Graduation Day

Since my 15 year class reunion is approaching, I wanted to share something with all my loyal blog readers.  As senior class president I was asked to say a speech at graduation along with our 3 Valedictorians and 1 Salutatorian.  I ended up teaming up with one of the Valedictorians Ryan Sommerville, we wrote a poem about our experiences from kindergarten through graduation.  We had known each other since we were 5, it ended up being super easy and we threw it together in a night.  Less than 5 months after graduation Ryan was killed in a single engine plane crash on his way back to ISU where he was studying to be a pilot.  He, along with 5 others who have since passed, will be missed Friday night as we celebrate our 15 year reunion.  Here is that poem.

Graduation Day

The time is finally here for that special day in May,

We have finished all of our schooling and today is graduation day.

The journey has been long and now it is finished at last,

It is time to move forward, but we must not forget our past.

It all started in kindergarten with a game of show and tell,

We first leared to read adn the letter people taught us well.

Moving to Pleasant Ridge we were introduced to new teachers and a new school,

We learned to write cursive and the playground was very cool.

Jonathan Jennings was only just a small trip to next door,

Mr. Stover was principal and the school was ours to explore.

Sports were introduced along with saftety patrol too,

The stop light in the cafeteria definitely seemed new.

Physcial Education, music, and the library began to intermix,

In Mr. Pearson's art class we rolled up paper sticks.

Track and Field Day events at JJ were always very fun,

But our grade school days were over, and it was now time to move on.

It was time for something bigger and junior high was it,

The school was brand new and our possibilities were infinite.

Having lockers and seven classes a day were both something new,

We thought we knew it all but really had no clue.

Now that we were in middle school discipline was always enoforced,

If you tried to set the locker room on fire, you would be suspended of course.

Birthday parties at the Civic Center became a middle school tradition,

Any spot in the tan locker bay was always good for French kissing.

We were off to Washington DC on a special eighth-grade trip,

Although our time was spent on a tour bus, we had fun quite a bit

At the honor's day banquet many awards were given out,

Each one was well deserved and that was without a doubt.

They tried to serve tasty food, they tried as hard as they could,

But school food is school food, and it is never very good.

Three short years had passed and we had finished junior high,

Although it was very sad, it was time to say good-bye.

We were the incoming freshman making our debut,

We wondered if all our nightmares were going to come true.

We all seemed so very small and the school so very big,

The place appeared to be a great big tree and us a little twig.

It was not long before each and every one of us found our groove,

We began to find our way around and we all had something to proove.

We had to prove that we were strong and we too could survive,

High school was nothing more than a larger junior high.

One by one we recieved our license after completing Driver's Ed.

"Remember to wear your seat belt," was the expression our parents said.

Our junior year rolled around and prom was drawing near,

We spents lots of time and money trying hard to prepare.

Mardi Gras was the theme and we had lots of fun,

The money was well worth it when it was all said and done.

In the fall of '96 the school was ours for the taking,

We were all senriors and graduation was in the making.

Basketball and football were both very successful,

We are hoping for baseball and softball to also win sectional.

"People look at my hand," was what Mr. Bradley would say,

While Ms Berry and Ms O'Neal would always  brighten our day.

They laid on the work as much as they possibly could,

Preparing us for college, saying it was for own good.

Mr Griffith was both a friend in and out of class,

But if you made him mad, he would tell you to kiss his _____.

And to all the other teachers who influenced us along our trip,

Thank you very much for never letting us quit.

Spring Break came around and it symbolized the end,

We all went our different ways but stuck with our close friends.

The seperation of our class will be a very sad event,

But leaving this school behind will be very excellent.

After 13 long years of school we are proud to suggest,

Our senior year of high school stood out above the rest.

It has been a long trip and we can no longer delay,

For the class of 1997 it is finally graduation day.