Graduates at Many Levels Move Up a Notch

As they paraded single file into Larrabee Stadium in their shining black and gold gowns Thursday, graduating Ventura High seniors were eager to put the exclamation point on 12 years of formal education.

“I’m just happy it’s over. I’ll be glad to be getting out,” said Annette Lorenza, 18, one of 350 seniors to graduate from the school.

Across the county, at Westlake High, speeches were separated by music, with valedictorian Mark Schwartzman rendering Robert Schumann’s Opus 9 in a piano solo.

“We are on our way to making a difference. We are truly ‘America’s most wanted,’ ” said Meaghan Mullen, senior class president, referring to the students’ motto.

“With an idea, determination and the right tools, we can do great things,” Mullen said. “The start of something new brings us the hope of something great.”

Graduates at the two schools join more than 7,000 seniors receiving diplomas in Ventura County high school graduations this year. Fillmore, Conejo Valley and Moorpark also held ceremonies Thursday; the other schools will finish up during the next two weeks.

The mood at Ventura High was especially upbeat, where friends, family and school staff honored a class that earned more than $400,000 in scholarships, won the Channel League football title and featured 196 students who earned a 3.0 or better grade point average.

“When I came here three years ago, when these seniors were sophomores, I was told that it was an exceptional sophomore class, and they have proven to be exceptional,” said Principal Henry Robertson.

Though student speakers were proud of their accomplishments, they also took time to reflect. “Sept. 7, 1993, seems so long ago now. Many of us rose to the challenge and others are still finding their way,” said the student body president, Jeff Caldwell.

“All 350 of us cannot be compressed into one definition,” said Ivana Cingel, who came to Ventura from Bosnia. “What we have learned goes beyond the grades we have received, and what we have experienced goes beyond any norm.”

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Ventura’s seniors will advance to in-state schools such as UC Berkeley, Stanford, UCLA and USC, and many colleges out of state, including West Point, Georgia Tech, Boston College and the University of Southern Mississippi.

This year, students were not the only ones to receive diplomas at Ventura High.

Robertson, who is retiring after 30 years in the district and three at the high school, was granted an “esteemed honorary diploma,” in recognition of his years of service.

There were also about 350 graduating seniors at Westlake, including 32 National Honor Society members and 57 California Scholarship Federation Gold Sealbearers. The title of class valedictorian was shared by five students: Schwartzman, Eric Cheng, Michael Chueh, Justin Frost and Diana Ho.

Four girls--Kara Block, Randi Borenstein, Ashley Brown and Kirsten Erickson--shared a walk down memory lane for their collective speech. They recalled getting kicked out of Hudson’s Grill on Friday nights, longing after senior guys when they were but freshmen, lunches at Baja Fresh and Juice Stop and getting their first traffic tickets.

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Although the speakers waxed sentimental, graduating seniors interviewed after the ceremony unanimously said they were excited to be leaving Westlake.

“It was fun while it lasted, but I’m over it now,” said Kate Bilger, who will be a USC Trojan in the fall.

“This whole day has been so energetic,” said Molly Millar, standing in the hall where the seniors were lining up to get their diplomas. Millar, who is off to the Art Institute of Boston, and her classmates were more immediately off to Disneyland to celebrate grad night.

“I’m stoked,” said Moorpark College-bound Chris Brown, who said he wouldn’t miss Westlake. Then, letting down his guard just a little, he added: “Actually, I’m scared a little. It’s a big step.”

Thursday was also the last day of school and the beginning of summer for more than 30,000 students from many of the county’s junior high and elementary schools.

Students and staff at Lincoln Elementary School, on East Santa Clara in Ventura, celebrated their year of hard work with field games followed by parties in classrooms and a kindergarten graduation.

Everyone had fun in field events that included relay races, balloon tosses and a softball game between the graduating fifth-graders and staff (won by the staff 14-10).

“I’m happy, but I’m also kind of sad because I’m going to miss my friends,” said Sara Perez, 9, a fourth-grader in Barbara Green’s class.

Paper cups full of fruit punch and cookies were piled on desks in Green’s class as students scurried around asking classmates to sign autograph books.

Zack Bennett, 9, who will be a junior lifeguard this summer, sat at his desk in LaDonna Stammen’s third-grade class and contemplated the year. “I liked my best friend Wesley and my teacher,” he said.

Though administrators admitted they needed a break, they too had mixed feelings.

“It’s really sad to see the little ones go, especially the fifth grade. In a small school like this, we are all pretty close,” said Lincoln Principal Elke Fedde.