Rising despite difficulties

Whether a student or school had fallen behind, five high schools were cheering in celebration of the year’s victories.

Thursday morning at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Patrick Chase took a moment to reflect on his high school career. The Back Bay High School senior, who had fallen behind as a freshman at a regular high school, said if it weren’t for the alternative site in Costa Mesa, he might never have donned a cap and gown.

“I gave up on school a long time ago,” Chase told the audience. “I gave up on my life, basically. When I came to Back Bay High School, all of that changed.”

A moment later, addressing his teachers, he added, “Thank you from the bottom of my rotten, no-good, troublemaking teenage heart.”

It was a day of many emotions in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, as five high schools — Newport Harbor, Costa Mesa, Estancia, Corona del Mar and Back Bay-Monte Vista — held their commencements. Some students cheered; some wept or embraced. Others, like Chase, were a little more self-effacing.

Thursday marked the end of a watershed year in Newport-Mesa. Over the last 10 months, the district opened its first new school in five years — Early College High School — and started construction on Measure F, the most expensive bond in Newport-Mesa history.

There were difficulties along the way, too; this year, for the first time, three Newport-Mesa schools underwent sanctions under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

But Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard, who took office last July, said watching the students graduate made any year feel like a job well done.

“It’s a strong reminder of why we do what we do in these schools,” he said at Orange Coast College’s LeBard Stadium during Estancia’s graduation. “It’s the culmination of our work. So it’s a very exciting time.”

Under a cloudless sky on the first day of summer, “Pomp and Circumstance” played at fields around Newport-Mesa as the class of 2007 passed the podiums.

A number of student speakers honored the occasion by reminding their peers how far they had come.

Enrique Vivar, who spoke for Estancia, asked all the seniors to close their eyes and remember their days in elementary school.

“Ready or not, I am confident that what we have learned in the last 13 years is enough to help us strive and survive,” he said.

Newport Harbor senior Andrew Clark dotted his speech with references to famous people of the 20th century, then urged his classmates to follow their lead.

“We’re done, graduates,” he said. “The 21st century is calling us.”

To see video of graduation, click here.

To see photos of graduation, click here.