Class of 2009, You Rock!
June 10, 2009 • written by Samantha Hartfiel
It is supposed to be a night to remember. An evening like no other filled with cheers, tears, and congratulations for all of the things that have been accomplished so far in life. Park High School’s class of 2009 certainly had a night to remember on June 6th, 2009 as they completed their high school careers and graduated. The evening was filled with the old graduation cliches ranging from speeches featuring quotes from Dr. Seuss’s book Oh, The Places You’ll Go, to constant repetition of “Go class of 2009” followed by uproarious applause from the gradates.
However, while the night ended up being very successful and memorable for the grads, the 92nd commencement held at Park High School did begin with a bit of confusion. At 10 am on June 6th, all of the Park graduates met at the Park High School stadium to practice the ceremony that all would be celebrating that night. Originally, the plan for the graduation was that it was to be held at the stadium, where the students could enjoy the weather and have access to seemingly unlimited guests in the pristine facility with a capacity of 4,200.While there was a slight drizzle in the morning, Park authorities validated that graduation would occur “rain or shine.” Conversely, the weather, was not on the side of the class of 2009 because the approximately 14 day drought that took place in Cottage Grove ended on June 6th with vengeance, making the day one of a constant chilly downpour, drenching the field, bleachers, and all opportunities of an outdoor graduation. Therefore, Park was forced to move into plan B, which was hosting the graduation indoors, a difficult task with a class of 600 and a school with a small gymnasium. Unfortunately, in order for the graduation to be indoors, each graduate was only allowed to have three tickets that could be given to family or friends to watch the ceremony,meaning that many people who believed that they were attending were turned down, including siblings and grandparents. For the parents and friends who believed that they would be attending the graduation since the confirmation that it would be outdoors that morning, the news of limited tickets did not go over well. There were disgruntled people walking around asking if anyone had any spare tickets and one man even stated “I paid $600 for a plane ticket for a graduation that I won’t even be able to see.” Fortunately for that man, someone did have a spare that they graciously lent him, but many others were not so fortunate. The gymnasium quickly filled up with the 1,800 allotted visitors, overflowing the bleachers and causing some people to stand against the back wall for the entirety of the ceremony.
While many people were disgruntled at the inconvenience of the whole situation, most of that tension dissolved to happiness as the smiling graduates walked into the gymnasium,with the song “Pomp and Circumstance” playing grandly in the background, transforming the room into a sea of forest green mortar boards and gowns. From that point on, the audience became less and less conscious of how crammed, hot, and disappointed they were and became more focused on watching their child, sibling, or friend complete an important accomplishment in their lives.
The graduation ceremony began with a greeting by the Superintendent of Schools, Tom Nelson, who opened with the message, “While there are disappointments in life, as shown by tonight, its how we deal with these disappointments that make us who we are.” , which showed that although the attendees were stuck inside, the graduates were still graduating and that was all that really mattered. The evening then continued with an introduction of honored staff that the senior class voted in to attend. These teachers, who were from the elementary, junior high, and high schools that the class attended, included Mr. Bergman from Oltman Junior High, Mr. Rizzo from Cottage Grove Junior High, and Ms. Peichel and Mr. McCarthy from Park High School. These teachers were welcomed by uproarious applause and were given the honor to witness their previous students complete this important accomplishment. Next seniors, juniors and sophomores who were members of choir and band got to take a part in the ceremony , as the choir sang “Fields of Gold”, a sweet ballad that some audience members admitted moved them to tears,and the band, which was seated under the bleachers for the sake of space, played a symphonic sweet from “Far and Away” crisply and beautifully.
Next, the speeches began with the valedictory address by Valedictorian Michelle Davis, salidictorian Nicole Westphal, and the third top student Ashley Anderson. This group speech included mention of all of the phenomenal and not so great memories at Park High School from the past three years including extra curricular activities and the stair case incident. This sentimental speech was followed by a very charismatic speech given by the senior class speakers Justin Cooke and Sarah Theide. These two mentioned the lighter side of Park High School and said that “Although the juniors of the 2008-2009 school year were convinced that they ran Park High School this past year, after tonight juniors, it’s all yours.” Finally, Todd Hyland, who was chosen as the staff speaker, gave a very entertaining speech which featured one of his many classic stories. The nights story was about the purchase of a plastic rock and ended with Mr. Hyland stating “Class of 2009 I have two words for you,” as he lifted the rock above his head, “You rock!”
Finally, the moment the whole room was waiting for, the distribution of diplomas, arrived. The tradition took approximately fifteen minutes and each student was accompanied by a cheer and a round of applause from their loved ones as they received their GED. Every student that went up there had a big smile on their face, and some even did a small victory dance.
Once the distribution was complete, Dr. Agbamu congratulated the class, and as one, the students switched their tassels, whether they were gold or green and white, from the right side of their mortar board, to the left side, signifying that they had all officially graduated. Then, the students completed the tradition of graduation by throwing their mortar boards in the air, creating a sky of green, and a mesmerizing sight for the audience.
While the night did not go as many of the seniors had originally planned, it could be seen that all were simply ecstatic to enter this new transition in their lives. Therefore, to the class of 2009,on behalf of the Wolfpack Press, congratulations and we wish you the best of luck in all that you pursue.
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That day was indeed very confusing and aggravating, but it was well worth it! i have to be blatantly honest and admit that high school was not the most enjoyable time that I spent in 833, but the experience made me mature the most I must admit. I was shy and quiet from Preschool and on out until I arrived at Park. The teachers were different and the relationships with them were different. The teachers were more laid back and more easier to connect with. Mrs. Eiden-Giel, Mrs. Weisheim, and Mr. Ryan are a few of many teachers I really liked at Park. I was a Guidance Counselor Student Aide for my last term at my last period at Park and every time I would deliver a pass to Mrs. Eiden-Giel and EVERY SINGLE TIME she would say “I don’t have this student. I am serious.” EVERY SINGLE TIME I would fall for it. Then came this one time where I thought was positively right and delivered it to her classroom. Once again she said it wasn’t a student of hers and I said “take it up with the office”… this ended up preceding for about a minute and then I looked at the room number and it was supposed to be sent to a classroom over (Mr. Ryan’s room). I would never forget that. Another thing too, every time I would deliver something to Mrs. Frou Tol’s room the classroom would applaud for me. It was embarrassing but at the same time funny!