Ella Lamb, Sachse High’s valedictorian, and Claudia Velasco, salutatorian, will walk the stage with their classmates Friday, May 23 at the GISD Curtis Culwell Center in Garland.

Sachse High School’s 2025 valedictorian and salutatorian have different interests and plans for the future but a similar goal for their careers. Ella Lamb, valedictorian, and Claudia Velasco, salutatorian, earned weighted GPAs of 4.87 and 4.76, respectively, and each excelled in multiple extracurricular activities.

In addition to being the school’s National Honor Society president, Ella participated in several other school activities including math club, student council and guitar club. She said that it most likely would not be possible to continue most of her high school extracurriculars in college, but she will investigate participating in DECA and speech and debate.

An influential extracurricular that Claudia plans to be involved with in college is the National Hispanic Institute (NHI). The NHI leadership camp helped Claudia discover she enjoys talking and sharing ideas with others. Ultimately, she said this contributed to her decision to double major in business and textile and apparel with the goal of having her own clothing business and working in supply chain management.

Claudia was also a varsity swimmer all four years and captain of the water polo team her junior and senior years. One teacher who consistently attended her sporting events was Shannon Galbraith. Claudia said she is a sweet, creative individual who she can “always talk to.”

“My dad was deployed my junior and senior year,” Claudia said, “I’ve never told a teacher about it, and I told her about it, and she always checked up on me.”

Ella smiled as she recalled moments spent in the classes taught by her favorite teacher, Alexander Brown.

“He’s shown me specifically, like, how to value myself outside of school and he’s taught me that I shouldn’t put all my worth in school…and that everyone is so much more than that,” she said.

Both Ella and Claudia are using their speeches to talk to the people who have been their support system over the years. They agreed to keep their speeches from being generically inspirational and to use the time to share their personal stories.

“I’m just talking to my people who are going to be in the front rows with me and my family.” Ella said. “And so, it’s just more of a special moment, because to them, they’ll know that it’s more intimate… that I’m talking to them specifically.”

Claudia said she is excited to thank her family and represent Latinas in a school where Hispanic students are not the majority.

The University of Texas at Austin is the next step for Ella and Claudia. While pursuing different degrees, they both want to highlight sustainable practices in their studies and future careers. As she majors in Chemical Engineering,

Ella hopes to receive a research grant to begin experimenting with making a hydrogen car.

“I’ve always been a nature-focused person, and I’ve always known that my end goal with any career that I choose is to, in some way, help the environment.” she said.

Claudia wants to take what she learns about business and fashion to fix wasteful practices in the textile industry.

“The reason I’m doing supply chain management in business is because I want to do sustainable supply chain management,” she said. Using recycled fabrics is one way Claudia plans to protect the environment in her future career.

To younger students, Ella and Claudia offer advice to challenge themselves while maintaining a balance between the things they love. Ella did not originally set out to be the valedictorian, but she knew she wanted to be in the Top 10. She encourages other driven students to take the harder versions of the classes they are interested in.

As someone who was often stressed about grades, Claudia wants to remind students to find multiple things they are passionate about to prevent burnout.

“If you don’t get the best grade that you want, it’s okay; work on the next one,” she said.

By Allison LaBrot

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