{"id":347988,"date":"2026-06-05T13:22:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T13:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/347988\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T13:22:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T13:22:07","slug":"meet-the-sacramento-areas-class-of-2026-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/347988\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Sacramento area’s class of 2026 \u2014 Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Abridged version:<\/p>\n

Thousands of students across the Sacramento region recently graduated or are preparing to walk across the stage in a matter of days.<\/p>\n

Abridged spoke with graduates of the class of 2026 about their path through high school, how they found their passions and who inspired them to reach this milestone.<\/p>\n

This is the second of a two-part series sharing the stories of students from El Dorado Hills, Roseville, Sacramento and West Sacramento.<\/p>\n

As graduation season comes to a close across the Sacramento region, several high school members from the class of 2026 recently sat down with Abridged to share their stories.<\/p>\n

The graduates expressed gratitude for the people who guided them through the past four years, from family members to teachers and counselors. Many spoke of wanting to set an example for other young people.<\/p>\n

This is the second of a two-part series. Read the first part here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jump to each graduate\u2019s story:<\/p>\n

Ishaan Dhaliwal, Oak Ridge High School, El Dorado Hills<\/a><\/p>\n

Callie Gemmell, West Park High School, Roseville<\/a><\/p>\n

Brian Gomez, Encina High School, Sacramento<\/a><\/p>\n

Jazmin Garcia, Davis Senior High School, Davis<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m just trying not to waste it\u2019<\/p>\n

Ishaan Dhaliwal, 18, already has a clear vision for his future.<\/p>\n

After graduating last month from Oak Ridge High School in El Dorado Hills, Dhaliwal is preparing to head to Santa Clara University to major in finance and minor in philosophy.<\/p>\n

Asked why he chose that course of study, Dhaliwal said candidly: job security.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kind of see it as like, I\u2019m spending four years there, and it\u2019s building me up to what I\u2019m going to be doing career-wise,\u201d he said of college.<\/p>\n

Stability is important to Dhaliwal. When Dhaliwal was 4 years old, his father died in a gas station parking lot from alcohol poisoning. His mother, Sushveen McWhorter, moved their family of five from Fresno to Sacramento to live with relatives, an experience he detailed in his college application essay.<\/p>\n

He described in his personal statement learning independence at an early age, as the son of a then-single mother.<\/p>\n

\u201cI decided that if my father couldn\u2019t be present, I would be,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Now, as Dhaliwal prepares to head to college, he said he is cognizant of everything his mother and stepfather, Rob McWhorter, have done for their family.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a very selfless thing. (They) worked so hard,\u201d Dhaliwal said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m just trying not to waste it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Graduation\"Ishaan Dhaliwal with his mother, Sushveen McWhorter. (Ishaan Dhaliwal)<\/p>\n

\u2018The more people you meet, the better\u2019<\/p>\n

Callie Gemmell\u00a0loves meeting new people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like the more people you meet the better,\u201d Gemmell said.<\/p>\n

Plus, \u201cI can make people laugh pretty\u00a0easy. Which is also really important with photography.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Throughout her time at West Park High School in Roseville, Gemmell\u00a0was part of the photography career pathway. She\u00a0learned\u00a0the\u00a0technical side\u00a0of cameras and\u00a0editing\u00a0skills\u00a0while building a robust portfolio.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The bubbly 18-year-old\u00a0has a knack for helping the person on the other end of her lens feel comfortable,\u00a0open up\u00a0and\u00a0give a candid expression.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes,\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0trying to fake\u00a0smile, and\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0like, you can tell,\u201d Gemmell said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"student\"West Park High School student Callie Gemmell presents her photography. (Cameron Clark)<\/p>\n

Freshman year,\u00a0Gemmell landed in the photography\u00a0elective\u00a0by\u00a0chance\u00a0not choice. Any hesitation she had about trying something new didn\u2019t\u00a0last long.\u00a0Her senior year she served as a lead photographer in the program, and for her final project, she took classmates\u2019 graduating portraits.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gemmell credits Micah Albert, her\u00a0instructor\u00a0and a professional photographer, for sparking her enthusiasm.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

At West Park,\u00a0graduates\u00a0choose a\u00a0teacher to read\u00a0out\u00a0their name as they accept their diploma.\u00a0As\u00a0Gemmell\u00a0walked across the field and\u00a0on stage\u00a0May 29, Albert read her name aloud.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gemmell is\u00a0taking her open mind\u00a0and high spirits\u00a0next\u00a0to San Diego\u00a0State University.\u00a0The transition period is bittersweet, she said, as she prepares to say goodbye to family and friends.<\/p>\n

But, Gemmell said, \u201cI\u2019m\u00a0ready to get out and experience new things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018I wanted to make her proud\u2019<\/p>\n

Brian Gomez didn\u2019t have much motivation going into his last year at Encina High School.<\/p>\n

The 17-year-old was coming off a junior year with low attendance records, often incomplete assignments and bad influences. \u201cI wasn\u2019t liking what I was doing,\u201d Gomez said.<\/p>\n

The only reason he continued coming to school, he said, was for his mother. <\/p>\n

But Gomez said the staff at Encina, including his construction teacher Erick Reavis and counselor Veronica Ramirez, reached out. They advised him to make more of his senior year and urged him to consider life after graduation \u2014 plans he hadn\u2019t really weighed before, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0even sure I wanted to\u00a0do\u00a0college,\u201d Gomez said. \u201cI\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0sure where I wanted to go in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BrianBrian Gomez during his advanced construction class at Encina High School. (Denis Akbari)<\/p>\n

Gomez is headed this fall to American River College, with plans to study welding technology. Later, he hopes to transfer to Sacramento State to learn about construction management. He will be the first in his family to attend college.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like to tell people to have a purpose,\u201d Gomez said. \u201cYou need a purpose to exceed your limits.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Gomez, much of that purpose goes back to his mother, who immigrated from Mexico before Gomez and his brother were born.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to make her happy,\u201d he said. \u201cI wanted to make her proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018You really can have a big impact\u2019<\/p>\n

Few people, especially teenagers, have likely been to as many public meetings as Jazmin Garcia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love sitting in meetings,\u201d the 18-year-old\u00a0said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Garcia lives in West Sacramento but attended schools in Davis. She will graduate June 12 from Davis Senior High School with a lengthy resume stuffed with experience on local government bodies and as an intern in Rep. Mike Thompson\u2019s Woodland office.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0a common misconception that (because) you\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0vote, you\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have much of an impact\u00a0in\u00a0your democracy,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cBut you really can have a big impact, especially at a local level.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"student\"High School senior Jazmin Garcia is graduating in the class of 2026. (Cameron Clark)<\/p>\n

From roles such as a Davis Human Relations Commission student representative to Yolo County Voting Accessibility Advisory Committee commissioner, Garcia is an active participant in levels of democracy across Yolo County.<\/p>\n

And when there isn\u2019t already space for someone of her age \u2014 she creates it.<\/p>\n

Garcia founded the Yolo County Youth Climate Action Board in 2024 as a junior. The project, for which she helped raise $15,000 in grant funding, powers youth-led sustainability initiatives.<\/p>\n

A mouthpiece for her generation, Garcia also has her own radio show on KDRT 95.7 in Davis. Over the last two years, she has hosted guests like state senators, gubernatorial candidates\u00a0and city council members.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a young person\u00a0at\u00a0the other side of the interview space was\u00a0really important\u00a0to me,\u201d said Garcia, who is headed to UC Berkeley this fall.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just felt like all these conversations that were happening\u00a0weren\u2019t\u00a0taking into account\u00a0the needs of a younger generation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Savannah Kuchar\u00a0is a reporter covering education. She came to Sacramento to be a part of the Abridged team and contribute to a crucial local news source.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Abridged version: Thousands of students across the Sacramento region recently graduated or are preparing to walk across…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":347989,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-347988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=347988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/347989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=347988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=347988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=347988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}