‘Dream as if you will live forever’

Michael Miller

When Deborah Davis, the principal of the Newport-Mesa Unified School

District’s Alternative Education Center, sought an anecdote to tell

her graduating class on Thursday, she chose an old fable: the

tortoise and the hare.

It was an appropriate tale for the 146 seniors in front of her,

many of whom took slow and difficult roads toward finishing high

school.

“There’s going to be a lot of great races, and I want you to win

all of them,” Davis told the crowd.

The ceremony in Orange Coast College’s Robert B. Moore Theatre

honored the graduating classes of the two smallest high schools in

Newport-Mesa: Back Bay, a continuation site for at-risk students, and

Monte Vista, which allows students to pursue their coursework at

home.

Both schools are on the same Costa Mesa campus.

At the commencement, many graduates expressed relief and even

surprise that they had made it to the podium.

Traditionally, Back Bay and Monte Vista service youths who are in

danger of failing at other schools.

“I thought I wasn’t going to make it through school, and thought I

was going to drop out,” said Jessica Mack, who was honored as Back

Bay’s top student of the year.

She said she is enrolled in Riverside Community College and plans

to transfer to USC.

Gina Georgiadis, the best-of-class winner for Monte Vista, said

she also planned to attend USC and pursue an entertainment career.

In her speech, she quoted the actor James Dean: “Dream as if you

will live forever; live as if you will die today.”

Also speaking in the morning ceremony were school board President

Serene Stokes and Assistant Supt. of Secondary Education Jaime

Castellanos.

The latter told a story about caring for a paraplegic roommate

when he was in college, and how his friend’s disability inspired him

to succeed.

Stokes urged all the students to pursue higher education.