”
Pomp and Circumstance
”
did not play when the 59 graduating seniors of Anzar High School
filed into the gymnasium yesterday. Instead each student walked to
the tune of their own musical selection and the cheering of more
than 500 parents, teachers and community members.
San Juan Bautista – “Pomp and Circumstance” did not play when the 59 graduating seniors of Anzar High School filed into the gymnasium yesterday. Instead each student walked to the tune of their own musical selection and the cheering of more than 500 parents, teachers and community members.
“I’d like them to remember how important service to others is,” said Discipline Coordinator and history teacher Marilyn Breiling. “How one small piece of giving can be so important.”
Anzar High School Principal Charlene McKowen welcomed the graduating class with words of praise and hope.
“This is a class of active learners and active thinkers,” McKowen said.
After McKowen, the five advisers to the graduating class spoke.
Teacher and senior adviser Leroy Dozal had a different message for the students.
“You are now free, just like Michael Jackson,” Dozal said.
Emotions ran high during the ceremony and a box of tissue was passed around between the tearful graduates.
“We’ve all grown up together,” said 17-year-old graduate Amanda Olson. “So we all know each other really well.”
Olsen said that while having a high school diploma is important, it is even better if it says Anzar High School at the top.
“Coming from Anzar is even more important because we have such tough graduation requirements,” Olson said.
Sarah Al-Ahmed, one of 12 graduates to speak at the ceremony, said that Anzar High School is unique and will not be forgotten by the class of 2005.
“Anzar is like a home to most of us,” Al-Ahmed said. “This senior class has become a family.”
Al-Ahmed, who will be attending the University of California at Berkeley in the fall, shared fond memories with her classmates and teachers, drawing both laughter and tears from the audience.
“I will always remember Anzar as the place that taught me how to laugh at myself,” Al-Ahmed said.
Treva Crocker was choked with emotion when she stood to address her classmates.
“Anzar has been the perfect high school for me,” Crocker said.
Other speakers, like Nick Brown and George Medland, took the opportunity to remind their classmates about how much fun they had during the last four years. Brown and Medland poked fun at teachers and classmates and reminded all those present that while the graduates will be leaving, they will not forget Anzar High School.
