Gilbert graduates and big question: What to do with lives?
Congratulations, Class of 2014! Here's a look at the Gilbert and Higley districts' high-school graduation ceremonies. Information provided by the districts.
Graduation ceremony: 7 p.m. Thursday, May 22.
High-school students face myriad choices, but perhaps none more important than the one facing hundreds of seniors throughout Gilbert: what to do after graduation.
At Williams Field High School in Hig­ley Unified School District, about 91 percent of graduates expect to head to college in the fall, according to district officials. An additional 7 percent will join the military and a far-smaller percentage, less than 2 percent, plan to immediately enter an apprenticeship or the workforce.
The percentage of college-bound students at the Gilbert school is substantially higher than the national average. Nearly 66 percent of 2013 high-school graduates nationwide were in a college or university the fall after graduation, according the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
For some, such as senior Luke Petruzzi, college was the natural choice. Paul Stumbaugh is following the family tradition by joining the military. Brent Crissinger spent time during high school jump-starting his automotive career.
Going to college was a given for Petruzzi, a Williams Field High School senior.
"I'd always planned on going to college and both my parents went to college, so there was kind of a precedent," Petruzzi said.
Petruzzi will head to Princeton University this fall.
"I just always grew up listening to teachers and parents that always said that so many more doors are open to you if you go to college than if you don't have that education behind you," he said.
Petruzzi maintained a 3.98 grade-point average throughout high school while playing football.
"I was always told by coaches and counselors how many more opportunities are open to you if you have all A's," Petruzzi said.
Petruzzi's future looks bright. He plans to study engineering and wants to research alternative-fuel methods.
About $14,000 in several merit-based scholarships based on his grades, volunteerism and athletic ability have helped offset the costs of college, Petruzzi said.
"I've always known I wanted to be a Marine," Higley High senior Paul Stumbaugh said.
Eighteen days after he graduates high school, Stumbaugh will ship off to boot camp in San Diego. Like many teens graduating high school and leaving for college or elsewhere, it will be his first time away from home.
Stumbaugh said he has known since age 14 that he wanted to join the military. After joining with other Marine hopefuls for a year of weekly workouts at the recruiter's office "to show how dedicated we are," Stumbaugh enlisted in his junior year of high school.
Joining the military is "the family trade," said Stumbaugh, whose father, uncles and stepfather all were in the military.
He plans to eventually get an associate degree in criminal science. But for now, "I can't take another four years of school," he said.
Stumbaugh said he joined the Marines to "fight for God and country" and hopes through it he'll learn to "be a better person, be a better team player and be more confident about everything."
He hopes to become a tank crewman.
"Another reason I joined was to have fun and blow things up," Stumbaugh said. "I definitely want to go see combat."
After the Marines, he hopes to become a police officer.
After graduation, Higley High School senior Brent Crissinger is taking a semester or two off to work full time at the car dealership where he has been training to be a mechanic.
Crissinger has worked at Henry Brown Buick GMC dealership in Gilbert since February, changing oil, topping off fluids and repairing tires.
For two years, he has attended the East Valley Institute of Technology at night after high school to take automotive classes.
Partly because of financial constraints, Crissinger said he has put off attending a four-year college.
Crissinger said his first priority is to save money for a car, then he plans to save for college.
Although he was accepted at Northern Arizona University, he plans to enroll in an automotive program at a community college to save money.
He hopes to work for a diesel automotive shop rebuilding motors or specialize working on imported cars.
"I want to eventually work my way up to a service technician by becoming educated in the field," Crissinger said.