More High School Grads Celebrate

Letting out whoops of joy, 367 Newbury Park High School seniors completed their graduation Friday on the school field to the accompaniment of Scottish bagpipes.

Many felt they were ready for the next stage in life.

“I feel really ready to graduate,” said Eugene Zaslavsky, 18. “It’s time to go on with our lives.”

Newbury Park’s Class of 1998 is “a serious kind of class, with good grades and high GPAs,” he said.

Micheal Wilson, 18, was graduating from the school his father attended--although he had moved many times.

“After 13 years at 13 different schools, it’s good to graduate from the same one my dad did,” he said.

Seniors from Santa Paula High and Ojai’s Nordhoff High School also donned their caps and gowns Friday, becoming the second wave of seniors to graduate from the county Friday.

Four high schools held ceremonies earlier in the week while Oak Park and Royal high schools will hold their graduations Tuesday, and the five Oxnard Union High School District campuses will hold theirs June 26.

Santa Paula High School graduated 251 students, the first seniors who went through a school-wide program eliminating easier standard-level classes in favor of more rigorous college-prep courses.

At Nordhoff High School, 210 seniors participated in the graduation ceremony at the school stadium. The majority are going to four-year colleges.

“I hope we have prepared them well enough that they may be successful in college or whatever post-high school route they choose to go, whether it be in the trades or business,” said Ojai Unified School District trustee Tim Peddicord.