Graduation season

Hundreds of young men and women in Monterey County will be reaching an important milestone in their lives in the upcoming weeks as they graduate from high school. Did I say hundreds? It may actually be in the thousands. We may not be able to get through all of them, but I'll try to send kudos to as many of them as possible.

Today: a great hurray goes to the graduating Nightingales of the Hartnell College Nursing program. Today at 3 p.m., 59 nurses will be "pinned" at the college's Performing Arts Center.

Also at Hartnell, a new crop of seasonal or migrant workers-students (or their children) will graduate from the High School Equivalency Program. On Friday at 6:30 p.m., 80 students will be recognized for earning their GED. They all plan to continue pursuing post-secondary education. Among them: Karina Ramos-Valdez, the Valedictorian, and her sister, Roxana Ramos-Valdez, Salutatorian. This is the first time that siblings have earned the top two spots in an HEP graduation class, according to spokeswoman Terri Pyer. They are both currently enrolled full-time at Hartnell.

A heartfelt kudo goes to Juan Montero. Juanito, as he's affectionately known, is legally blind and has been in the HEP program since 2007. He's enrolling at Hartnell to continue to pursue his passion: music. An avid musician, he plays the piano and sings. Juanito is picture with his piano instructor Carl Christiasen by Randy Tunnell (courtesy of Hartnell College).

In Friday's paper, a story on Mt.Toro High graduation ceremony.

Enhorabuena to all!