GILROY
– A close-knit group of Gilroy eighth-graders sailed away toward
new high school horizons Friday night during the St. Mary School
promotion ceremony.
GILROY – A close-knit group of Gilroy eighth-graders sailed away toward new high school horizons Friday night during the St. Mary School promotion ceremony.
The 35 students, many who attended St. Mary School since kindergarten, will continue on to both public and private high schools, from Gilroy High to Archibishop Mitty in San Jose or Notre Dame in Salinas.
Taken from a popular Styx song, “Come Sail Away” was the evening’s theme, included in congratulatory speeches, reinvented by a class salutatorian and played as the soundtrack to the class’ home video.
The school’s Class of 2004 is full of different types of students who, as they sail away, are like different types of vessels, Principal Christa Hanson said. A kayak on Monterey Bay. An ocean liner in the Pacific. A houseboat on Lake Shasta. Or a sailboat in San Francisco Bay.
“You are ready to set sail,” Hanson said. “At times the water will be smooth and crystal clear, and sailing will be no effort at all, as long as there is a steady breeze. … At other times, the waves will be high and the waters murky and deep and cold.
“There will be many difficulties. … That’s why it is important to make sure that one particular person is on board with you.”
Three students were honored as the top of their class: valedictorian Amanda Nojadera and co-salutatorians Katie Emick and Rebecca Mantecon.
“From my teachers, I have learned lessons about the world,” Mantecon said. “From my classmates, I have discovered things about myself that I wouldn’t have otherwise.”
Nojadera offered a collective extended thank you from the students to their parents, teachers, friends and other role models. The waters of high school are unsure and a little scary, she said.
“The truth is, we have to move forward because this is what life’s about,” she said. “Start by making the right choices because tomorrow will be too late.”
Besides receiving their eighth-grade diplomas, many of the graduates received awards and scholarships from both the school and community groups. Representatives from the American Legion Post 669 awarded Maarten Kerstens and Nojadera with a scholastic award, the highest honor bestowed on young Americans by the legionnaires.
Other students were awarded for excelling in a particular subject area. Among them, Mary Huggins received honors for math, Marisa Struzik for dance and Katie Hammon for Spanish.
“In the next number of years as you go on to high school, we look forward to the achievement of a certain excellence: excellence in education, excellence in sports, excellence in service, excellence in the development of those talents in music, acting, whatever they may be,” said Father Dan Derry, addressing the graduates. “We all look forward to seeing the gifts that God has given to you may continue to be developed by you.”
Near the close of the ceremony, several of the graduates showed their homemade movie featuring their classmates – starring in the play “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” attending summer school and simply hanging out together. The movie’s images made it clear that in such a close-knit setting, the group of students became more than peers.
Salutatorian Emick recounted some of the memories they share, from a strict teacher to one female student who frequently fell out of her seat.
“We have spent the last nine years with each other and become very close friends,” Emick said. “But we’ve reached a point in our lives where the road splits and we all have our way.”
Emick also offered a more personalized version of “Come Sail Away.”
“I’m sailing away – sailing away to high school/ I’ve got to be free/ free to face the life that’s ahead of me – A life that I’m uncertain of … And I’ll try, oh Lord, I’ll try/ To carry on – because this is what my school wants of me.”
Fr. Derry left the students with one last piece of pop culture advice. Forming his hand into a “V” shape, he said students should strive for more than to live long and prosper:
“Live, prosper, serve and be gentle.”
