From the style of their speeches to the way they accessorized
their blue and white caps and gowns, the Gilroy High School Class
of 2009 flaunted their many colors for the last time together.
From the style of their speeches to the way they accessorized their blue and white caps and gowns, the Gilroy High School Class of 2009 flaunted their many colors for the last time together.
Decorated with glitter and paint, the graduates’ caps alone spelled out their diversity as canvasses for everything from butterflies and peace signs to the Pittsburgh Penguins’ emblem. One particularly conspicuous graduate attached a large, pointed arrow to his cap.
“I can sum up our class in one word – diversity,” said Rebecca Butkivich, senior class president. “We don’t all hang out together. We aren’t involved in all the same activities, and we’ve had our disagreements. Yet we’ve still been able to come together and do great things. We learned to appreciate that someone can have a different opinion yet still be our friend.”
With the help of senior Peter Guenther’s beatboxing skills, Butkivich broke from her solemn speech into a lively rap celebrating the heterogeneity of the graduating class.
“We come together when it matters most. We’re 2009, we have the right to boast. Two to the zero to the zero to the nine, stand up class because we be fine,” Butkivich concluded with a flourish, receiving a standing ovation from her fellow classmates.
Over-sized beach balls sailed overhead – as did a small airplane trailing a banner congratulating graduate Marissa Valdez – and bubbles floated through the air as various speakers took the podium. The occasional blast of an air horn punctuated the cool evening air. Nearly 500 graduates formed a compact sea of blue and white on the GHS football field under a banner commemorating GHS as a California Distinguished School. A proud father ran onto the field to snap a picture closeup of his daughter.
The class’s shining academic and athletic co-stars took the microphone one at a time, Salutatorian Kathleen Miller’s scholarly address contrasting with Valedictorian Christine Bobula’s unscripted soliloquy.
Miller advised her classmates to be conscious of their impact on the world and urged them to act for the greater good.
“It is important that we constantly evaluate the full consequences of our actions because they affect not only you and others in a local context, but in turn contribute to the perpetual reshaping of the world around us,” Miller said.
Miller reminded her fellow 500 graduates that they are the last class to graduate from Gilroy as a one high school town.
“It is from divisions such as this that unity may spring forth in abundance – bringing individuals, cities, and cultures further together, in a transformative act that strengthens our communal wellbeing,” Miller said.
And although Bobula prepared a formal speech, she took her turn on stage as an opportunity to put aside her well-prepared notes in exchange for an impromptu speech inspired earlier that day.
“Life is unpredictable,” she said, finally giving in to her slipping cap and plunking it on the podium. “We all as we’re graduating have plans for the future, goals, things we want to do with the rest of our lives. But sometimes things get in the way.
“Don’t give up. Just keep working at it. Call your mom – whatever you need to do.”
Beloved history teacher, Darren Yafai, voted keynote speaker by the graduating class, alluded to the ever-popular “Oh, the Places You’ll Go” by Dr. Seuss and many pop culture and historical references during his speech to urge his students to fearlessly embark on the journey before them.
“If you play it safe and risk nothing, you do nothing,” he said. “Don’t fear Class of 2009. The great (Franklin Delano Roosevelt) said, ‘The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.’ So don’t be afraid of taking a chance. Only the people who take risks are truly free.”
When it came time for the school board to award the diplomas, girls wobbled up the ramp in towering heels, clutching at their caps and adjusting their gowns, fuchsia leis draped around their necks. Boys wearing neon-colored sunglasses flashed peace signs at their parents in the stands.
Dozens of caps flew into the darkening sky once the final diploma was handed over and students streamed off the field to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing”. This fall, GHS students will scatter all over the world, from Hawaii to Belgium.
Stanford University-bound senior Jesse Ikeme, who plans to study biology at Stanford and eventually become a doctor, reunited with his family after the ceremony, posing for pictures with his parents and grandparents.
“I can’t be more proud of this young man here,” said his father, Goddy Ikeme. “He is a hard worker and he deserves everything he’s getting.”
Principal James Maxwell, who remained on stage long after the last student left the field, watched from a distance as his students exchanged hugs with their families.
“It’s the end of an era,” he said, his eyes brimming with tears. He referred not only to the opening of Christopher High School in the fall but also his impending departure from GHS.
Maxwell echoed the sentiment many of his seniors uttered earlier that night, “It’s tougher than I thought to say good bye. This was a special class.”
