GILROY
– The physical stage won’t be erected until Friday afternoon,
but at Gilroy High School the proverbial stage for graduating the
Class of 2003 is set.
GILROY – The physical stage won’t be erected until Friday afternoon, but at Gilroy High School the proverbial stage for graduating the Class of 2003 is set.
A keynote speaker, a valedictorian and two salutatorians have been named. And 437 students have done what it takes to earn a diploma from Gilroy’s only comprehensive high school.
Commencement ceremonies happen tomorrow at 6 p.m. at the GHS stadium. GHS officials are planning for a turnout of 2,000 people.
“This is the largest group of graduates I’ve ever worked with,” first-year Assistant Principal Joni Madalora said. “It’s been exciting. You can see a lot of camaraderie in the Class of 2003.”
The traditional march to “Pomp and Circumstance” will be accented with a traditional Gilroy touch. Foreign born students will be allowed to carry the flag of their native country as they walk the aisle, Madalora said.
The celebration will begin with recognition of lifetime California Scholastic Federation students. This will be followed by speeches from keynote speaker Ron Kinoshita, valedictorian Megan Stevens and salutatorians Brendan Clark and Ted Hewitt.
Principal Bob Bravo said the student honors were given based on grade point average over both semesters of all four years. Stevens garnered a 4.52 GPA as of the end of this year’s first semester. Clark and Hewitt had 4.37 GPAs going into the second half of this year.
The students’ final GPAs have not been recorded by the high school yet.
Madalora said Clark and Hewitt will write and deliver their speech together.
“They are truly being co-salutatorians,” Madalora said.
The Class of 2003 selected the teachers that will announce student names and hand out diplomas. Students also voted for who they wanted the keynote speaker to be.
“I was very surprised and shocked and honored,” Kinoshita said regarding his keynoter selection. “My feeling is we have an incredible staff and tons of popular and equally qualified teachers.”
Kinoshita, who retires at the end of this year, said his speech will be “a message of encouragement.”
“This has been a really, tough thing for me to do,” a sentimental Kinoshita said. “I spent a whole week just thinking about the topic. It’s still a work in progress.”
