Slain street vendor’s son graduates as a top valedictorian from Sunnyside High
When Isai Pérez feels the need to get some guidance or words of encouragement from his father, he makes the time to make that connection.
“Every time a test would come up or just anytime I had something important coming up, I just had him on my mind,” he said about his father, Lorenzo Pérez.
His dad – a street food vendor who was fatally shot two years ago while making his rounds in southeast Fresno – would always encourage him in his studies, Isai said.
Isai, the oldest of three surviving children, graduated Tuesday evening as one of the highest-ranking of 74 valedictorians at Sunnyside High School with a 4.22 GPA.
Isai doesn’t see it as a one-way conversation.
“It gives me a sense of motivation, just to make sure that I do my best,” he said minutes before taking part in last Sunday’s inaugural Fresno Unified Schools Latinx High School Recognition Ccelebración at McLane High School.
Tuesday evening, Isai walked across the stage at the Save Mart Center for Sunnyside High’s graduation celebration with several medals – valedictorian, Advance Placement gold medal, and seal of biliteracy medal – dangling from his neck.
“Hopefully he’s watching me right now as I walk with my peers on this stage,” said Isai.
Lorenzo was described by his family as a hard-working man, who put in 12-hour days selling elotes (corn) on his three-wheeled cart along Kings Canyon Boulevard.
What does Isai miss most about his father?
“Just his presence overall, to be honest,” he said. “Like just knowing he’s here and just seeing him.”
Isai has kept up his studies, as his father always encouraged him to.
“Even if it was in elementary school, he always wanted me to excel in my studies,” said Isai. “He’d always be proud of me every time I’d come home and just show him my grades.
“He’d always tell me he’s proud of me and to continue doing what I’ve been doing, and strive for the best.”
Now his mother, Verónica Hernández, continues that role.
“She is amazing. Honestly, I probably wouldn’t be here at this moment without her,” said Isai, 17. “Right now, I’m trying to move forward not just for myself; but for my dad and also my family.”
Isai is the oldest of four children.
“I hope she continues supporting me because she is just incredible,” he said.
Isai will head to Fresno State in the fall in hopes of becoming a teacher. Being an educator was not on his mind until enrolled in the Teacher Academy at Sunnyside.
“I wanted to be a lot of things growing up,” said Isai. The academy changed all that after he worked with students at Ayer Elementary School next to Sunnyside.
“I got the inspiration to major in education and become a teacher,” he said.
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