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.”