Grijalva honors Yuma students, highlights education’s lasting value

Rep. Adelita Grijalva used her first Yuma school recognition stop to put a spotlight on students who stand out for more than grades, honoring young people at Yuma High School, Fourth Avenue Junior High School and R. Pete Woodard Junior High School while linking their achievements to the pressure families are feeling from higher education and household costs.

At Yuma High School, Grijalva recognized seniors Jared Nuñez and Jennavecia Guzman for leadership and civic engagement, not just academic performance. She asked schools across the district for students who showed both community standing and academic strength, a standard that puts service and involvement alongside classroom work. Grijalva said she wanted to acknowledge the students’ hard work and tell them they are “our future.” Nuñez said the award made him feel happy and excited because it showed that “hard work pays off.” He said he plans to attend Arizona Western College, where students can pursue associate degrees, occupational certificates and transfer degrees without leaving Yuma.

The recognition carried a family note as well. Yuma High counselor Mary Lynn Coleman told Grijalva she had met Grijalva’s father, the late Congressman Raúl Grijalva, years earlier at San Luis High School, adding a thread of continuity between the family’s long public presence in the region and the new congresswoman’s first months in office. Grijalva has represented Arizona’s 7th Congressional District since Nov. 12, 2025.

Grijalva’s visit extended beyond Yuma High to Fourth Avenue Junior High, a 6th- through 8th-grade campus with around 450 students at 450 S. Fourth Avenue, and R. Pete Woodard Junior High at 2250 8th Avenue. Fourth Avenue sits in the heart of Yuma, and Woodard serves another part of the city where school recognition can help students see a path into high school and beyond. At Yuma High, the visit also came during a leadership transition, with principal Michael Fritz scheduled to move to Vista High School on July 1, 2026, and Marci Sanchez set to become Yuma High’s principal the same day.

Grijalva used the school stops to talk about issues she said affect students and families directly, including Pell grants, student loans, privatization, voucher programs, tariffs, gas prices, grocery bills and federal jobs. Her message in Yuma was clear: education is not just a ceremonial milestone, but a lasting investment that can carry students through trade school, community college or a university, and the schools that nurture that progress deserve public attention.