Skip to main content

© 2026

Donate

Play Live Radio

Next Up:

0:00

0:00

0:00 0:00

Available On Air Stations

The Class of 2024: Student essays about graduating in a time of uncertainy.

AZPM | By Mark McLemore

Published February 26, 2025 at 1:15 PM MST

class of 24 performance hero — Students from "The Class of 2024" after performing their essays.

Class of 2024 event hero clean — Arizona Spotlight presents "The Class of 2024."

The Class of 2024: Student essays about graduating in a time of uncertainy.

Featured on the February 27, 2025 edition of ARIZONA SPOTLIGHT with host Mark McLemore:

More from “The Class of 2024” essay project, as Tucson High graduate Madelynn shares the frustrating emptiness of pandemic isolation, and the discouraging experience of using remote learning. This essay series will culminate in a live theatrical experience this weekend on Saturday, March 1st at 6:30 pm at Tucson High.

Madelynn class of 24 hero — Madelynn from "The Class of 2024."

group class of 2024 hero — Art Almquist and six of the graduates who wrote essays about their high school experiences.

Learn about the work of TIHAN, the Tucson Interfaith HIV / AIDS Network, which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary of providing assistance and hope in our community. Tony Paniagua has an interview with TIHAN executive director Scott Blades, and Tim Haver, a local resident living with HIV who has received services from TIHAN.

TIHAN azpm hero — Tim Haver (left) who is living with HIV and receives assistance from TIHAN, joined us in AZPM's studio with Scott Blades, the executive director of the non-profit group.

courtesy of TIHAN

Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network logo.

ten minute dramas — Twenty-four plays, for reading or performing. In ten minutes or less. With Ten-Minute Dramas, Alejandro Canelos gets right to the point.

And in a new Ten-Minute Drama written by Alejandro Canelos, find out how quickly a blind date can go awry, when a plate of green beans becomes the first of a series of disasters in “Haricot Verts."

haricot vests green bean hero — "Haricot Verts" in Alejandro Canelos' Ten-Minute Drama.

haricot verts AZPM hero — Matthew Staples as the waiter, Michael Craig as the restaurant patron, Betsy Kruse Craig as the restaurant manager, Alejandro Canelos reading stage direction, Emily Fuchs as Michaela, and Sean Hazen as Kermit (from left to right) in "Haricot Verts."

Arizona Spotlight

Arizona Spotlight airs every Thursday at 8:30 am and 6:00 pm and every Friday at 8:00 pm on NPR 89.1 FM / 1550 AM. You can subscribe to our podcast on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, or the NPR App. See more from Arizona Spotlight.

Webpage by Sophia Hammer.

Tags

Mark McLemore

Mark McLemore is the host of Arizona Spotlight on NPR 89.1, a weekly radio show with a very wide beat.

See stories by Mark McLemore