Posted by: Lea_Marie_C_Paar on 06/10/2012 01:24 PM
Updated by: Lea_Marie_C_Paar on 06/10/2012 05:43 PM
Expires: 01/01/2017 12:00 AM
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A Procession of Graduates at Mountain Oaks ~ by Lea-Marie C. Paar
San Andreas, CA...Cheers could be heard throughout the site as approximately sixty graduating seniors proceeded into the gym at the San Andreas site of the Mountain Oaks Charter School for the eighteenth annual graduation ceremony on Friday, June 8th, 2012, at 6 p.m. As friends and family cheered their graduates on, each senior excitedly waved or smiled at their loved ones as they walked past in a procession to the stage, where the graduates would be presented with their certificates and a rose....
Photos courtesy of Jalin Cassidy.
San Andreas, Ca.
Cheers could be heard throughout the site as approximately sixty graduating seniors proceeded into the gym at the San Andreas site of the Mountain Oaks Charter School for the eighteenth annual graduation ceremony on Friday, June 8th, 2012, at 6 p.m. As friends and family cheered their graduates on, each senior excitedly waved or smiled at their loved ones as they walked past in a procession to the stage, where the graduates would be presented with their certificates and a rose.
Anne Colman and Jacqueline Dennis, the two administrators of the school, opened the ceremony by congratulating the graduates and describing how hard they have seen the students work with their parents and mentor teachers to get this far in their education. The administrators then recognized the students who had been attending Mountain Oaks consecutively since either Kindergarten or first grade, those students being Joey Dructor, Katharina Elisabet Johnson, Matthew Edward Justi, Eric Anthony Myers, Jacqueline Irene Pierce, and Andrea Christine Wynne.
The ceremony continued with an address by keynote speaker Sandy Schwing, a parent and workshop instructor whose son, Christianson Mills, was also graduating. She detailed and described the hard work that she saw her son put into his education and she also described all of the effort she saw all of the other students with whom she had been involved with as they worked towards their goals. Ms. Schwing ended her address by thanking all of the staff and mentor teachers who had made those goals possible and by congratulating the graduates.
As all of these speeches were being given, the graduates were hardly able to contain their excitement, fidgeting and nudging each other when they realized it was finally time for their mentor teachers to say a few words about each graduate as the graduate stood next to their beloved teachers. Each graduate was also given the option to give a speech once their mentor had finished introducing the young man or woman, though less than half of the students were willing to give such a speech.
The graduates were presented in alphabetical order in accordance with their mentor teachers' last names. Monica Riedel and Janet Kendig, two other mentor teachers, introduced each mentor teacher and called up each graduate to receive their recognition. Once the mentor teacher had finished introducing and describing their student, and the student either had or had not given their speech, the student then walked accross the stage, receving their certificate and a rose, and shaking the hands of administrator Jacqueline Dennis, Calaveras County Office of Education Board Members Lou Boitano, George Fry, and Kathy Northington, and also Mountain Oaks Board Members Rhianna Tofanelli and Kathy Radusinovich.
All of the mentor teachers gave heartfelt recognition to their students for their accomplishments and gave warm wishes towards the students' future. The graduating students, in turn, each gave their mentor a loving hug, and the few who did give speeches gave recognition to their mentors in their speeches, thanking their mentors, and also thanking their family and friends for helping them throughout their lives.
"I'm pretty sure my dad is the one who should be receiving my diploma," said senior Jack Dean during his speech, "because he took my education more seriously than I ever did. Thanks, Dad." Jack's parents beamed and waved to him from the back of the gym as Jack's mentor teacher, Deborah Blankenship, gave him a strong, heartfelt hug and grinned happily as he proceeded accross the stage.
Another senior, Austin Greenough, pumped his fists in the air at the end of his speech and shouted "I'm done! I did it!"
At the end of the ceremony, Anne Colman was barely able to finish saying "I present to you the class of 2012" before there was an eruption of screams and cheers from the graduates on the stage as they all stood and threw their hats.
Congratulations to the Mountain Oaks Graduating class of 2012;
Kimberly Elizabeth Bakerink
Donald Dean Boulden
Robert Payton Boulden
Trenton Michael Bumpus
Kayla Nicole Cavett
Gitaine Christine Chaisson
Lauren Childress
Taylor Louise Cosgrove
Jack Dean
Christian Mikalo DeMasters
Heather Kay DeRoboam
Christie Jo DeVeney
Hunter Leigh-Lois Donald
Alyssa Drake
Joey Dructor
Kyle Brandon Freitas
Matthew Bryce Garman
Siena Avonlea Glesener
Tiara Godoy
Austin Dale Greenough
Garrett Edward Howard
Bethanie Renee Hunger
Katharina Elisabet Johnson
Matthew Edward Justi
Laura Dawn Keller
Ryan Keough-White
Hannah Rae Nichole LaRoe
Julia Mares
Miranda Lin Marshall
Sahsa Angelle McArthur
Ryan Patrick McGregor
Connor John McLeskey
Michael James Messenger
Sunny Jo Miller
Christianson L. Mills
Dillon Dakota Mills
Rebekka Ruth Monroe
Gabrielle Lee Morelli
Katlin Anne Morris
Eric Anthony Myers
Steven John Paar
Jecqueline Irene Pierce
Juliann Pyland
Samantha Kay Roberts
Alfonso Rojas
Jewel Lynn Scherrer
Destiny M. Silva
Justin A. Snapp
Levi Austin Strey
Miles Duncan Thomazin
Beverly Morgan Thompson
Ashley Nicole Tognotti
Kathryn Aree Treadaway
Corey Lewis Walker
Christian Reese Weber
Courtney Alyse Williams
Sabrina Louise Williams
Tiphanie Lynn Williams
Kaitlyn Montana Wills
Andrea Christine Wynne
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