Queen Creek’s Crismon High graduating first class

Crismon High School will be graduating its first class on Thursday, with 135 seniors crossing the stage to pick up their diplomas.

As the first graduating class, these youngsters were tasked with the job of creating traditions and building a legacy for all the students who will follow.

“These seniors are more than just students — they’re pioneers. They’ve built the foundation of what it means to be a Crismon Rattler. What makes this group especially remarkable is their character. Every student has a unique story, and through it all, they’ve consistently embodied our core values of character, humility and service,” Crismon High Principal Elyse Torbert said. “Watching them graduate is not just a celebration of what they’ve achieved, but of who they’ve become.”

Senior Madeline Michiels, 18, who started classes at the brand-new school in 2022, has seen a transformation not just in herself, but also the whole school.

“I had never gone to school really before starting at Crismon and it was interesting that everybody was a new kid. We didn’t really have very many connections. Everyone came from so many different schools and different states,” she said. “Now it’s a completely different place, a different environment. We’ve gone through so many different kids and different staff but a lot of people there from the beginning have made the biggest impact on us.”

When Carson Pack, 18, ran for student council president, he made it his goal to try to build school spirit among students with no real shared histories.

“My campaign speech for president was, ‘You’re not alone.’ I feel like that was the main thing that this high school was lacking,” he said. “I feel like everyone was more toward themselves, more focused on themselves. So, the goal entirely was to make sure everyone knew that we’re all together — like this is a team thing.”

Crismon is the newest high school in the Queen Creek Unified School District, having only opened in 2022 with more than 1,000 seventh through 10th graders. By the next school year, an 11th grade was added and enrollment stood at around 1,700.

According to the Arizona Department of Education, Crismon now has about 2,000 students. When the school reopens in July, it will have a new academic wing that will add 23 classrooms.

That tremendous growth was a major challenge for the two student leaders as they attempted to build a shared school culture.

“Attending here has been anything but easy — and not in a negative way but just in a growth mindset. With both of us being in student council we felt the kind of issues and hardships of trying to get people (to events),” Michiels said. “That has been our biggest struggle, people just not wanting to attend. But when you attend, you’re all helping build the culture here, and I think this last school year was the first time that we really saw a true turnout (at events).”

The pair also hopes that they and their fellow seniors have proven to be good examples to the younger students at Crismon.

“We’re the first seniors here and I feel like now with that mentality of this being a real high school, the students that are here understand the rules and responsibilities of being a good senior,” Pack said.

With their high school careers over, Pack and Michiels are now focusing on their futures.

In August, Pack will be moving to Argentina to begin serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When he returns in two years, he plans to attend Brigham Young University-Idaho.

Michiels will be attending the University of Arizona where she plans to enroll in the three-and-three law program where she can graduate with her bachelor’s degree and her juris doctorate in six years.

But wherever life takes them, they are proud of what they accomplished as part of the first graduating class at Crismon High School.

“From what we’ve done so far, I feel like we did the best that we could and I feel like it’s shown really well,” Pack said.

The Crismon High graduation ceremony starts at 7:30 p.m. May 22 at the school’s stadium, 21942 E. Riggs Road.

Please send your comments about this article to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines. Janet Perez can be reached at jperez@iniusa.org.