Yuma County seniors share hopes, plans after graduation

Graduation caps came off Friday across Yuma County, but the bigger story was what 2,580 Yuma Union High School District seniors will do next. The Class of 2026 finished high school with more than $39 million in grants and scholarships, more than 1,000 students earning industry certifications through Career and Technical Education, and commencements held Friday, May 22 at 8 p.m. at each comprehensive high school, with Vista High School’s ceremony on Wednesday, May 20 at Yuma High School’s Taylor Dean McBride Auditorium.

For some seniors, the next step is college. For others, it is work, military service or training that can help support a family. At Gila Ridge High School, Amais Davis told students to “trust the process” and said “everything will work out in the end.” At Kofa High School, Giovanni Santiago Servin Gonzalez said he changed his mind and now wants to become a firefighter because helping others has always mattered to him. Their answers showed a graduating class that is already splitting into different paths, even before the diplomas are fully in hand.

That mix is exactly what Yuma Union High School District has tried to highlight through Ready Now Yuma, its billboard campaign in its 12th consecutive year. In 2026, the district put 12 seniors on six billboards across Yuma County, with two students from each of the district’s six graduating classes. District leaders say the effort is meant to reflect every student’s path and reinforce the idea that success can mean college, a job, community service or a combination of all three.

The stakes are bigger than one ceremony. Yuma County’s population was estimated at 224,449 as of July 1, 2025, and 24.0% of residents were under age 18. Among adults 25 and older, 16.8% had a bachelor’s degree or higher, while 77.5% were high school graduates or higher. In that setting, senior decisions about whether to stay, leave, study, enlist or work feed directly into the county’s long-term labor supply.

Arizona Western College added another sign of that pipeline this spring, saying it would award more than 3,200 degrees and occupational certificates at its May 15 commencement, the most in the college’s history. The college said local high school students were among those earning associate degrees through dual credit. With agriculture still the county’s largest sector, followed by health care and social assistance and retail trade, the choices made by this year’s seniors will help shape whether Yuma County builds more of its future at home.