Class of 2009 enters ‘the real world’

Special to The Green Valley News

Playing on the lyrics from the 1960 Broadway show “Bye Bye Birdie”... gray skies cleared up and Sahuarita High School seniors “put on a happy face” for their much-anticipated graduation Thursday night.

GRADUATION SLIDE SHOW: www.sahuaritasun.com/gallery

Led by Sahuarita High drummers, 281 graduates in blue caps and gowns marched single file onto the football field as friends and family cheered them on from the stands.

“Sahuarita High School is a great high school... it’s what you make of it,” Superintendent Jay St. John told the crowd. “These seniors have taken advantage of it.”

In a brief address, salutatorian Courtney Kruezer said, “For some the years flew by, for some it was an eternity. Some don’t want this time to end, others can’t wait.”

Valedictorian Amanda Alfing was somewhat playful in her address, saying, “I’m supposed to be saying valedictorian-type things like, ‘Embrace the past’ and ‘move on.’”

Then she told her fellow graduates, “Everything you have worked for has culminated tonight. Congratulations. You did it.”

English teacher Lori Punske was the keynote speaker.

Graduates did not forget two classmates, Beth Brakke and Daniel Figueroa, who died in auto accidents last year. There was a moment of silence in their memory.

The bleachers were packed with hundreds of family and friends standing and circling the athletic field waiting to hear a special name called as diplomas were awarded.

The changing of the tassels was followed by the class song, “In My Life” by The Beatles.

“There are places I’ll remember

All my life, though some have changed

Some forever, not for better

Some have gone and some remain…

Though I know I’ll never lose affection

For people and things that went before

I know I’ll stop often and think about them

In my life I’ll love you more.”

Though the seniors marched in and received their diplomas with decorum, the atmosphere was much like a packed football stadium with cheering crowds blowing horns and an overall celebratory air of anything goes.

Missing were hot dogs, cotton candy and soft drinks. But that came later as seniors celebrated at their all-night Grad Night bash on campus, which ended about 6 a.m. Friday with the awarding of a car from the Santa Cruz Valley Car Nuts group.

This year’s winner was Edward Maynard, who took the keys of the silver, 2000 Dodge sedan from Car Nuts representative Wayne Potter.

Brianna Moreno was also surprised with a $1,000 scholarship from the Green Valley News/Sahuarita Sun and Freeport-McMoRan mining company.

Ellen Sussman is a freelance writer in Green Valley. Contact her at ellen2414@cox.net.