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Local pet blogger to speak at major conference
GRADUATION
COMMUNITY:
By Eric Smith
AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS STAFF
Graduation
trict. “This was a great display of one of our core Leadership values: “Begin with the end in mind!” Our current students got to see what years of hard work and dedication looks likes. It was a very special way to honor our former students.” It’s a soon-to-be-tradition welcomed by Andrea O’Brien, parent of DV graduate Kat O’Brien, who believes “it is showing the current elementary students that there
Many have a love for animals and some choose to take that energy and turn it into a career. Ahwatukee native Amanda Yantos, a 2006 graduate of Desert Vista High School, has had a similar love for animals for most of her life, and now she has taken her passion and turned it into a career in an unconventional way. Yantos is a pet blogger, operating her blog, Dog Mom Days, full time. “It’s amazing because I get to sleep in every day…I have the flexibility to do everything,” Yantos said. “I always dreamed of being at home with my pets, and now I can do that and make money doing that.” Yantos started the blog in 2013 and for the first six months she said she wrote something every day, but the blog just wasn’t gaining traction until one post on Twitter changed everything. She tweeted out a picture of her soon-to-be-5-year-old Chihuahua named Winston, with the #ProPlanDog because she was feeding Winston dog food called Purina Pro Plan. Not long after, Purina reached out to Yantos and invited her and Winston to the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge. “After that, things kind of exploded,” Yantos said.
>> See CLASS OF 2016 on page 6
>> See PET BLOGGER on page 13
DV’s and MP’s Class of 2016 in photos. p14
GETOUT:
Renaissance Man Singer Randy Blythe explores the arts. p26
Mountain Pointe High School seniors Hannah Rainaldi (left) and Maya Purnell walk into Karl Kiefer Stadium Thursday with the rest of the Class of 2016. The school had 558 seniors graduate. (Kelly Mixer/AFN staff)
Class of 2016
‘Walk of fame’ tradition begins at Cerritos Elementary By Kelly Mixer AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS STAFF
SPORTS:
Leveling up
MP alum Kipper reflects on professional no-hitter. p32 Neighborhood p3 Calendar p5 Community p14 Opinion p17
Faith p24 GetOut p26 Sports/Rec p32 Classified p38
As the sun was setting Thursday, Ahwatukee seniors in the Tempe Union High School District capped off their high school careers at two separate commencement ceremonies. The Class of 2016 consisted of 711 Desert Vista and 558 Mountain Pointe seniors preparing for the next phase of their lives. Before all the celebrating,
Kyrene de los Cerritos Elementary School students received a visit by some graduating Desert Vista seniors Wednesday as part of the inaugural “Begin with the end in mind walk of fame!” “Via word of mouth and social media, we invited any graduating seniors who attended Cerritos to come at 10 a.m. to walk the hallways in their caps and gowns,” said Nancy Dudenhoefer, spokesperson for the Kyrene School Dis-
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