Aaliyah Chavez comes from a very high achieving family. So it was no surprise when she graduated from high school, but it sure was a big celebration at Joshua Station!

Along with three younger kids in her family, Aaliyah’s academic work has been outstanding. Of course, it hasn’t been easy. “During the past year, I realized that I was really going to have to increase my focus to achieve my goals,” Aaliyah says. “I had to take it to a higher level. I’m proud that I did. I’m very aware that I’m the first person in my entire family line ever to graduate from high school. I know that I am paving the way for the others right behind me.”

Aaliyah must have a hovering taskmaster parent, right? “I just sit back and watch each of these guys do incredible things,” says Gwyneth, who is raising her four grandchildren at Joshua Station—including Aaliyah. “I sit down and listen to each child. Each one has their own pace. For Aaliyah, I give her the right look and she takes it to heart.”

Learning from her grandmother, Aaliyah places great value on passing on her indigenous tribal heritage—Oklahoma Seminole. She practices traditional songs and dances with shells and jingles. For Aaliyah’s graduation, her grandmother saved and sacrificed to commission a traditional dress—sewn by an elder in Oklahoma. Horizontal patterns in the dress represent different clans in Aaliyah’s lineage, for instance the Deer Clan in the symbols across the yellow field. As you can imagine, our whole Joshua Station family was bursting with pride as we celebrated with dancing in the courtyard.