Pioneer High School bids farewell to Class of 2016

We are extending a heartfelt thanks to families, K-12 staff and administrators, district office staff, and members of our community for helping our students achieve such an important milestone in their lives.

We’re proud to report 56 seniors at Pioneer High School graduated in the Class of 2016 on June 1, with eight more pending for a summer graduation. This is the second largest graduating class in the history of Pioneer High School since the high school was established in 1993. It’s the largest group of honors, advanced, and standard high school diplomas ever issued from PHS.

Pioneer also had the school’s first dual graduate with a student earning an Associate of Science degree from WNC and an Honors High School Diploma from PHS.

Other items to note and celebrate this year include the largest group of Jump Start, JAG, and CTE students to walk across the stage. We also had two honors diplomas, two advanced diplomas, five Millennium Scholarships, a wrestling scholarship to Kansas, four local scholarship recipients, and five students were accepted into the United States Army, Marines and Air Force.

Your roles and influence as family members, educators, and members in the community to their education throughout the years has made all the difference!

Honors Diplomas went to Chelsea Goss, Valedictorian, Honors Diploma, Jump Start, Millennium Scholarship, WNC or UNR; and Nathan Hammock, Salutatorian, Associate of Science Degree, WNC, Phi Theta Kappa International Honors Society, PHS High School Honors Diploma, Jump Start, Millennium Scholarship.

Highlighted students

Donald Bland, CTE and science teacher, highlighted two of PHS’s shining students.

Khaslynne Andrews: During Khaslynne’s four-year term at Pioneer High School she had many wonderful and productive experiences. In addition to her other educational responsibilities at Pioneer, Khaslynne was the leader of Pioneers Health Science CTE (Career and Technical Education) program. During her tenure, she set the standard for student involvement and commitment. Khaslynne’s performance included an excellent grade-point average and attendance. Not only was she a model student in this program, she committed time and energy into providing guidance and leadership for the entire Health Science Team. This includes a two year commitment as president of the student organization HOSA-Future Health Professionals student organization. In her final year, this included preparing and presenting a professional symposium, in coordination with industry leaders, on the importance and use of electronic health records in health care. This symposium was attended by many of the participating HOSA students across the State of Nevada. This connection and demonstration of extraordinary commitment, earned her the respect and admiration of teachers and industry leaders as well as led to a job shadowing opportunity with a local clinic, family practice, and specialty group. This excellent work, approached while maintaining a full-time job in childcare, demonstrated Khaslynne’s commitment to her education and future career.

Jazmyn Conde: The evolution of Jazmyn Conde is a great example of the opportunities available at Pioneer High School. As a junior, she became involved in Pioneer’s Health Science CTE (Career and Technical Education) program which has afforded her an opportunity to explore the health career fields. Jazmyn realized early in this program she had an interest in the area and has responded. As a first year health science student, she participated in HOSA (Future Health Professionals) student organization and competed in the State Leadership Conference in Las Vegas. Her contributions to the team were leadership, maturity, and a general excitement about her future career options. Carrying this forward into the Health Information Management second year, Jazmyn has exhibited leadership and a technical prowess that’s sure to make her an excellent candidate in the Health Career field as well as provide a foundation for furthering her education in college. In addition to this work in Health Sciences, Jazmyn also contributed profoundly in the JAG (Jobs for American Graduates) program at Pioneer. In her two year tenure in this program, she was both Secretary and eventually Chapter President. This program also included an opportunity to participate and compete in a State level competition which provided valuable insight into career readiness.

Jason Zona is principal of Pioneer High School.