Ceres junior high takes year-end traditions to hospitalized eighth-grader

A Ceres eighth-grader, whose staunch persistence inspires his classmates, got a promotion ceremony in his hospital room last week.

A bit of Mae Hensley Junior High traveled to Valley Children’s Hospital in Madera on Wednesday to send Armando Barragan Morales on his way to Ceres High.

Principal Carol Lubinsky and administrative assistant Scott Smith brought tradition with them: the red gown and cap and the same speech she will give on June 4, when his classmates walk to the same “Pomp and Circumstance Military Marches.” A banner filled with messages from classmates brought best wishes. Hanging foil stars glimmered around the IV stand.

In her speech, Lubinsky tells the Class of 2019 to make the most of their high school years – to reach out, get involved, do a sport, “give it a try.” She urges kids to remember what they learned from Morales.

“Strength. They learned perseverance, the will to fight through adversity. His dedication to school made an impact on so many kids,” Lubinsky said Friday. “He visits whenever he can. He really touches teachers and students alike.”

The tall, broad-shouldered student, who played on the basketball team as a seventh grader, has leukemia, older sister Marlin Barragan Salas said Friday. Armando was first diagnosed and hospitalized in April 2014. He returned to school in the fall, but by late March had relapsed and now is preparing for a bone marrow transplant.

Armando stays in bed most the time. “He’s in a lot of pain,” she said. Her brother hopes to play basketball at Ceres High when he recovers, maybe try out for football. For now, he’s stuck at the hospital watching movies – usually comedies. Even after the transplant, there will be at least a four-month recuperation period before he can go home, she said.

“He’s such a social person. He misses his friends a lot. He was so excited to go back to school. I know it’s been hard on him,” Barragan Salas said, asking classmates to “keep him in your thoughts.”

The ceremony made her son very happy, mother Silvia Morales said by phone from Armando’s hospital room. Her son looks forward to being back at school and plans to join the Navy when he graduates, she said.

Speaking in a tired voice, Armando echoed that wish. “I miss being around my friends, some of my teachers,” he said.

At Mae Hensley Friday, friend Violeta Arteaga said having him gone, knowing what he’s going through, is often on her mind, particularly because a family member is also fighting a form of cancer.

“He didn’t tell me he was sick again,” she said quietly. “He’s, like, always happy and everything. He tries his best to make other people happy.”

That squares with English teacher Morgan Rossiter’s description. “He’s very likeable, easygoing,” she said. “He’s a teenage boy at his finest.”

In a group film project in her class, Armando played the starring role. “Seeing that group. They laughed and worked,” Rossiter said. His absence is felt, she added.

“He pops up (in conversation) all the time. He’s on their minds. He’s definitely missed and thought about,” she said. “When he comes back, the kids are just swarming around him.”

Armando kept up with his classwork through an adapted school program at the hospital. “I give him kudos. He has excuses to not get work done. He doesn’t use them,” Lubinsky said.

He earned every moment of his ceremony.

This story was originally published May 25, 2015 at 11:30 AM with the headline "Ceres junior high takes year-end traditions to hospitalized eighth-grader."