Columbine’s Freshmen of ’99 Graduate

LITTLETON, Colo. -- Sean Graves spent three years having to use a wheelchair after being wounded in the Columbine High massacre. But Saturday, aided by a crutch, he walked across the stage to a standing ovation to receive his diploma as the last class to witness the shooting rampage graduated.

Graves was shot four times April 20, 1999, leaving him nearly paralyzed from the waist down. He began walking short distances this year with the help of a crutch. Graves was wounded as he stood outside the school with a friend, Daniel Rohrbough, who was killed by the two gunmen.

The 450 close-knit graduates of the Littleton school received their diplomas at an amphitheater south of Denver. But first they paused to remember two classmates who didn’t survive the attack, Steven Curnow and Rohrbough, as well as two students who were killed during an unsolved shooting at a sandwich shop in 2000.

Inside their diplomas, graduates received a second tassel in memory of their fallen classmates.

Principal Frank DeAngelis, the only remaining administrator from the time of the shootings, thanked the class for supporting him the last three years. He apologized because they did not have a “normal high school life.”

“I truly believe that you have gained strength because of the obstacles that you have had to overcome.”

There also were signs of a typical graduation. Air horns sounded during the ceremony and one graduate mooned the crowd with a “Hi Mom” message.

The graduates lined up along the back of the amphitheater, facing the crowd, as their class song, “Bittersweet Symphony,” played over the loudspeaker. Just after they threw their caps in the air, four military jets flew across the sky in formation.

Just more than three years ago, students Eric David Harris and Dylan Bennet Klebold opened fire at the school, killing 12 students and a teacher before killing themselves.

Ann Marie Hochholter, who was paralyzed in the shooting and graduated two years ago, came to Saturday’s ceremony to watch her brother Nathan graduate.

“They’re strong kids,” she said. “They stuck with it for three more years.”

Dave Hooker, whose two sons escaped unharmed, expressed amazement at the graduates’ strength as he watched his youngest son receive his diploma.

“They’re the ones who said, ‘We are Columbine.’ It was their example that inspired the staff and the community.”