‘I love the connection teachers have with students’

Alicia Robinson

After going through it almost half a dozen times, graduation at

Newport Harbor High School is old hat for Neena Miller.

She watched her daughter, Kristen, complete her high school career

Thursday on the school’s football field, as all her other children

have done before.

“She’s my youngest of five children,” and they all went to Newport

Harbor, Neena Miller said.

She was among hundreds of people packed into the Newport Harbor

bleachers to watch the class of 2005 graduate.

Onlookers protected themselves from the sun with wide-brimmed

hats.

A stiff breeze played havoc with the bunches of congratulatory

balloons dotting the stadium, but it kept the temperature bearable.

After the students filed in and heard one of their own sing “The

Star Spangled Banner,” a flock of white doves was released.

The students may remember that picturesque moment, but more likely

they’ll associate high school with something that happened their

junior year -- on TV.

That was when “The OC”, a prime-time soap opera set in Newport

Beach, premiered.

“Whether you loved it or not, it was still pretty awesome having a

TV show about our life,” Casey Dolkas said in a speech recounting

significant moments of his four years at Newport Harbor.

The class was so large -- about 450 students -- it took more than

30 minutes just to read all the names.

Despite that, Neena Miller compared it favorably with her own high

school graduation, which she had to think for a minute to remember.

“It seems like it’s a lot shorter, which I appreciate,” she said.

The graduates were relieved to be finished and brimming with their

future plans.

One of them, Tasja Twing, 18, said she plans to go to college with

the eventual goal of owning a restaurant.

“I’m going to Chapman University,” Twing said, prompting her

friend, 18-year-old Kendall Booth, to squeal, “Me too!”

Booth said she wants to be a high school teacher.

“I love the connection that teachers have with their students, and

I have a lot of teachers that I’m close to,” she said.