The graduating class of Simon Sanchez High School faced a truly unconventional journey over the past four years. As they bid farewell and embark on the next chapter of their lives, they are leaving a lasting legacy, ensuring future generations of Sharks have a place to call home.

The graduating seniors at the Home of the Sharks may be swimming out to new waters, but first, not without making waves. Simon Sanchez High School’s Class of 2024 made a last push to rebuild their home, replacing courteous applause for education and island leaders at their graduation ceremony with a chant for action. 

Graduate Marcario Penaflor was part of that collective voice, saying, "We planned the chant because we knew the senators and the governor were going to be there, and we did it because we wanted to show them that we wanted Sanchez to be rebuilt for the next generation of students.” 

This after Penaflor and his classmates spent their last year in high school in double-session in Upper Tumon at John F. Kennedy High due to the poor conditions at their Yigo campus. 

Class valedictorian Samantha Pascua summed-up that journey in her address, noting, “Half days because of broken air conditioning our junior year and double-sessions for our senior year. It’s truly sad that our first and last year in high school weren’t experienced in a school that was just for the Sharks.” 

Penaflor likened his last year to feeling displaced, saying, “It felt weird; it felt like we didn’t have a home and we were strangers.” And despite the hardship, he says he’s proud to have shared such an important message with those who can do something about the problem. 

In the meantime, Governor Lou Leon Guerrero responded to the Sharks’ call for change by announcing, “I will make this promise as the Governor of Guam that we will build your school, and we will build it before the end of my administration, and groundbreaking is targeted to happen by next year.” 

And while the Sharks hold out for that promise, Penaflor left these words with his school community to keep the faith: “All heart, all Shark.” 

Meanwhile, Senators Roy Quinata and Joe San Agustin have introduced a bill to authorize the use of Guam Housing Corporation property next to Simon Sanchez High School in Yigo as a temporary campus for the Sharks.