Each year, the Dispatch profiles a few outstanding soon-to-be
Gilroy High School graduates. Selected with input from GHS staff,
these seniors represent some of the best Gilroy has to offer.
Each year, the Dispatch profiles a few outstanding soon-to-be Gilroy High School graduates. Selected with input from GHS staff, these seniors represent some of the best Gilroy has to offer. We celebrate them, their families, their mentors and all the graduating seniors in the class of 2009 for their accomplishments and wish them the best of luck and a fulfilling future.
Donavan Jones
Donavan Jones’ obsession with percussion grew out of an unusual first encounter. As the waterboy for a local football team, the team’s marching band stopped him in his tracks.
“I saw the drumline up close and it blew my mind,” Jones said. “I went home and started hitting stuff.”
Seven years later, Jones is still “hitting stuff” as a member of the high school marching and jazz bands and as a regular musician at his church.
“I feel like I was given a gift,” he said. “This is my way of being a part of something that brings other people closer to God.”
Jones’ recent accolades include the nationally renown Louis Armstrong Award for best jazz musician at GHS and leading one of the flashiest sections of the marching band as the percussion captain.
After Gavilan, Jones hopes to study percussion performance and composition, earn a degree in business and marketing, and own his own production and booking agency. He credited the support of his family for much of his success.
“They see something in me that I don’t really see sometimes,” he said. “Because of them, I always look toward the future, how far I can get and keep pushing.”
College: Gavilan College
Looking forward to: “Being able to pursue what I’m looking for out of life, which is music. Starting my career.”
Aaron Apolonio
Aaron Apolonio is used to standing out in the crowd. The swimmer, water polo player and vice president of the Associated Student Body also launched a Gilroy High School branch of Future Business Leaders of America that lasted for a couple years before fizzling out.
“It’s kinda dead now,” Apolonio said. “I guess it wasn’t as popular as I had hoped.”
The well-rounded senior who described himself as “ambitious, self-motivated and organized” said he’s a natural leader. Raised in a family of conservative Republicans, he sees things a little different than many of his fellow classmates.
“It’s a part of who I am,” he said. “Living in an area that is known for being really liberal has taught me to stand by my beliefs. I’m not a go-with-the-pack type of kid. I’m a leader.”
Not surprising, politics could be in his future, he said. His love for his hometown – its diversity and closeness – could lure him back after college, he said. If his political career doesn’t hash out, Apolonio said he’d like to try his hand at starting his own business – “something that will have a meaningful impact on the world.”
College: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Looking forward to: “Living by myself and being able to develop myself as a person. Not being a kid anymore.”
Kathleen Miller
Kathleen Miller doesn’t have time to stop and smell the roses – she’s too busy breaking Gilroy cross country records. But she at least takes notice of them when she’s passing by at warp speed.
The slight, long distance runner – this year’s salutatorian – said she loves being out in nature. That’s one of the reasons she fell in love with University of California, Berkeley, where she plans to choose a major in the liberal arts.
“It’s very urban but still has a sense of nature,” she said.
She can run two miles in 11 minutes and nine seconds – the fastest at GHS – and was recruited to run for several schools. She chose Berkeley to focus on academics and because it’s near San Francisco – “that city is gorgeous,” she said – and her family. With two younger twin brothers, one of whom is mentally handicapped, Miller said she grew up faster than most kids her age.
“I’m going to miss my family,” she said. “We’ve been through a lot of trials and tribulations that really brought us closer. They were a blessing in disguise.”
College: University of California, Berkeley
Looking forward to: “Having a lot more freedom. Being able to reinvent myself.”
William Hoshida
William Hoshida has come a long way from being a member of the chorus in a spin-off of “Gone with the Wind.” He was 8 years old when he got his first part and it wasn’t long before an impressed director promoted him to a minor role. Now 18, his resume includes dozens of starring roles, but lately he’s become more serious about his talents.
“I didn’t take performing seriously until 10th grade when I realized I couldn’t see myself doing anything else,” he said.
The sensational feeling that stirs up butterflies and shoots tingles down his spine just before the curtain rises is “the biggest rush I’ve ever had,” he said.
Hoshida plans to major in musical theater and hopes to end up in New York City – a town with “high-class glamour” – which he visited for the first time in March with the high school Chamber Singers. With fellow chamber singers, Hoshida sang front and center in Carnegie Hall.
“The choir has taken me to a whole new level of music appreciation,” he said. “Being in Chamber was extremely time-consuming, but every moment was worth it.”
College: California State University, Fullerton
Looking forward to: “Broadening my horizons and seeing more of the music industry in action.”
Ariana Vera
With a nickname like “Cheetah,” it’s no wonder Ariana Vera holds Gilroy’s record for career soccer goals. With 12 goals this last season, her talents have not gone unnoticed by college recruiters. Yet, she’s taking it one step at a time, focusing on getting through high school before cementing her college plans, she said.
For Vera, high school wasn’t as easily as scoring goals. Since good grades are a prerequisite for play time, sticking with soccer forced her to strengthen her study habits.
“I want to be someone in life,” she said.
Hoping to study veterinary science and one day minister to exotic animals, Vera always loved science.
Although she got her speed from her father and her love of soccer from her three brothers, the self-proclaimed tomboy credited her single mother for her success.
“I’m really close to my mom,” Vera said. “I can tell her anything. I think I’ll miss her the most.”
College: Undecided
Looking forward to: “Graduating and seeing what happens.”
