s was the best that I could do, so I just tried my hardest to get the best grades I possibly could.”

Ask Zoey what she thinks about living in Mesquite, and her response will be positive.
“I have a lot of family here,” she said. “There are a lot of good people. I like that everybody knows everybody and you can drive through town and see cars all over, and you know them. You’re friends with them. I just like the family aspect of our town.”
COVID changed Zoey’s thinking about the little things in life.

“Having to do school online, I don’t take little things for granted anymore,” she said. “Like when I used to wish I could just be done with school and have nothing to do, once we couldn’t go to school, that all changed. I’m learning to enjoy everything and not take the things I get to do for granted.”
Not one to sit still very long, Zoey was active in sports and student government throughout her high school years.

“I was on varsity soccer all four years. We were Region Champions and went to State in my junior year, but we lost the state championship to a school from California. But technically, we were the best team in Nevada,” she said.

Zoey stayed busy with other interests as well.
“I played flag football all four years as well,” she said. “I was the Student Council Junior Class Representative my junior year and Student Body Historian my senior year.”
When Zoey needs guidance, she doesn’t have to look far.

“I really look up to my dad,” she explained. “He is the Deputy Fire Chief here in town. A lot of people see him as an example and a leader. I hope to be that kind of example and leader to others, and when I own my own business.”

If you’re looking for a tasty, cool drink as the temperatures begin to climb, Zoey can help with that.
“We have a drink shop here in town called The Splash Pad, and I manage that,” she said. “We’ve stayed pretty busy, even through the pandemic.”

After graduation, Zoey plans to attend Renaissance Academy in Provo, Utah.
“I’m going to get my cosmetology license,” she said. “It’s a year-long program. After that, I’m going to college to get my business degree. I plan to own my own salon or business that involves cosmetology in some way.”

Zoey is a hard worker and has advice for those who need a reminder about finding success.
“Don’t expect anything to be handed to you,” she said. “And if you want something, you’re gonna have to work for it.”

Zoey is the daughter of Shawn and Tara Tobler.