Hello Team FCSS,
Wednesday night, I had the chance to attend and speak at the CTEC graduation. CTEC our career technical charter high school, offers students a different kind of high school experience. An experience that centers around welding, construction, engineering, dual-enrollment college courses, and hands-on industry internships. These students chose a path that doesn’t always look “traditional” and throughout their high school years, they worked hard to prove it was the right one for them.
During the ceremony, I had the chance to shake hands with each graduate when they walked across the stage. In those brief moments, you could see everything written across their faces. Relief. Pride. Excitement. Disbelief. Some were grinning so big they could barely contain themselves. Parents recording the moment on their phones while trying to hold back tears of their own. It was genuinely moving to witness.
As I stood there watching each student cross that stage, I kept thinking the same thing: this is why we do this work.
I mean this both figuratively and literally: those are our kids. Their success reflects years of support, encouragement, education, mentorship, and care from people across our organization and community. Moments like that are a reminder that the work we do every day reaches far beyond programs, meetings, or tasks. The work we do supports student success.
I wanted to start there because May has a way of burying all of us in end-of-year deadlines, events, and wrap-up activities. In the middle of all that movement, it can become easy to lose sight of the reason behind the work.
Standing at graduation was a reminder of it.
This year was hard. I don’t think any of us would argue with that. But despite the challenges, students across Fresno County still learned, grew, found support, discovered opportunities, and crossed important finish lines because of the people in this organization.
That moment on Wednesday night made that impossible to forget.
Over the past few weeks, we celebrated Teacher Appreciation Week and Classified Appreciation Week. Our teachers deserve every bit of recognition for the work happening in classrooms. Just as importantly, our classified employees are the backbone of our organization: supporting students, schools, and programs in countless ways that often happen behind the scenes but are essential to everything we do.
None of those moments at graduation, or any moment like it, happen without every single team member across this organization doing their part so well.
As we close out another school year, I want to say thank you. Not in the general, familiar way we often hear that phrase, but in a more specific way.
Thank you for this year and for everything it brought. For continuing to work hard for students and for one another even when the work was heavy and people were stretched thin. Thank you for helping students across Fresno County reach moments like the one I saw at graduation; moments they will carry with them for the rest of their lives.
As we begin to turn the page toward the next school year, I also want to share an important date with you. Please hold the date of August 21st, when we will all gather for All Staff Day. I’m looking forward to having us all together under one roof again.
