The Arlington Career Center has been around for nearly 50 years, and there have been 15 years of graduating classes in that time. On January 4, when 68 alumni came back to visit, to celebrate ACC, and show what our school means to them. The energy in the Commons was incredible with with alumni from all 5 programs present.  

The event started with a speech from Mr. DeRocco, celebrating the achievements of alums and his love for this day saying that it is his “second favorite day after the last day of school.” After Mr. DeRocco, senior Joseph Sparks spoke about how happy he was to see so many alumni and how proud he was to be carrying on their torch. Ms. Chung spoke after Joseph, talking about how the alumni fit into the theme for ACC this year, which is making ACC history. The last person to talk before the alumni themselves was Ms. Monica, who shared how “a piece of ACC went with [them] because of what [they] built-in [their] heart that [they] share with the world.” 

After the four main speakers, the alumni spoke about their experiences at ACC. Mr. Eddy, part of the 2009 graduating class from the Academy said that the students are the bricks of the school, and make up what ACC is. Ryan Ramari, who graduated from the Arlington Tech program in 2020, talked about the warmth and diversity of ACC’s community. Finally, Hylene Rodriguez from the ELI graduating class of 2019 recalled how supportive the teachers have been for her. She came not knowing any English but is now bilingual and working within the PEP program. Taking advantage of all the given opportunities made it possible for her to achieve her goals.

After the main alumni spoke, a few other alumni spoke briefly about their own experiences. Finally, there was an ice cream social where all students could hang out and talk with each other and their teachers. This event was a massive success, a tradition we can all expect in the years ahead.