Search
Pomp and Circumstance in Plattsburgh
On Saturday I attended the Plattsburgh High School commencement exercises at the Field House on the campus of Plattsburgh State. I arrived 90 minutes early so that I could visit with some of the graduates and their families. Many of the grads had been in my eighth grade English class at Stafford Middle School four years ago. It always amazes me how much they have changed since those days. Some remembered me and it was nice to share handshakes and hugs.
With PHS graduating 178 seniors it would be expected that the ceremony would be longer than the one-hour graduation on Friday night at Beekmantown Central, where 127 accepted diplomas. And it was, lasting slightly more than two hours. A major difference between the two ceremonies was that PHS showed a slide show of the senior class. As always, it was well-done and it has become one of the highlights of a graduation ceremony.
The National Anthem was nicely sung by senior members of the chorus. Later, members of the Select Chorus sang a song, which sandwiched speeches by salutatorian Nadine Channaoui and valedictorian Alexandra "You can call her Alex" Mihalek. Each young lady themed her speech with references to either Walt Disney or Spiderman and we were advised about "living happily ever after."
A special tribute at the PHS graduation was in honor of Clinton County veterans. 39 war heroes, most of them in attendance, were recognized, amidst the applause of all in attendance. Each veteran was named, along with the military branch and war. This is at least the second year PHS has given such recognition to veterans and thanks were expressed from the podium by Steven Bowman, Director of the Clinton County Veterans Service Agency.
The presentation of the diplomas was well-organized with high school principal John Fairchild calling the graduate's name and listing any awards that senior may have won and the grad's future plans. He also read a personal message from the graduate, if they so desired.
The ceremony was not without its lowlights, however. During the ceremony two beach balls suddenly appeared in the graduates section. They were bounced from here to there, until retrieved by Mr. Fairchild. He has more patience and a better sense of humor than I. I would have stopped the ceremony and waited until the beach balls disappeared as quickly as they had appeared. Sadly, one graduate accepted his diploma on stage and went over and picked up the beach ball that Mr. Fairchild had set aside. The graduate batted the ball back into the audience. Not a pretty move by this guy, who happens to be one of my favorite seniors.
Point is, when you do something like that you are showing disrepect for the ceremony, for the faculty and administration and for your fellow graduates. Score one for the Beekmantown graduates, who did nothing disrespectful during their graduation ceremony the night before.
Finally, I guess shouting out from the audience at the announcement of a graduate's name has been the 2000-thing to do. It didn't happen during my graduation in 1966. In fact, had that taken place, the shouting person would probably had been removed from the building. But on Saturday I heard several shouts of, "You rock, Kristie." I don't know Kristie, but I have no doubt that she rocks!
The ceremony ended on a high note! The faculty led the graduates in the recessional, but they stopped at the back, turned and applauded the graduates as the grads passed by them and out of the Field House. It took several minutes, but the faculty never stopped applauding. It was a nice tribute to the deserving graduates from their teachers.
By now the graduates of both schools have moved on to their summer jobs and summer fun. I hope the world of work, the world of college or the world of the military meets their expectations. No doubt there will be some great challenges ahead, but with grads like Tori, Kiernan, Elliott, David, Amanda and Cameron, how can anything go wrong?
Comments
I think they should just mail the diplomas home and that way there will not be any shouting out or beachballs to distract. Do that for a couple of years and I'll bet that the message will be sent that this kind of boorish behavior is not appreciated or tolerated. Or just give up and have the graduation at a beach where everyone can have a ball.
Posted by: peter | June 30, 2006 12:16 PM