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Pomp and Circumstance in Beekmantown
I had the pleasure of attending two graduation ceremonies this past weekend and both left me with plenty to blog about. On Friday night I was in the Beekmantown Central School state-of-the-art gymnasium as the school graduated 127 seniors. On Saturday afternoon I was at the Field House on the campus of Plattsburgh State as Plattsburgh High School honored 178 graduates.
The administrators at Beekmantown Central know how to make a crowd happy. The entire Commencement Exercises took a neat sixty minutes! The processional was led by faculty members, officiously attired in graduation robes. It was impressive! Then, amidst "Pomp and Circumstance" and a standing ovation from the audience, the graduates entered. Class president and honor graduate Katy Levon sang the National Anthem, displaying that she is not just a scholar, but a talented singer as well.
In the past several years Beekmantown Central has not listed the traditional valedictorian and salutatorian, instead offering "honor graduates" the opportunity to speak. I was a proud parent at the school's 1996 graduation ceremony when my son Erik, an honor graduate, spoke. The 2006 speakers were Danielle Dupell, Sara Fredette, Michael Jock and Katy Levon. Each referred to personal moments from their high school years and reflected upon what lies ahead.
The commencement program lists all the Beekmantown scholarship and awards winners, so at commencement the group stood en masse to receive applause from the audience. The presentation of diplomas was well-organized and moved quickly. A brief statement was made to introduce each graduate. For example, "Foxy Gagnon, Regents diploma, Plattsburgh State."
This part of the program, however, provided one of the few gliches in the ceremony. Of course, most parents want a photo of their child accepting the diploma. Nowadays most cellphones have camera capabilities so it just adds to the number of people who come forward to capture the "magic moment." Perhaps they didn't realize that the school district hires a professional photographer to photograph each graduate accepting a diploma from Garth Frechette, high school principal. The school provides a free 8x10 color photo for each graduate. Unfortunately, several would-be photographers passed in front of the school's professional photographer, and, I'm sure, ruined some of the pictures.
This was my second consecutive year attending the Beekmantown Central commencement. The administration is to be commended for its organization and the graduates are to be commended for their respectful behavior. At the end of ceremony, as many graduates brushed aside tears, there were hundreds of proud parents and relatives with smiles on their faces. This impartial observer gives Beekmantown an A+ for its commencement exercises 2006 and he wishes all the grads success with the challenges that lie ahead.
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