‘Tis the season for graduations – and Escalon Unified School District is hosting two on Wednesday, one on Thursday and one on Friday this week.

The Wednesday, May 27 ceremonies included graduation for Gateway Academy at 10 a.m. in the Performing Arts Center on the high school campus. Vista High continuation high school will have its graduation ceremony on Wednesday evening, beginning at 6 p.m., also in the Performing Arts Center.

Thursday, May 28, the eighth graders from El Portal Middle School will have their graduation at Engel Field on the high school campus at 7 p.m.

Friday night, May 29, the Class of 2026 at Escalon High School will graduate in a ceremony that begins at 7 p.m., also at Engel Field.

Co-Valedictorians for this year’s graduating Cougars are Ayana Cocio and Marissa Terry. The two – best friends – plan to give their commencement speech together and agreed that sharing the top academic honors is a special way to define their high school careers.

“We’re best friends, we have been all through high school and I think that we’ve both worked so hard to get here,” Terry said. “I’m very proud of us.”

She pointed to freshman biology as being among her best memories of high school, as that is where she and Cocio first met and also had fun in the class.

“I think there have been so many amazing opportunities, from doing basketball to the (Miss Escalon) pageant to just receiving this award,” Cocio said of trying to summarize the last four years. “It has just been an accumulation of everything that I’ve been able to experience, and I’m super grateful.”

The two are both headed to UCLA; Terry will study biology and Cocio will major in physiological science. They will also be roommates there, continuing the friendship they built through their years as Cougars.

They also agreed that having the chance to attend high school as part of such a close-knot, supportive community has benefited them in many ways, academically and socially, providing a solid base to move on to the next phase in the lives.

Cocio, who came to Escalon as a freshman, said it was especially meaningful to her.

“Just the kindness that I experienced from not only my classmates, but also the teachers and the community members, it’s indescribable,” Cocio shared, “and it’s one of the greatest things that I’ve had the privilege of experiencing.”