More than 500 SBHS graduates receive diplomas
Under sunny skies and perfect temperatures, 553 students bid
farewell to San Benito High School Thursday morning.
Some 2,000 spectators streamed in from blocks away to sit in
neat rows of folding chairs or to line the entryway as
graduates-to-be filed in in pairs, each wearing a red or white gown
and mortarboard marching to the traditional anthem of
”
Pomp and Circumstance.
”
More than 500 SBHS graduates receive diplomas
Under sunny skies and perfect temperatures, 553 students bid farewell to San Benito High School Thursday morning.
Some 2,000 spectators streamed in from blocks away to sit in neat rows of folding chairs or to line the entryway as graduates-to-be filed in in pairs, each wearing a red or white gown and mortarboard marching to the traditional anthem of “Pomp and Circumstance.”
Cell phones chirped unceasingly. Members of the class of 2007 grinned at friends. Many wore leis in the school’s colors.
Faculty members escorted the students onto the grassy field just off San Benito Street, themselves begowned with the hoods that denote their fields of study.
A few air horn blasts punctuated the event as it was getting started, and recordings of thank-you messages from the graduates ran non-stop through the public address system. Watchful staff members were quick to step in to confiscate the inevitable beach balls that appeared from underneath gowns.
Members of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey presented the colors, and Camille Vargas, a graduating senior herself, sang the National Anthem.
Flanking an elaborate stage outlining the “Pathway to Success,” graduates cheered as teacher Mario Ferrito, co-master of ceremonies with Dan Quinn welcomed them with an impression of President George Bush.
Senior class officers led the Pledge of Allegiance before Adriana Velasco, student body president, began her opening remarks.
Velasco described “mixed feelings” upon ending four years at Hollister High, but went on to say “I have all the opportunities in the world stretching before me.”
Velasco punctuated her remarks with recognition of dozens of students for the special talents they discovered and nurtured at San Benito High. She ended with an admonition to graduates to be responsible and to celebrate safely at the Sober Grad Night celebration scheduled to run through the night.
Senior Class President Claudia Hernandez followed with an address of her own.
“We share the common concepts of our school – knowledge and freedom,” she said. “Set your own goals and follow your own dreams.”
She described the future as a “vertical voyage,” one begun at San Benito High.
Superintendent Stanley Rose and Principal Deborah Padilla offered brief remarks before Assistant Principal Krystal Lomanto recognized the top 10 students in the Class of 2007. They are: Jason Andrade, Michael Briganti, Jared Burchard, Kayla Ferreira, Jessica Leibenberg, Timothy Malko, Ross Nagareda, Peter Pham, Danielle Shelton and Katie Smith.
Students with cumulative grade point averages of 4.0 or higher were recognized, along with those who logged perfect attendance for four years.
Kayla Ferriera, the class salutatorian, delivered remarks, followed by Peter Pham’s valedictory, an extemporaneous address that included a few bars of music sung in Japanese.
Students Arianah Ruzovich and Matthew Morrison performed songs for the group, and the SBHS Choir sang “Shining Star.”
At last, grads began filing across the stage, receiving diplomas from members of the Board of Trustees as teachers Pat Adams and Patricia McArdle read each graduate’s name.
Jason Andrade and Morgan O’Laughlin, the Scholar Athletes of the Year, led the group as they shifted their tassels to the next side of their mortarboards.
And then it was over. Newly minted graduates filed out as they had filed in. “Pomp and Circumstance” swelled and family and friends raced to take pictures, deliver hugs and bouquets of flowers.
