440 Gilroy High School seniors take to the podium to receive
their diplomas
Gilroy – The blistering heat didn’t keep anyone away from Gilroy High School’s Friday evening commencement ceremony. Crowds of family and friends descended upon the football stadium filling the bleachers, lining up along the fences and huddling on the outskirts under the bit of shade provided.
And after the speeches and special awards ended, a total of 440 seniors marched up to the podium, one-by-one to pick up the piece of paper symbolizing their hard work and dedication.
Valedictorian David Bress treated the crowd to a humorous and informative address, telling funny stories about high school and voicing his opinion on certain educational issues. The youngest of four boys and all GHS graduates, he opened with a quip, apparently referring to diploma mix-ups of the past.
“Graduates of the Class of 2006, look to your right and now to your left, one of these people might accidentally receive your diploma,” Bress said.
Bress, who will head to the University of California, Los Angeles in the fall, mentioned the changes Gilroy high’s campus has undergone during the past four years, including a new football field and student center. He alluded to the school’s “tardy party,” when students have to pick up trash for being late and pointed out that faculty should focus on improving the drop-out rate, not punishing teens who are five minutes late.
And he brought up how some of his friends chose private schools over Gilroy High.
“We must ask ourselves, what does Gilroy High have that all those private schools does not? The answer is: girls,” he said to laughter from the crowd.
If the words uttered by these seniors represents their collective personalities, then the Class of 2006, was quite the comic bunch. When asked how she would describe her class, Elizabeth Rothenberg said, “I’m glad we got here because it took a long time. We’re kind of a lazy class.”
The 18-year-old will attend University of California, Santa Barbara.
And Robert Mendez, who plans on moving down south with friends to attend Santa Barbara City College, called himself and his fellow students, “dorky, in a good way.”
Salutatorian Allan Chan used his moment at the podium to express his concern about not delivering a funny enough speech.
“I grew suspicious that David (Bress) would dwarf any of my comical remarks, not that I’m trying to say anything about your height, David …,” Chan said.
Instead, he went the more serious route, comparing his class to water, a symbol that is “pure, renewed, clean and alive.”
But as the first group of students required to pass the California High School Exit Exam in order to graduate, the Class of 2006 had to be somewhat serious. When Bress pointed out the achievement, the crowd cheered.
Students who didn’t pass the exam did not receive their diploma or participate in the commencement ceremony.
Peter Gray, a former and obviously beloved English teacher, delivered the keynote address of the evening. Seniors cast votes to select the keynote speaker. GHS Principal James Maxwell introduced Gray, saying that about 18 years ago he walked onto the high school campus and touched numerous lives.
Gray began his speech by telling the students he had tears in his eyes when he said goodbye to Gilroy High in January to take a school district position in Salinas. Many of the students graduating on Friday were in his classroom for three of their four years, he said.
Grey also recounted a moment that produced a hearty chuckle from the crowd.
“It was September, English I, ‘Lord of the Flies,’ nature or nurture, savage or civilized, and behavior in the absence of restraint,” he said. “I asked ‘why don’t you get up and leave? It’s a nice day, the door’s not locked, why don’t you take off? What’s keeping you in your chair right now?’ And Kyle Grogan raised his hand and said, ‘Gravity.’ I had the privilege of watching you mature from smart remarks to keen debaters who could parry back and forth.”
