TINIAN — The room didn’t set itself up.
That was the message CNMI Commissioner of Education Lawrence F. Camacho delivered to families gathered Wednesday evening on Tinian, where Tinian Middle School promoted its 8th grade class on Day 45 of Super Typhoon Sinlaku recovery. The school year is still suspended. Some classrooms remain unsafe. Full recovery is still ahead. The ceremony happened anyway.
“That choice says everything about who we are,” Camacho said. “We believe our children deserve to be celebrated. Milestones don’t wait for perfect conditions. Showing up, even imperfectly, is the whole point.”
The Commissioner framed the gathering as a second front in the island’s recovery, distinct from the visible work of clearing debris and restoring power.
“In the days after the storm, we cleared debris, restored power, and reopened roads. That work was necessary,” Camacho said. “But there’s a quieter recovery: helping our children hold onto stability and the belief that their future is still waiting. Getting these young people to this day, that is the second kind of recovery. And it took every person in this room to make it happen.”
Camacho also acknowledged the families and the Public School System team who, he said, did not sign up for disaster recovery but answered the call anyway. He named teachers, staff, custodians, drivers, and everyone in the room who had carried the work since the storm.
Tinian Middle School Principal Lizabeth Perzinski, M.Ed., presided over the ceremony and announced the Class of 2026 Top 10. Xu Jo Jo Lazaro was named Valedictorian and Jinella Rae Aragon Nuyda was named Salutatorian. They were followed by Ignacio Pangelinan Kiyoshi Jr. II in third place; Joseph Emmanuel Mission Cruz, fourth; Jeremiah Jack Sanchez Cruz, fifth; Thomas Rembert Bawalan Erickson, sixth; Lance Cruz Aldan, seventh; Y’thalia’ann Natsuki Atalig Patio, eighth; Niziah Joseph Macaranas Dela Cruz, ninth; and Sona Kinoshita Cepeda, tenth.
In her remarks, Perzinski told the graduates that the day was not the end of a chapter but the opening page of a brand new story. She urged them to believe in small steps, to stand up stronger when they stumble, and to embrace feedback as a gift.
“You don’t have to have all the answers to begin,” Perzinski said. “You just have to be willing to try, to learn, and to grow, with kindness as your compass and curiosity as your map.”
Valedictorian Lazaro, in her own address, reflected on the resilience her class developed through middle school. She borrowed an image from a quote that had stayed with her: the soil in Spain is difficult, but the tomatoes that grow there are the most delicious in the world, because they survive the harshest conditions and grow stronger for it. She told her classmates that their middle school years had done the same for them.
Lazaro thanked her parents and her aunt for standing beside her through every sacrifice and every doubt, and she thanked her friends for the laughter that made hard days lighter. She closed with a charge to her class: as they move on to high school, life will continue to challenge them, but maybe that is not something to fear. Maybe challenges are what shape them.
Tinian Middle School and Tinian High School share a campus and are part of the CNMI Public School System. Edward M. Hofschneider, BA, serves as Vice-Principal.
