Date: Fri 18-Jun-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: JEFF

Quick Words:

graduation-valedictorian

Full Text:

Mixed Emotions: As Seniors Look To The Future, They Say Goodbye

(with photos)

BY JEFF WHITE

To feel the essence of the class of 1999's graduation from Newtown High School

Monday night one needed only to have looked through the yellow-hued light of

the balmy gymnasium, where the graduates assembled minutes before they marched

toward Bruce Jenner Stadium.

The mood in that gym was a blend of excitement and anxiety, elation coupled

with sadness. Often the orderly, single-file lines were made a bit uneven due

to the anticipatory fidgeting of the students. But then a voice echoed "Let's

go," and the class of 1999 let out a symphony of shouts and euphoric cries. It

was time... time to reconcile the end of four years lived within the comfort

of NHS with a future about to unfold.

Much of the ceremony looked toward that uncertain, ambiguous future.

Valedictorian Jennifer Staple advised her classmates to embrace the future,

not just individually but as a collective.

"We are closing the door of our past on the developmental stages of our

childhood and adolescent years," she said. "But as that door of the past

closes, another one opens -- the door into our future. As we move into the

next millennium, we cannot even fathom what the future might hold. But the

future is in our hands."

Veteran graduation key-note speaker Bob McHugh also had a few nuggets of

advice for "the best graduating class of the whole darn millennium." His

recommendations? Be kind, polite, register to vote, stay close to family, and

of course, learn to dance. Because at every wedding there will be "one couple

who is having a great time as they dance circles around everyone else. Believe

me, you want to be one-half of that dancing couple," he said.

Mr McHugh's speech was only interrupted when he cued the Newtown High School

New Millennium All Kazoo Band. Outfitted with blue, red, and green kazoos,

faculty and students played renditions of "Macho Man," "Take Me Out to the

Ball Game" and "Pomp and Circumstance."

It was a way of taking a milestone ceremony a little less seriously. Students

took the time to customize their mortarboards with messages and decorations,

while they batted beach balls back and forth, careful not to have them fall

into the hands of a faculty member.

The light-hearted traditions and the wind-muffled microphone did not stop the

message from ultimately reaching the students: the future is out there, full

of new dreams to be realized, and laden with choices.

"But our current dreams and goals should not get in the way of potential new

ones," Salutatorian Daniel Sobo said. "We must be free to reinvent ourselves,

over and over if necessary."

Before the distribution of diplomas, Board of Education secretary Elaine

McClure spoke to the students. "As you make your way in the world," she told

them, "you'll be forced to make many decisions, some minuscule and some

life-changing. With each decision you make, always be able to look at yourself

in the mirror afterwards and be proud of the person staring back at you."

Some faces brimmed with smiles as diplomas were handed over. Others looked a

bit more serious. As parents crowded to get a closer picture, one student,

David Marsilio, simply raised his diploma to the overcast sky, a sign of

accomplishment and triumph.

For a handful of faculty members, it would be their last high school

graduation as well, and Dr John Reed, Newtown Superintendent, honored them

with honorary diplomas on behalf of the 43,000 students who passed through

their doors during their careers.

"Life is about adventures," Dr Reed said, "but most of all, it's about

relationships."

And as the ceremony spilled into the parking lot, the future took a back seat

to the present. Students embraced family, relatives, and each other, in

acknowledgment of the great journey that had ended. The looming moment of

parting that had produced contrasting expressions a few hours before in the

gym had arrived.

The students were not parting with their friends as much as with familiarity,

with Newtown High School.

The goodbyes hung in the humid air as the last car horn blew, the driver

pulling out of the high school parking lot with an arm extended out of the

window, waving.