That day, the seniors arrived at the school at eight o’clock to rehearse the ceremony. That night, at eight o’clock, they walked down the football field in green and white gowns, in the presence of over five thousand family and friends. There was a lot of happy and sad tears before and after the ceremony.
This year has been a whirlwind for the seniors at Immanuel High School. Words are unable to express how quick it has gone by and how remarkable these four years have been. At the beginning of the year we were focused on homecoming week and football games. Now all our attention has been focused on the junior/senior banquet, grad day, the academic awards, the drama production, college visits, AP tests, baccalaureate, sober grad, and graduation.
Attendance at the 2013 Sanger High Sober Grad event was more than double the number of students who participated in 2012, according to Sanger High Sober Grad organizer and Sanger High teacher, Sara Smith. This year 170 students participated, but in 2012, only 82 students participated. The location had a lot to do with the increase in attendance.
It has been a sigh of relief to know that February is done. I blinked, and now it is March! Blossoms are blooming, the weather is warming (sometimes), and my allergies are driving me nuts! Seriously, there needs to be just one pill that protects people from sinus headaches, coughing, fever, achiness, drowsiness, etc. I think there may be one but I hear its illegal in most states...
Graduation was a time of great excitement and anticipation! There were rehearsals to attend, and friends and teachers to say farewell to. As the final days turned into hours, and hours turned into minutes before we had to proceed to our seats on the Reedley High School football field, my classmates and I were starting to feel the sting of nervousness. I, who had the duty of being the featured speaker of the evening, was feeling that nervousness the most.
As I sat to enjoy this year’s Reedley High School graduation, it was different for me this time. I wasn’t watching just as a journalist or a drama mom who knew these kids through RHS shows, I was watching as a mom. My daughter, Jessica, graduated this year and it was quite the different feeling.
As university students in a time of economic instability, we are constantly faced with the harsh reality that jobs are often hard to come by upon graduation. Stories of graduates from top schools, highly educated but jobless for their first and second years out of college have been all too common in our recent news media. This raises the question of whether it is better to seek a job directly out of college, or to go on and pursue a graduate degree in hopes that upon completion, the job market will be more welcoming.
Reedley and Parlier High GraduationsAs the wind played roughly with the row of flags on the stadium field, the RHS Graduation attendees shivered from the unexpected cold…
