‘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.
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