The second class of students to graduate from Poway to Palomar Middle College walked across the stage to receive their high school diplomas on May 29 at the Rancho Bernardo campus.
For some of the 44 graduates, including class President Nayuka Fujikado, this was their second commencement ceremony within a week. That’s because they took enough college courses simultaneously with their high school classes to earn an associates degree from Palomar College.
“I will be entering (college) as a junior and could graduate in two years, but I will take three years (due to double majoring),” Fujikado said.
Fujikado, 18, received her Associate of Arts degree in pre-allied health during Palomar College’s May 23 commencement ceremony. Her plan is to major in biological sciences and business istration at the University of California, Irvine to achieve her dream of owning and operating a rehabilitation clinic.
While class speaker Elanor Sieck, 17, did not earn her associates degree, she earned 36 college credits that qualify her for junior status when entering the University of Silicon Valley this fall. Sieck said her plan is to major in digital art and animation because she would like a career in game design. She would earn her bachelor’s degree in another 2 1/2 years.
“It is all free here, the program costs for classes, textbooks and even parking,” Sieck said about taking her high school and college courses through PPMC. “I have saved so much money and am so happy.”
Poway to Palomar Middle College began as a three-year pilot program that first welcomed students to Palomar College’s Rancho Bernardo Campus in August 2022. The academic option in Poway Unified School District is only open to juniors and seniors. It is geared to those who had a 2.0 to 2.9 GPA during their first two years of high school. Students take academic courses three days a week and work at internships two days a week.
Fujikado and Sieck both transferred to PPMC from Westview High School. They were drawn by the program’s small class sizes, internship opportunities, flexibility and the ability to earn college credits while still in high school.
In the past two years, Fujikado did internships in occupational therapy, with a local business chamber, at the Child Discovery Museum and at a hospital. Sieck said her internships included being a library assistant at Adobe Bluffs Elementary and a paid internship at Canyonview Elementary’s after-school program.
Students were required to complete 60 internship hours each quarter and give a presentation on their experiences before graduating in order to wear a special medallion with their graduation regalia, Fujikado said.
“I liked how I could personally connect with my teachers and the small class sizes,” she said about her PPMC experience.
“The more flexible class schedule (was nice) because a traditional high school was not working for me,” Sieck said, adding she enjoyed getting to meet college professors before enrolling in their classes, which let her choose the ones that were best for her.
Both said they were very involved in PPMC’s student government and had traditional high school experiences such as homecoming and prom. Because of the school’s small size, the students gathered for weekly social events, held holiday parties, created their yearbook and ed clubs.
Sieck said she was president of the art club, where each Friday she led activities such as art history lessons and life drawing classes. Fujikado was among those chosen for the National Honor Society.
“Classes are very academically rigorous, but I actually had an easier time because they were smaller,” she said. “I had more opportunities to connect with my professors.”
“I liked that it was a community college environment,” Fujikado added.
Sieck was chosen to be the commencement speaker after interested students auditioned for the honor. For her speech, Sieck talked about how brave all of her classmates were to leave their traditional high schools to attend PPMC.
“I will take a look back at our experiences, how much we have come together and grown through the opportunities given to us,” Sieck said. “We took a big leap and did some cool stuff here.”
The of the PPMC Class of 2025 were: Taha Mahdi Aatif, Avery Mae Allen, Jamilia Leyla Ataeva, Samantha Angelinah Curiel, Madison Rae Dinh, Isaac Tiago Fernandez, Mack Louis Flinspach IV, Dean S’talya Matingka Flood, John Cameron Fraser IV, Nayuka Fujikado, Angie Delany Garcia, Nikita Keithovich Grachev, Bijan Hajimirsadeghi, Nathan Andrew Halterman, Ethan Thomas Hernandez, Quin Hesler, Ameer Ali Hussain, Alexaundra Rose Iverson, Sayeh Jahadi, Jordan Marie Jauert-Gannon, Adriana Nicole Jones, Diya Prashant Katre, Sadhika Kumar, Evan Lucas Larsson, Avital Emma Leinov, Chanel Josefina Lucca, Lee Ellis Lund, Itzel Azucena Martinez Lopez, Phoebe Byeol Matthews, Rudra Satchith Nair, Angelina Ton-Nu-Huyen Nguyen, Isabella Christine Perez, Tai Pham, Dev Pillai, Max Dinh Pinderski, Jalina Anne Piranio, Mikayla Leilani Rivera, Aleksander Francisco Rosales, Swaraa Sagar Salunkhe, Eden Grace Shulman, Elanor Naomi Sieck, Andrew Ryan Smeltzer, Vanja Vušković and Abigail Lilli Yates.
