Petaluma-area grads ready to take on world

It’s finally done. Counting kindergarten, Petaluma’s graduating seniors have spent 13 years preparing for the moment this week when they step up to the stage, have their name announced and receive the precious sheet of paper that proclaims them high school graduates.

Following are profiles of three graduates, one each from Casa Grande, Petaluma and St. Vincent high schools. Each represent the accomplishments, the hard work, the success, the happiness and occasional trials and travails of the proud members of the Class of 2017.

Grace Davis,?Petaluma High School

Petaluma High School graduate Grace Davis has achieved much in both academics and athletics during her four years at Petaluma High School, but it isn’t so much what she has accomplished as who she is that makes her special.

Her positive attitude, determination, and, most importantly, willingness to put others ahead of herself made her this year’s recipient of the school’s Bowker Award, given annually “to a student who is universally appreciated, but normally doesn’t receive special attention or recognition.”

Supporting and giving to others comes naturally to Davis. “It is something in me,” she says. “I like to be there for people. I’ve had a lot of people support me, and I want to be there to support others. It is so important to have people who are there for you.”

She not only treats classmates and others with respect, she is careful not to offend others. “I do a lot of weighing the pros and cons of what I am going to say before I speak,” she explains.

In addition to helping others, Davis is dedicated to school and sports, specifically tennis.

She carries a 3.7 grade point average in mostly advance-placement classes. Her academic achievements include winning a Petaluma Educational Foundation Scholarship; being chosen Petaluma High School Student of the Month; a Petaluma High School Community Service Certificate; receiving a President’s Academic Award, earning a Petaluma High School Academic Achievement Award for Legal Studies and receiving a Gold Scholarship from Northern Arizona University.

She is equally passionate about tennis. Although both her parents play tennis, Davis played soccer and basketball as a youth before taking up the court sport as a freshman at Petaluma High. After her late beginning, she steadily improved until this year she was the Trojans’ No. 1 singles player and team captain.

She wanted to play for legendary Petaluma High School tennis coach and French teacher Sarah Wadsworth, but lost that opportunity when the teacher unexpectedly died of a brain aneurysm in 2012.

“I really wanted to play for Madame,” she says. “I’ve tried to carry on her legacy,”

Davis says there is no secret to her accomplishments on the tennis court and in the classroom. “Hard work and determination is what allows you to be successful,” she maintains.

In addition to being Petaluma’s best player, Davis was a team leader. “We had a lot of beginners, and I was really focused on getting them to want to continue to play tennis,” she says.

It is a sport she plans to continue playing probably all her life, but not in college as she concentrates on her studies at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff.

She will study political science with hopes of making a career of doing what she has already been doing in high school - helping others, perhaps in public service.

During a trip to Washington, D.C., she had an opportunity to be on the floor of Congress with Rep. Lynn Woolsey and actually enter a vote for the Congresswoman. “Lynn inspired me,” she says.

Among others who have inspired her are former Petaluma High basketball player Lindsey Stoll. “There is a spark about her that makes me happy to be around her. I want to be like that,” she says.

Her biggest support comes from her parents, Grant and Marcella Davis.

“They have supported me through everything,” she says. “They are so understanding and loving I can’t describe it. They believe in me and know I will make the right decisions.”

Julia Hunter,?St. Vincent High School

St. Vincent de Paul High School has had students and graduates enjoy accolades and success in many academic, artistic, community service and other endeavors, but seldom has the school had a student ranked nationally in any activity like this year’s valedictorian Julia Hunter.

Hunter and her partner, sophomore Emma Page, are ranked 16th nationally in the highly competitive world of policy debate. Last year, she teamed with the now-graduated Adam Martin to rank 10th nationally.

“I love debate,” she acknowledges. “I like the intellectual competition and I love the research. The best part is the friends I’ve made all over the country through debate.”

It was debate that led her to St. Vincent. “It was the only place in the North Bay that had debate,” she explains. It is a decision she has never regretted. “I loved St. Vincent,” she says. “I like it being a small school where you know everybody.”

As much as she loves debate, she will not continue next fall at the University of Michigan. It is just too time consuming. In high school, she not only prepared, but traveled all over the country to compete. One summer she spent seven weeks at a debate camp. She often prepped for debates while flying to the competitions.

In college she plans to concentrate on her studies as she aspires to a double major in neuroscience and computer science. She is fascinated by how the brain works and how diseases effect people’s behavior. She said that stems from her father’s miraculous recovery from what she described as pre-Parkinson’s Disease and her grandfather’s losing battle against Parkinson’s Disease.

Hunter has received a University of Michigan Shipman Scholarship, which not only supplies funds, but also provides help in other aspects of campus life, such as assistance with housing and class registration.

For her, college came down to a choice between Michigan or UCLA. The difference she says, was the university itself. “I really liked the campus,” she explains. “It made a large school feel small, and I really loved Ann Arbor.”

Hunter doesn’t know her grade point average. “I’ve never gotten a B,” is how she puts it. The only question is how much above a 4.0 her schedule, weighted with AP classes, has carried her.

She is president of the school Music Club and was a leader in organizing this year’s school concert that accepts any student who wants to perform.

When she has a free evening or weekend, she likes to attend concerts and recently attended BottleRock in Napa.

For her community service work at St. Vincent, she volunteered at the Marin Humane Society, where he primary job was feeding kittens at the shelter. It was a service she especially enjoyed. “My parents have allergies, so I could never have a cat as a child. It is really cool to get to feed them,” she says.

Hunter is the daughter of Tom and Catherine Hunter and has a younger brother, James, who will be a sophomore at Novato High School next year.

Zachery Esponda,?Casa Grande High School

It has been a difficult spring for soon-to-be Casa Grande High School graduate Zachery Esponda, but the future definitely looks bright as he anticipates entering the United State Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.

Esponda leaves Casa Grande as one of the best track runners ever, but he was never able to live up to his athletic potential. As a junior, he was the best 800-meter runner in the Redwood Empire and the North Bay League champion. After reaching the North Coast Section Tournament of Champions, he had hopes of running to the CIF Championship Meet this spring.

Those hopes went away when he hurt his knee, an injury that resulted from an earlier achilles problem. He hasn’t run since mid-March.

To say he misses it is an understatement. “Running is a place I could challenge myself every day,” he says. ”I haven’t found any sport or school subject I enjoy more than running.”

But running isn’t Esponda’s only sport. “I love surfing,” he explains. “It is a special time I can have with my brother.” His brother, Garrett, 15, shares the senior’s enthusiasm for surfing, often at Bolinas Beach.

Esponda’s leg injury isn’t the first trial Esponda has faced during his high school running career. One of the Gauchos rising distance running standouts as a sophomore, he found himself getting weaker and weaker the next cross country season. He declined from being a team leader in practice to being the slowest runner, even behind junior varsity runners.

“I couldn’t understand what was happening,” He recalls. “I still made every practice. I kept fighting, but I kept getting slower.”

He was eventually diagnosed with severe anemia. Once doctors, he and his family understood the problem and got him medical help, he was literally back on the fast track, going on to become the NBL champion and fastest 800 runner in the North Bay.

Far from being bitter about either his illness or now his injury, Esponda accepts them as a part of life.

“God used them to strengthen me as an individual,” he says.

Just as he has worked hard to be his best in track, he has worked hard to be his best in the classroom. “I like to push myself in academics,” he says. “I like to go above and beyond the basics.”

When asked about his grades, he says modestly, “they are good.” That translates into a 4.6 GPA.

The grades were good enough, along with his other qualifications, to earn him an appointment from Congressman Jared Huffman to the Air Force Academy, but that was not initially his first choice.

He originally applied to the Naval Academy with the Air Force Academy as a back-up. After a visit to the Air Force facility in Colorado Springs, he began to have serious concerns about his academy priorities. Eventually the decision was made for him when the Naval Academy rejected his application, but he was accepted by the Air Force. “It took a weight off my shoulders,” he says. “I had begun to think I preferred the Air Force Academy.

Esponda, after completing his Air Force service, plans to follow his father, Ed Edponda, into law enforcement. His mother, Valerie Esponda, is an administration supervisor for Memorial and Petaluma Valley hospitals.

In addition to his running, his studies, his surfing and everything else he does, Esponda is very active in his church youth group. He has made missionary trips to Escondido in San Diego County and twice to Mexico.

The Casa senior won’t have long to celebrate his graduate status. He reports for basic training on June 28, becoming Cadet Zachery Esponda.