Whether they
”
liked big butts and they can’t deny
”
or they wanted to say
”
here’s to the night,
”
each senior at Anzar High School had the chance to express
themselves.
Whether they “liked big butts and they can’t deny” or they wanted to say “here’s to the night,” each senior at Anzar High School had the chance to express themselves.
Each one of the 47 seniors, all of whom are going onto college, chose a personal song to walk, or in some circumstances dance, to the stage to at the graduation ceremony Wednesday evening.
Briana D’Agostini chose to make a statement with her music. An advocate for peace, she chose Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth.”
“It’s from the Vietnam War and it’s a song about peace and I don’t like violence,” she said about her tune of choice.
Senior Advisor Wayne Norton said making changes in the world isn’t something new to this group.
“They have fed the homeless, built houses, given aid and comfort to senior citizens, climbed mountains and trekked through Africa,” he said. “This class has done it all.”
And they did it all at their graduation ceremony as well.
Along with the personal songs, the students also expressed themselves with their mortar boards. While the majority were covered with flowers, puff paint and sentimental pictures of friends, Chris Kovarik chose to make his an original masterpiece. Kovarik managed to squeeze a miniature keyboard, incense, plastic battleships, a bunny rabbit, a light bulb and a picture of his girlfriend all on top of his hat.
“I only get the chance to graduate high school once so I might as well go all out and have some fun with it,” he said.
While the evening was filled with a lot of fun and smiles, there also were a lot of tears.
Senior Justine Wiley had already cried twice during the day and her eyes again filled up with tears as she prepared for her speech.
“Speaking is going to be really hard to get through,” she said.
Her cousin Jennifer Wiley’s eyes were welling up just listening to Justine talk.
“I know I’m going to lose it,” she said. “Being a small school it’s just so different. We don’t get lost in the shuffle here and everyone knows each other.”
After Principal Charlene McGowen welcomed the crowd, selected students gave speeches and the diplomas were handed out, the last graduation ceremony in the county was over, and another 47 students are off to conquer the world.
Norton, who has been advising these seniors for the past four years, said its always bittersweet to see the students leave.
“I’m thrilled for them, but at the same time we won’t see each other anymore,” he said.
Christine Tognetti can be reached at 637-5566, ext. 330 or at ct*******@fr***********.com.
