Hundreds of local high school students switched their tassels
and grabbed their diplomas this week, but the experience was unique
for each one. Here’s a roundup of local
ceremonies:
San Benito High School
Five-hundred twenty-six students donned the traditional SBHS red and white graduation gowns before more than 6,000 moms, dads, uncles, aunts, grandparents, friends and other assorted relations. The Class of 2006 was the first required by state law to pass the California High School Exit Exam in order to graduate. Earlier in the year, however, the SBHS Board of Trustees voted to award Certificates of Completion to students who had not yet passed the CAHSEE but had successfully made it through all of their required classes, allowing them to walk in the ceremony.
“There’s no other feeling like this,” said graduate Jeremy Bosio minutes after the commencement ceremony. “It’s unbelievable.”
On top of passing the CAHSEE and their classes, many seniors went above and beyond the call of duty in the academic arena. Thirty-three students maintained a 4.0 or better GPA all-year long and more than 150 scholarships were given to students in the pursuit of higher education. All told, SBHS is sending students to some of the most prestigious universities in the world, including Stanford, Cornell, Mills and Columbia as well as virtually all of the University of California and California State University campuses. Countless others participated in and were recognized for achievements in school athletic teams or clubs.
Superintendent Jean Burns Slater, in her final commencement speech for SBHS before she retires this summer, asked students to take the time to appreciate the value of their public education and reflect on the real-life lessons graduates will take with them in the future.
“You may be free from education,” she said. “But your education is no longer free.”
Perhaps the morning’s celebrations were best summed up by Wesley Salazar, one of the Top Ten students of 2006 who plans on attending Columbia College next year.
“I was challenged here, and I made the best out of my experience,” she said. “But I’m excited to be moving on to somewhere else.”
San Andreas High School
San Andreas graduated 66 seniors Thursday, a special feat as the Class of 2006 was the first required to pass the California High School Exit Exam in order to receive a diploma. San Andreas is designed to give students who are not thriving in a large, conventional high school setting an opportunity to thrive in a more personal environment.
“If I asked which of you sometimes thought this might never happen, you would probably all raise your hands,” said Principal Mike Sanchez, addressing his graduates and the audience at yesterday’s commencement ceremony. “… Look around you, graduates, at all the people who got you here, and thank them.”
Instead of inviting the class valedictorian or president to speak, any San Andreas students who wanted to say a few words to their fellow students were invited to take the podium.
“Thank you to my teachers … your doors were open and you were ready to listen when I had to say something, whether I needed to just blow off steam or needed help with an assignment,” said Alicia Garcia. “And I’d like to make amends to all of my peers – congratulations, we did it class of 2006.”
Anzar High School
Draped in robes – black for the boys and maroon for the girls – and wearing traditional mortar boards, 57 Anzar students received their diplomas at their Friday evening ceremony.
Faculty member Amy Boldt said that the graduation was a bittersweet occasion. She recalled the year she had spent as an advisor to some of the seniors, saying that, occasional frustrations notwithstanding, she will miss her students sorely. At times choking back tears, Boldt said that her students “boosted me” on tough days and made “me feel young.”
Among those students moving on to higher education is graduate Derek Bjurman, who said he will study general education at Gavilan College. Moments before he and his peers entered the gym Bjurman said he was “totally stoked” to be graduating.
“It seems like such a short time from freshman year to now,” he said, adjusting his mortar board.
