High Schools’ Graduates Take a Fond Look Back

They cheered the sounds of classmates playing Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young,” but the student speeches at Ventura High School’s graduation Thursday afternoon were about growing up and moving on.

“For 12 years, teachers, parents and educators have been trying to remove our blindfolds,” student body President Jake Chinn told the approximately 320 graduating seniors gathered at Larrabee Stadium. “[Now] we must do it ourselves. Now, we are set free. We must make our own conclusions.”

They were among 4,000 of Ventura County’s nearly 6,400 high school seniors to receive their diplomas Thursday at 10 public high school graduations in Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo, Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village and Moorpark. Fillmore High School held its graduation last week, and the remaining six public schools in the county will do so today and next week.

Thursday was also the last day of school and beginning of summer vacation for thousands of students throughout the county.

At graduation ceremonies, principals kept their comments short, preferring to let the students have their say.

“This is a kid thing,” said Thousand Oaks High School Principal Keith Wilson. “These kids have worked together, played together, won together, lost together. We just think this is a time for them to remember where they’ve been and where they are going.”

At Westlake High School, six students, along with a choir and sax quartet, entertained their peers--a sea of royal blue caps and gowns--under sunny skies. John Lowry, who had to audition to speak at graduation--said he wanted to go out with a bang.

And he did. Moments after he began speaking, a trumpet blared. Heads turned. First the lone instrument played taps, in honor of the memories.

But later, the trumpeter switched to the wake-up call of reveille as Lowry told his classmates not to dwell on the past.

“We must not leave this place only honoring the past,” he said. “We must leave here today excited and eager to claim our future.”

Many of the students paid tribute to their new 4,300-seat stadium, which opened last fall. Although administrators wanted to hold the ceremony in the school’s auditorium, the students insisted on being the first class to graduate in Warrior Stadium.

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“I will remember the first three years without a stadium,” Natalie Roman told her classmates, “and the struggle of having our home games at rival stadiums.”

Most students devoted the speeches to memories--from hanging out at the local McDonald’s after football games to cramming for exams.

Afterward, many said they were sad to leave.

“I still cannot feel like I am graduating,” said Lisa Kim. “My freshman year seems like yesterday.”

Kim was one of 13 valedictorians who sat with school officials on the stage.

Four years ago, Kim came to the United States from Korea to get a better education. She spoke little English. But after one year in English as a Second Language classes, she took a full schedule of regular courses as well as a few honor classes.

Now, with a 4.0 grade point average, she has been accepted to study biochemistry at UC Berkeley.

At Ventura High’s graduation, Jennifer Jennings, who also had to audition for her speech, looked back on the past four years.

“We will never forget that first day, that first class, that first glance at the campus,” Jennings said. “We all knew we would change, but we didn’t know we would change so much. Now we are about to show the world what we have to offer. And that is very, very much.”

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Indeed, Ventura’s Class of 1996 is off with some high honors.

Its graduates have racked up more than $250,000 in scholarships to schools such as Stanford, USC, UCLA and UC Berkeley, said Principal Henry Robertson. Seventeen students scored grade point averages of 4.0 or better, and half of the class scored above 3.0, Robertson said.

Some of the graduates shook hands with Robertson; others gave him hugs. Jennifer De Soto gave him her star-shaped sunglasses.

“I’m ready to go,” De Soto said. “I’ve done everything, I’ve participated in everything. It’s been fun to be here.” De Soto is going on to the U.S. Navy to earn money for college.

But for Jose Luis Arredondo, joy was mixed with sadness.

“I feel very excited,” said Arredondo, who came to Ventura from Guanajuato, Mexico, when he was 12 and is going on to Moorpark College. “It is very sad, too. It’s sad to leave behind the place where you grew up.”

The two and about half of their fellow graduates were headed to the National Guard Armory for an all-night joint celebration with students from rival Buena High School, which held its graduation later Thursday.

“A lot of us have friends at Buena,” De Soto said. “The rivalry is only during the football season.”

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At Oxnard High School, Principal Daisy Tatum honored the nearly 380 graduates and their families in a speech she delivered in both Spanish and English. And a weekend vandalism incident that briefly threatened the graduation at the new school was forgotten.

“They [the students] were very good,” Tatum said. “Nobody even mentioned the incident.” The school is also sending its graduates to an array of prestigious schools around the country.

“This is an event that signifies our victory,” said Walter Cho, the class salutatorian, who is going to Harvard University. “We should think about the future. . . . Most important, we should stay true to our ideals.”

Students graduating at Moorpark and Thousand Oaks high schools were just as torn between their past and future.

“It’s like I’m exhaling,” said Moorpark High senior Kathy Evans. “The bricks are off my back but there are more being put back on, because I am going to college and it’s all new.”

Evans, once a C student who brought her grade point average up from a 2.5 to a 3.5, will attend Moorpark College in the fall. She eventually wants to become a broadcast journalist.

Maria Garcia, a senior at Moorpark High, thought she might never see a diploma.

The 18-year-old had a baby in her freshman year, but never dropped out of high school. She graduated with a 3.83 grade-point average.

“I am very proud because I never imagined myself making it,” she said. “A lot of kids, their excuse for dropping out is because they had a child. But . . . it is not an excuse, you can put your mind to it and do it.”

Others were less reverent.

“Sad? Yeah, right,” said 18-year-old Marisa Marsango as she marched in the Westlake High’s processional. “We’re so out of here, it’s beautiful.”

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FYI

Graduations will continue today with ceremonies at Santa Paula and Newbury Park high schools. Simi Valley and Royal high schools will hold their graduations Tuesday; Ojai’s Nordhoff High School on Wednesday; and Oak Park High School on Thursday.

* TEENS IN ACCIDENT

Five underclassmen at Ventura high schools are injured in crash. B4