Almost 700 students bade farewell to their middle schools at a
trio of promotion ceremonies that took place in temperatures that
topped 100 degrees.
Gilroy – Almost 700 students bade farewell to their middle schools at a trio of promotion ceremonies that took place in temperatures that topped 100 degrees.
The festivities, which took place Thursday in the Christmas Hill Park amphitheatre, spanned six hours, beginning at 3pm and extending into the twilight. Students, staff and family at the first ceremony contended with a scorching sun without the hint of wind. Programs became impromptu fans, bottled water and ice cream turned into valuable commodities, and umbrellas served as oases of shade.
Among those braving the heat to head off to high school were 13-year-old fraternal triplets Andrew, Emily and Anna Costa. Former students at Brownell Middle and Luigi Aprea Elementary schools, the siblings are fond of debating just about anything, especially during their five-minute ride home from school with their mother trapped in the front. Yet they had no problem reaching consensus that moving on to high school was positive.
“I’m excited to go to high school,” Emily Costa said.
“It’s good because it means going on to the next step of my education,” Andrew Costa said.
“You get to plan out what you want to do with your life,” Anna Costa added. It’s a “more focused and better experience.”
The trio has high expectations, having been in accelerated classes since sixth grade. They plan to take honors courses at the high school for every subject available.
That they are such high achievers and need challenging courses made their parents consider where to send them to school. Among the choices were smaller, private preparatory schools and the new district early college academy. In the end, Gilroy High School seemed the best option for the triplets, all of whom have multiple extracurricular interests, including chorus, band and sports.
The triplets – who have often been placed in the same class during their nine years of school together – approved of the decision, in part because the 600-person freshman class will afford them some breathing room.
“It’s going to be a lot more diversity,” said Andrew Costa.
“I think it’s a good opportunity for us because we’re going to be able to make new friends,” added Anna Costa.
Looking forward to the fall and the start of high school, the three siblings walked across stage, beaming, one after the other, during the second ceremony of the day.
Before they walked, president of the board of trustees, Tom Bundros, gave a speech that could very well have been directed at them.
“You’ve already figured out that each completion is followed by a new beginning and that new beginning will arrive on a beautiful morning in late August when you arrive at Gilroy High School,” he said. “Please let yourselves get excited for the wonderful and rich learning experiences that await you at Gilroy High School.”
Eagles Take Flight
Ascencion Solorsano Middle School started off the festivities, with 211 eighth-graders garbed in teal robes receiving their certificates of promotion.
The students crammed into rows of chairs under about a dozen large patio umbrellas to escape 101-degree heat. Likewise, more than four hundred supporters pressed into the strips of shade cast by trees on either side of the amphitheatre seating area. They scooted out into the center seats only as the shadows grew longer.
Principal Sal Tomasello spoke first at the ceremony, recounting a speech he made to the eighth-graders when they first entered middle school.
“I shared with you a vision that 100 percent of you would go on to high school,” he said. “We nearly made it. Ninety-four percent of you are going.”
The credit does not belong solely to the students, said Alexandria Garcia, student body president, addressing teachers, parents and friends.
“We have been so blessed to have each and every one of you to guide us through our middle school journey,” she said.
Fellow students were also appreciative of the support they received at the middle school.
“This school was really comforting and I was able to be myself there,” said 14-year-old Globelle Dela Merced, who came to Gilroy from Salinas in the seventh grade.
Already a member of a high school choir group, Dela Merced was enthused about next year.
“I can’t wait to go to high school,” she said.
Her parents, who were snapping photos of their first-born with friends and teachers with a digital camera, shared in her enthusiasm.
“We’re kind of nervous for her, but she’s got a well-rounded personality so she’ll do well,” said mother Gloria Dela Merced.
Teachers similarly expressed confidence in the entire class of promoted students.
“They’re very much prepared,” said William Parton, a third-year, eighth-grade math teacher. “Every year, the bar gets raised and they did their share of bar-raising. They’re an absolutely unbeatable class.”
Bruins Battle Onward
The temperature had fallen and a wind had started by the time 241 Brownell Middle School students passed across the stage in maroon gowns to receive their certificates of promotion. However, the crowd was no less heated up.
“It is my honor to speak to you about this unique class of blossoming eighth graders,” principal Joseph DiSalvo said to the crowd of more than four hundred supporters. “The children we knew in middle school are becoming adults and assuming responsibility. I ask you to keep an open and honest dialogue. Far too many of our students pay attention to the difference between us rather than the similarities.”
Students with unique abilities and special needs could find a home in Brownell, said Shannon Lamborn, student body president.
“Some people might glance at our campus and think casually that it’s like any other middle school,” she said in a speech. However, “Brownell is one of the few places where we can be accepted fully for who we are.”
Regardless of any differences, the students were all headed to high school and almost unequivocally excited by the prospect.
“It’s really great to graduate,” said 14-year-old Alexander Thomson. “It’s good to know middle school has ended and now high school’s just starting.”
Thomson will be one of about 70 students in the first class at the early college academy starting this fall.
“Even though we’re just the test, even if it’s good or bad, it’s going to be fun,” he said.
The promotion ceremony was a celebration of the effort he has put in to get to high school, his mother Natti Pierce-Thomson said.
“I’m really proud of him,” she said. “He’s worked really hard to survive middle school.”
This hard work in the face of challenges has been a signature of the entire class, said Phyllis Bartu, department chair of special education.
“They’ve been through a lot more changes than past classes and they’ve gone through it well,” she said. “Teacher changes, principal changes, building changes – they’ve done well. They’re terrific.”
Tigers Pounce on the Future
The 220 South Valley Middle School students donning forest green gowns were the last to take the stage Thursday evening.
The wait afforded them the luxury of an amphitheatre entirely covered by the shade of nearby trees and the occasional burst of cool wind that whipped through the bunches of balloons families brought for their former eighth-graders.
“I’m proud to be a tiger,” principal John Perales declared in the opening speech to the more than four hundred supporters gathered.
Focusing on the future, he assured students they could accomplish anything if they dreamed.
“As you begin you high school career, remember – your attitude and your hard work will be the keys to your success,” he said.
However, he ended not with advice, but with an emotional declaration.
“I will miss you tremendously,” he said. “Make us proud.”
His message had already found home, as demonstrated by a prediction made by Dani Hemeon, the student body president who took the podium wearing a lush red and white lei.
“There will be people who put us down and say we can’t do something,” she said. “Remember – all we have to say is, ‘Just watch me.'”
Fellow students similarly showed no fear about high school.
“I’m looking forward to playing sports over there and meeting new people and having a good time,” said 15-year-old Ulices Fregoso.
“It feels really great,” said 14-year-old Joey Razaqi, who was greeted after the ceremony by his older sister and older brother – both former students at South Valley – as well as his parents. “I’m looking forward to joining some teams and getting into some good colleges.”
“We’re proud,” father Abdul Razaqi said. Motioning to his daughter, currently enrolled in University of California, Davis, he added, “Hopefully, he’ll follow in the same footsteps.”
The students’ tenacious spirits will help them excel at the high school and beyond, said sixth-grade math and science teacher Andy Gonzalez, who is finishing his seventh year at South Valley.
“They were a go-after-it group,” he said. “They’re going to be like sixth graders all over again but once they learn the system, they’ll fit right in.”
