WOODSIDE HIGH SCHOOL- Gone will be the Woodside Class of 2017 Seniors come June 9th’s graduation ceremony.
Like every year, seniors graduate and go on to college, military, work, or whatever else they might want to do. This year, graduation will be held on Bradley Field at 10AM on June 9th.
“We do a hard 10am start. For the ceremony, we have 2 speeches. Devin Hicks will be the master of ceremony. And after the speeches and everything, the students will walk up and get their diplomas. When the graduation ceremony is ended, the students will do a recessional,” says activities director, Leslie With.
During the graduation ceremony, students, parents and friends will witness speeches from senior students, teachers wearing caps and gowns, and, of course, the seniors walking across stage to receive their diploma.
Before the ceremony, students will report to a designated classroom and will be lined up before the ceremony begins. Parents, relatives, and friends will be seated on the bleachers while the students are seated on the field. After the ceremony, graduates will be by the I-wing to drop of gowns and to socialize and be free from Woodside’s campus, this was called a “recessional” by With.
Senior Veyra Hernandez will be delivering a speech in regards to the “growth and choices we all made to change during the years. Even though we weren’t the bestest of friends at the beginning, we all accomplished high school as a class and became a wildcat family.”
Valedictorians, Sabina Blankenberg and Natasha Badger, will also be giving a speech together. They will talk about the “Woodside community and the years we’ve all spent together.”
As previously mentioned, some teachers dress in caps and gowns alongside the graduating seniors. These dressed staff members are called the ‘Faculty Honor Guard’. They proceed to the field before the seniors and welcome them in.
US History and World Studies teacher, Gregory Gruszynski, is one of the teachers who participates in the Faculty Honor Guard.
Gruszynski explains that he likes participating in the Faculty Honor Guard due to its “pomp and circumstance, and because “We have a chance to clap for them, cheer for them, and see them up close one last time. Teachers that aren’t on the honor guard don’t get the chance to do that.”
The Faculty Honor Guard consists of about 20 teachers.
With graduation so close and with so much to look forward to, the Woodside World welcomes any and all of those who would like to witness the graduation ceremony.
With adds that, “High school is learning; not just academic but also life skills. and now it’s time to go out and live and be in the real world. Hopefully they’ve enjoyed their time here and hopefully they have learned and now they’re off to live.”
Congratulations to Woodside’s Senior Class of 2017.
