Another Successful Year In The Books

This is an unusual time of year in the school business. Nearly all of the adults are gone for the summer, as grades were due today at noon. Custodians are already hard at work moving furniture out of classrooms to prepare the floors for the fall rush of students. The gyms are full of bouncing balls as the summer camps are in full swing. Yet despite the flurry of activity, I often get a little nostalgic about the year just ended.

We were fortunate to have a beautiful evening for graduation. The weather was less humid than in the days leading up to the ceremony, and we graduated 428 seniors in less than 90 minutes. The student speeches were inspirational and the audience appeared appreciative.

The Commencement ceremony is the culmination of a great deal of hard work from a wide variety of people. Of course, students put in 13 years of effort to master the academics of an institution like the Grosse Pointe Public School System. Parents shuttle their sons and daughters back and forth to countless activities over that same time frame. Teachers must balance the needs of each individual student while trying to make sure to cover every standard and benchmark in the mandated curriculum that must be delivered to all students. Everyone has done their part.

The diplomas get ordered, the chairs are put in place, and the sound system is checked. We try to make sure the hedges are trimmed accordingly, and that the backdrop at South enhances this already majestic building.

When the ceremony is over, it is simply over. You can bet those 428 students will never be in the same place again. Despite all that has united them over the past four years, by 8:30 on graduation evening they will all be on their separate ways. Yes, most will go to the All-Night party, but they are just a bit different than they were a few hours earlier.

In a blink, the class of 2008 became "alumni" of South. I wish them well and thank them for the positive memories that have added to our fine tradition.