They may have spent their freshman years as Bears, Bulldogs, Lions or Spartans, but for the past three years the members of Del Oro’s Class of 2025 were the brightest of Suns.
They’ll always be Suns.
For Del Oro’s Class of ‘25, it started sophomore year at a newly built school in a part of town that few paid attention to when it came to academics and athletics.
It was a sophomore year where PE classes during the first semester were held in the 600 building’s hallway and collaboration room and students ran laps around the quad because the gym and track were not yet completed.
Senior Jalynn Hammond is the Kern High School District’s student representative on the Board of Trustees. Hammond said transferring from Mira Monte, a fully established school, to a school still under construction was a definite adjustment.
“Even though we didn’t have a gym or a fully functioning PE area, we really made the best of it,” she said. “We had the most supportive teachers who constantly reassured us that we were going to get through this journey together.
“Honestly, they made sure we never felt like we were missing out on anything. It was a unique experience, but one that brought us closer as a class.”
Sophomore year for the Class of ‘25 also was a time where the only other students on campus were the freshmen from the Class of 2026. It was a year with new teachers, no lockers, and no bell system to remind students when classes began and ended.
For current ASB president Alexandra Cruz, transferring to Del Oro from South High was something she did with reluctance.
“I had already found a friend group at South and dreading having to start over at Del Oro,” said Cruz, who is also The Sunburst’s sports editor. “I remember thinking how weird it would be to not have bells but I thought it was unique so I felt very curious to see how that would work.
“Overall, once I got to Del Oro I really found the no-bell system very nice because it felt like (having) more independency rather than having to rely on a bell.”
The Class of 2025’s first year at Del Oro helped set the tone for how the school was viewed by the rest of the Kern High School District, whether it was in the classroom, on the playing field or in the community. Junior year was a chance for them to show the other schools in the district that they needed to pay attention to what was going on at Del Oro.
Academic Decathlon finished its first season of competition tied for fifth place with Mira Monte in the Super Quiz and was ranked sixth overall against schools with established programs that had seniors who participated in multiple years. For Del Oro’s Scholastic team, Paola Rivera-Lopez placed third in Literature while Joanna Serrato placed second in her Speech. Jackquelyn Munoz placed third in the music category for the Varsity Team.
Cruz, along with Miguel Estevez, Edwin Campos and Jayden Oliver, were the school’s first representatives at the Kern County Science Fair. Estevez and Campus captured second place in the Earth and Environmental Science category while Cruz earned an honorable mention in Biological Sciences.
Meanwhile, The Sunburst’s editor-in-chief, Kayla Vaughn, captured the Best News Story prize at the district’s Promoting Excellence in Activities and Athletics in Kern (PEAAK) awards while Estevez took home the Best Sports Story award at the district’s annual Journalism Day competition. Vaughn won another PEAAK for Best News Story as a senior, while Sunburst Multimedia Editor Jayden Zepeda won the PEAAK for Scholar Photographer.
When it came to sports, the boys varsity cross country team outpaced the rest of the competition, capturing both the South Yosemite Horizon League and Central Section championships.
“I feel really proud that I was part of the team that won during Del Oro’s second year of opening,” Davy Gomez said. “I think we set the standard for our other classmates to be great and work hard.”
For wrestler Maria Mejia Manzo, junior year was when all eyes were on her as she racked up win after win on the mat. She would end the year with a 30-9 record – she broke the 100-win barrier during her senior year – and finished first in the SYHL tournament. She capped off the season with a fifth-place finish at the CIF Central Section Masters tournament.
The members of the Class of 2025 on Del Oro’s cheer squad also had plenty to celebrate. The team hosted the Pep and Pagentry Arts Association of Central California (PPAACC) finals and captured second place in the Scholastic Senior Division behind Class of ‘25 veterans Ta’Hara Stevens, Vanessa Hurtado, Ashley Guerrero, and Ashley Mendez. It was the team’s first year of competition.
But for some members of the Class of ‘25, there were still some who wrestled with understanding what it meant to be an upperclassman.
“My brother Leo was incoming Class of ‘27, so I was very eager to start with him and build the school community,” said Hurtado, a varsity cheerleader and ASB president during her junior year. “I dragged him to all my events for ASB and FFA to let him get a feel. I love the unity and togetherness school events and clubs bring. I really wish our current seniors felt more of that and maybe our efforts to create a culture could (have been) more worthwhile.
“We have proven to be very disconnected but we only had three years together compared to the usual four, so I can’t blame them too much. That’s just the way it is.”
Time will tell how the Class of 2025 views its senior year. With college applications and acceptances, AP tests, final exams and other things occupying the collective thoughts of Del Oro’s first graduating class, there hasn’t been time for introspection.
One thing is certain, however.
When the new school year starts in August, an incoming group of freshmen will try to make their presence felt. The Class of 2026 assumes its place as the school’s seniors, hopefully taking to heart the lessons learned from those who came before them.
But it’s the members of the Class of 2025 whose absence on campus will be undeniable.
