Celebrating the Achievements of Our Alumni

Every Kino student is encouraged to discover and explore their unique interests. We’re proud that our students continue to delve into their unique interests as adults. They follow motorsport, have developed an interest in typewriters, explore music and writing, racing, love being creative like glassblowing and volunteer work, and perform in bands as guitarists, vocalists, keyboard players, and bassists.
As a Kino student, you can be whoever you are and are encouraged to dig deeper and find what makes you unique. Our students find ways to give back to their communities and always work to be better people.

Colleges

​Colleges and Universities that Have Accepted Kino Students
A
  • The Ailey School
  • The American School of Ballet
  • Antioch
  • Arizona State University
  • Art Center College of Design
  • The Art Institute of Tucson
B
  • Baird College
  • Berklee College of Music
  • Bowdoin College
  • Bryn Mawr College 
​C
  • Clark University
  • Colorado College
E
  • Earlham College
  • Eugene Lang College, New School University
  • The Evergreen State College
F
  • Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising
  • Florida Gulf Coast University
G
  • Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Gettysburg College
  • ​Goddard
  • Gonzaga University
H
  • Hampshire College 
  • Humboldt State University
K
  • Knox College
L
  • Lewis and Clark
M
  • Macalester College
  • Maryland Institute, College of Art
  • Minneapolis College of Art and Design
  • Mount Holyoke
  • Muskingum College
N
  • New York School of Visual Arts
  • Northern Arizona University
O
  • Oberlin 
  • Occidental 
P
  • Penn State
R
  • Redlands 
  • Reed 
  • Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 
  • Rochester Institute of Technology
S
  • Sarah Lawrence 
  • Savannah College of Art and Design 
  • Scottsdale Culinary Institute 
  • Seattle University 
  • Stanford University 
  • Stephens 
  • Swarthmore
T
  • Trinity University
U
  • University of Arizona 
  • University of California at Santa Cruz 
  • University of Oregon 
  • University of Tampa
W
  • Wake Forest University 
  • Wells College 
  • Westminster College

Careers & Goals

Kino students have some incredible careers. Our alumni are award-winning journalists for magazines and newspapers. Several are graphic novelists, one who was featured in the New York Times and created award-winning work, and a graphic novelist who earned a degree in Sequential Art and now works as a full-time illustrator.
One person is a former Luthier, machinist, and local jewelry tool manufacturer. One person has worked for Casa de Los Ninos, Primavera Foundation, and Pima County Attorney victim witness program. She currently works as a Sexual Assault Response Coordinator (SARC) for the U.S. Navy in San Diego.
​An alumnus worked on the creative team for The Snow Queen: A New Musical, a musical adaptation of the coming-of-age story created by Hans Christian Andersen that inspired Disney's modern hit Frozen, while another was privately contracted to work as an accountant on NBC's hit show The Player, an-action packed thriller taking place in Las Vegas.

We are Proud of Our Incredible Students

Here are just a few things they’re proud of:
  • Working with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra on the Young Composers project while at Kino and writing, performing, and recording music with their band. 
  • Becoming a good visual artist and respected member of the comics community and becoming friends with some of their favorite artists.
  • I am very proud of my friendships and relationships. That is the biggest thing I look to when I wonder if I am living the kind of life I want. The people I love, love me in return, which feels like an extraordinary thing.
  • I am also proud of the time I've spent bicycle touring, even though I've never been very "good" at it. 

​Some other ways that our students are fulfilling their dreams:

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Keeping our school computers running and hosting our website as the owner of Mighty 

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​Dancing in the Corps de Ballet of the New York City Ballet

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​Researching early Soviet art in Moscow as a Fulbright scholar

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In Washington DC, working for the National Endowment for Democracy

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Teaching chemistry as a professor in New South Wales

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Helping refugees as a VISTA volunteer working with the International Rescue Committee

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Working as an industrial climber at Biosphere II

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​Writing and drawing award-winning graphic novels for children

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Keeping our school computers running and hosting our website as the owner of Mighty Mouse Computer Consulting

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Teaching English in Japan

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​Motorcycling around the United States and creating public radio audio journals of his experiences

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​Managing a US congressional election campaign

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​Our students are encouraged to understand who they are and work towards their dreams. As adults, they’re still working towards:
Making more music, writing a novella and short stories, raising kids, and leaving a positive mark on the world. One dreams of owning a home and race shop while another dreams of working with organizations fighting for housing rights, immigration rights and anti-racism work, economic justice work, and environmental issues.
One alumnus says, “In many ways, I feel like I have already accomplished my dreams. I have been able to work in a field that I enjoy, and that treats me fairly. I have been able to pursue music and art. I am married to an intelligent and wonderful woman, who is also an alumnus. We hope to adopt a child of our own one day, and I hope that we have the opportunity to send our child to Kino so they can have the same opportunities that we did.”
We appreciate the alumnus who has a dream for Kino: “I would like to see Kino mount capital campaigns to install waterless urinals and dual-flush toilets and to install a full solar photovoltaic system on its roof. These conservation-minded goals also have the benefit of improved financial sustainability by reducing overhead operational cost by reducing the water bill and the power bill.”

Testimonials From Our Alumni

​Our alumni are some of the most talented, interesting people. We’re proud to be part of their early lives. 
​A point of pride at Kino Learning Center is what our students learn about themselves beyond the classroom. 
​Says one alumnus, “It was assumed that our lives were our own to live as fully as we could, to work towards whatever dreams we were passionate about, for ourselves and for nobody else. That core belief was important to me then and is important to me now.”
We hope that our students take this core belief through the rest of their lives as lifelong learners and conscientious members of society. 
​We appreciate all that our alumni have to say about Kino School:

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I learned that I was a lot more creative than I thought. I learned an appreciation for nature and our local desert. I also made a few lifelong friends.

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Three key items I attribute to my Kino education are:
- A worldview of limited egalitarianism in seeing others as my equal, including not being afraid of approaching people in power. This is because Kino has no overt power structure. 
- Ability to manage my work independently throughout a workweek.
- Being able to be myself without being sensitive to how others may perceive it…some high schoolers endure a rough experience with their peers that can destabilize the foundation of their adult lives.

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Kino helped me realize I could do more with my hands, that even though I wasn’t great academically, I still had value and could offer a lot to the world.

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Kino allowed me to pursue my passions, for which I am forever grateful.  That said, I think the most important tool Kino left me with was a better understanding of interpersonal relationships. Having grown up around a variety of people with different strengths and struggles left me well-equipped for my adult life, and I continue to benefit from the skills I built at Kino to this day.

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Kino taught me to be self-motivated and self-directed. When I went to art school, I was surprised by how many students tried to get away with doing the bare minimum - even though they were paying a lot of money to learn how to make art! Because of Kino, I knew I needed to work hard for myself, not just to try to get a passing grade. Kino taught me how to make goals and achieve them.

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Kino taught me to be able to get along with lots of different kinds of people. That has been invaluable throughout my life. Sometimes I meet people who other folks have a hard time getting along with, but I get along with them fine. Kino taught me to not be so concerned by outside differences, and to meet folks where they are at.

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Working as an industrial climber at Biosphere II

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