\n\t\t\t\tJUA SON \nCommissioner\u2019s Award\nSalutatorian\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\nIshida was hailed the class valedictorian for school year 2013-2014. She led the school\u2019s batch of 149 graduates during the institution\u2019s 12th Graduation Ceremony at its campus.<\/p>\n
The 18-year-old is the daughter of Nahoko and Soichiro Ishida. She will soon be moving to Iowa to pursue her education at Grinnell College. Ishida will major in education and music.<\/p>\n
Elated by the recognition, Ishida said the honor was unexpected but that all her hard work has paid off.<\/p>\n
Son, the second top graduate this year, plans to pursue a nursing degree at Adelphi University in New York. Jua is the daughter of Jae Ok Son and Sun Ja Kim.<\/p>\n
In their separate addresses to the graduating class, the two dedicated their achievements and honors to their parents, families, guardians, mentors, and friends.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s time we start setting goals for our future. It\u2019s time we start fulfilling our dreams with dedication, determination, and focus that we used to survive high school. And we must not be afraid to fail because failure makes us stronger and prepare us for what\u2019s coming up next\u2026\u201d Ishida said in her valedictory address.<\/p>\n
Salutatorian Jua Son had this message for her peers: \u201cWe have the skills to learn, we have the aptitude to succeed, and we have the ability to make a difference. We\u2019re all ready to go\u2026Class of 2014.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gov. Eloy S. Inos presented the prestigious Governor\u2019s Award to Marielle B. Kapileo, also the Class Top 9. The Principal\u2019s Award went to Rachel Jude Ramirez.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s Top 10 awardees were Ishida, Son, Se Yun Moon, Ye Lin Lee, Young Jeong (Annie) Kim, Katrina May Cruz, Dhale Posadas, Marielle Kapileo, and Allysha Hillary Lloren.<\/p>\n
In an interview with Inos, he said he has nothing but confidence and faith on the ability of all graduates to succeed in the future.<\/p>\n
Inos said he\u2019s hopeful that the graduates\u2014from both public and private secondary schools\u2014will do meaningful things, something practical and useful so that they can return and help the islands. He described the graduates as the \u201cfuture\u201d of the CNMI.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s commencement exercise at SSHS was keynoted by teacher Dr. Dora B. Miura who talked about the ceremony\u2019s theme \u201cTake a Chance, Make a Difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
BOE chair Herman T. Guerrero and Education Commissioner Dr. Rita A. Sablan also delivered congratulatory remarks to the graduates. <\/p>\n
\u201cLife is about choices. Take control of your personal power and remember to choose wisely. Let your success today serve as an inspiration to who will come next to you,\u201d said Guerrero. <\/p>\n
SSHS acting principal Jonathan Cabrera urged the graduates to \u201cgrow in word\u201d; \u201cto grow out-word\u201d; and \u201cto grow forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yesterday\u2019s ceremony was also graced by members of the Legislature, education officials, and guests.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Saipan Southern High School bestowed its highest academic honors on Lica Ishida and Jua Son,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":39206,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[39,26,37,313],"class_list":["post-39203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-boe","tag-cnmi","tag-education-2","tag-new-york"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}