TRENTON — Those who know her say Christina Perez embodies the diversity of Jones Senior High School.
After Saturday’s graduation, she will step out to embark on even more varied roads as she becomes a first-generation college student.
Perez, 17, will attend UNC-Greensboro for International Business in the fall. She said her sister excelled better academically but could not attend college.
“She had to go to work after graduating,” said Perez, who is of Mexican descent, “so she’s not going to college at this point.”
Perez, who has three sisters, is setting a new standard as her younger sister in eighth grade will probably be the next to go college. After four years at the school, her eyes watered upon talking about a pair of teachers who have also sustained her at Jones Senior.
“I think my AVID teachers, Ms. McKinney and Mr. Parker, have helped me throughout the years,” she said as she wiped her face with a tissue. “They really believe in me, that I could go out there and succeed.”
As the president of the National Art Honor Society — and a member among other campus organizations — wraps up her last days at Jones Senior, she is looking forward to exploring independence this fall.
She graduated with 62 other seniors Saturday in the school’s gymnasium.
The group is the freshman class Principal Chris Meadows met when he started as assistant principal four years ago.
“It means a lot to me just to see us stick together,” he said of the graduates. “I’m excited because I’ve been here four years and I’ve seen them grow; I’ve seen the challenges.”
He added, “This class is going to be, I feel, extremely successful after Jones Senior. … I feel like they’re very well equipped for life outside of Jones Senior.”
He said students have been exposed to diversity while at the school, which Perez epitomizes.
“What we try to accomplish here is teaching our kids diversity (and) teaching them to respect other cultures,” Meadows said.
He said Perez represents that part of the school and is proud to see her headed to college.
“To me, I think it’s a great accomplishment to be the first one to graduate, go to a four-year university and maintain a GPA as high as hers,” he said. “I think it just speaks volumes of her family and the emphasis they put on education.”
Perez has benefited from growing up in a bilingual household, with Spanish as her first language. She wasn’t completely comfortable with her English until kindergarten, eventually gaining more confidence.
“It’s nice,” she said about growing up bilingually. “It broadens your horizon. You get a cultural experience different from most Americans when they only speak one language.”
Speaking two languages will be handy as she wants to travel with her business interest after her Greensboro studies.
Perez said she will miss her Jones Senior teachers but is looking forward to college.
“I wanted to do it for myself and also for (my older sister),” she said of graduation. “She knows that I’m going to college and she didn’t get that chance.”
Jessika Morgan can be reached at 252-559-1078 or at jessika.morgan@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessikaMorgan.
Jones Senior High School 2013 Graduating Class
63 graduates
Valedictorian: Dejaunte Dawson
Salutatorian: Anthony Rodriguez
School Established: 1965
Principal: Chris Meadows