Marina says good bye to 532
Mike Sciacca
Marina High School Principal Steve Roderick looked out over a sea of
532 seniors dressed in cap and gown and addressed them with a simple
sentence, its meaning extending beyond this simple yet important
event.
“Gorgeous day -- the sun is shining on you, class of 2003,” he
said as he addressed the students who filled the school’s outdoor
amphitheater known simply as “the bowl.”
The sun did shine on this day, breaking the monotony of drizzle
and gray skies that blanketed the city for much of the previous week.
The bright skies brought an uplifting atmosphere as a
standing-room-only crowd listened to inspirational speeches.
Roderick urged the class of 2003 to commit itself to “character”
and what it could accomplish in and out of school.
“You hold a very special place in my memory and heart,” he told
them, his comments interrupted, at first, by some heckling and
half-hearted “ahs” from the graduates, then, by applause and a few
whistles, after he finished by saying, “because you are my first
graduating class.”
The 2002-03 school year was Roderick’s first as Marina principal.
As this group of Viking seniors prepares to venture out from the
comforts of four years spent at Marina, valedictorians Christina Kim
and Jennifer Jay, who alternated speaking parts from the same speech,
likened the impending, new journey to that of the original Vikings.
“We wanted to talk about the history of the Vikings as they set
about for new, undiscovered territories,” said, Kim, 18, who is
headed to UCLA in the fall where she plans to study international
relations. “We wanted our class to know that we are the Vikings of
today, heading into the uncertain but ready to blaze our own paths.
“I think the main impression I have of our class is that it had a
lot of character. There were some unique personalities and I think
that it made for a very diverse class.”
English teacher Carol Law stood behind center stage during the
ceremony, her pride in these students, obvious.
“My first year teaching at Marina was when these graduates were
freshman students,” she said. “I have a connection to a lot of them
and I know they will do well out in the world.
“I have seen them grow -- and they’ve done a lot of growing --
from young teenagers into mature, young adults. I’m excited for
them.”
Of the 532 graduates, 173 of graduated with academic recognition
as top scholars and 51 had a grade-point average of 4.0 or higher.
“This is another fine class in a long line of fine graduates here
at Marina,” said Mark Rehling who teaches senior English. “This group
was strong academically. They won several honors and had some of the
highest college test scores. This group also had tremendous success
in athletics. This was a great class.”
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