On Tuesday, the first seniors from Arthur A. Benjamin Health Professions High School will cross the Memorial Auditorium stage to graduate, and I'll be as emotional, and as proud, as I've ever been about a class of kids.

Before we get too far, I need to explain some things.

This is a public school, a small high school with 500 kids in the Sacramento City Unified School District – anyone can go there – and one of its prime goals is to prepare kids for careers in the world of health. Its other big goal is just to prepare kids for the world.

Its acronym is AABHPHS, possibly the longest and most unwieldy in Sacramento, though it does look vaguely medical. We're just going to call it Health Professions here.

Their mascot is the jaguar. I lobbied for them to become the Fighting Syringes. Everyone else wanted jaguar.

And this is so personal because I saw the school before it had a building. My wife is a teacher there, so, yeah, I'm biased, and that bias comes from being around these kids for four years.

There are, of course, other schools that work, other success stories and teachers who do great things. There are other kids graduating in the coming days who also deserve praise and cheers and support.

This isn't a comparison. It's a snapshot of one good place and some teens who are already terrific people.

I was at their prom recently. I was supposed to help chaperone, but mostly I just hung out. It was fun to see the kids dressed up. And they looked way – I mean way, way – cooler than we did during my prom days.

Besides the clothes, what stood out was how many of the students were truly glad to see their teachers. An ant line of kids searched out teachers to shake hands or give hugs. Both the adults and the teens were emotional, and sincerely affected by their connection.

One of my favorite students, Charmaine Dollar, was wearing serious makeup for the first time, and she looked, as they say, fabulous. Charmaine had to wait for her date, who was deep into a track meet that day, so she hung with the adults as much as the kids in the early evening, asking if anyone needed help. Seriously, she was at her prom, looking to help her teachers.

"The senior class," said Matt Perry, the principal, "they're just really nice people to be around. We just like them. We can't wait for them to graduate because we're looking forward to them being our adult peers."

They really are nice people. I'm on campus now and then, and I rarely get far without a "Hi, Rick" ringing from somewhere. Lots of kids like Tekla King come over and stick out their hands to shake. (Side note: My wife is Ms. Meltvedt; I'm Rick. I think I'm something of the school pet.)

There are students like Chloe Simpson, who commutes to the campus near Broadway and Fifth Avenue from Clarksburg, a small-town girl who leaped to a city school. She has a comforting, sincere way about her, and teachers and friends say she's one of the most respected kids there.

"I went from a school in the middle of a pear field to a school in the center of Sacramento," she said. "Teachers here took the time to help me feel like I could succeed."

She intends to keep that circle whole. Chloe's going to California State University, Sacramento, and wants to be a teacher.

There's David Snoozy, a bright, inquisitive guy who stops to seriously think when you ask him a question. He thrived on the smaller campus and is headed to Saint Mary's College and, probably, med school.

Why a doctor? I asked him. "Doesn't everybody want to help people?" he said without a hint of irony.

There's Marissa Escoto, who's going to Sacramento City College and, she hopes, into a nursing career. Her face lights up when she talks about that, or about volunteering at the UC Davis Medical Center.

"It feels like I was meant to be there," Marissa said. "It feels like home."

She also can't wait to start at Sac City. That's because she's so excited about nursing and because she'll be the first person on either side of her family to go to college.

Call The Bee's Rick Kushman, (916) 321-1187. Listen to him Thursdays at 8:40 a.m. on NewsTalk 1530 (KFBK) and 8:50 a.m. on Armstrong & Getty, Talk 650 KSTE.