The Matador Walk

SHS seniors return to elementary schools where it all began

Lizz Daniels & Cindy Aguirre-Herrera

(Seguin) — There is a Matador tradition here in Seguin beloved by locals. In the days leading up to graduation, seniors return to the elementary schools where their education began. Dressed in full commencement regalia from caps and gowns to cords and stoles, seniors walk the halls as they endure the cheers from elementary school students, parents, and teachers.

On Thursday, following their senior photo at Matador Stadium, students loaded up on buses and headed to their former elementary schools. Taking a walk down memory lane at McQueeney Elementary School were Kevin Blake and Deantre Grant. They were high-fiving kids when their walk came to a halt at the sight of a familiar face.

“This is Ms. Castillo,” Blake said. “She taught me –– it was like music reconnaissance or something where we learned a bunch of types of music and recited it back what era it was from and who the composer was. She started my music journey. I was on varsity choir for four years.”

Music teacher Amy Castillo and her former students shared hugs that brought smiles and tears. And then there was laughter as Castillo shared her memories of Blake in class.

“He was challenging, like they all are, but he was great,” Castillo said. “All the seniors were great. I saw him in sixth grade on stage, and that’s one thing I told them –– keep going, you can accomplish your dreams, and just go for it.”

Grant is a member of the NJROTC and was this year’s commanding officer. While he had many memories from Castillo’s class, one stood out from the rest –– playing the recorder.

“I know that the thing I remember was us playing recorders,” Grant said. “She was teaching us how to play A, B, C and then F, A, C, E.”

And though elementary school was a long time ago for these soon-to-be graduates, they still have a few mementos from back then lying around.

“I still have my recorder,” Blake said. “I played it like two years ago!”

Like McQueeney, Rodriguez Elementary School also got to welcome graduates back onto campus. Not only did they get to stroll its hallways, but they led the way for the fifth graders who followed immediately behind for their own final walk around the campus.

Ending up on the school stage, the batch of seniors also got the opportunity to introduce themselves to the parents who were in attendance for the fifth-grade graduation. Among those was Senior Joel Salazar. Salazar tells the Seguin Daily News that he couldn’t help but see the campus through a whole new set of eyes.

“It’s different. Everything is so much smaller now. I remember everything being so giant. It’s a good feeling,” said Salazar.

Being able to come back to the campus was also an honor for Senior Marcus Chavez.

“It was kind of surreal. Like I thought after high school, it’s done. So, I wasn’t expecting to come back here anytime soon, so it was really weird. You get a bunch of memories that you forgot and then you just remember them all at once,” said Chavez.

As teachers worked to round up all the seniors and get them back on the bus, kindergarteners in other Seguin ISD elementary campuses also graduated in the assembly room, sending yet another young generation of Matadors onward in their educational journey.