The band played Pomp and Circumstance, the choir sang.
It’s tradition.
As the venue settled and commencement ceremonies for Clarkston High School’s class of 2009 were about to begin, the first wave of beach balls burst from a sea of graduates.
They do it every year; a final, fun act of high school rebellion staged by seniors catapulting toward the uncertainties of adulthood.
It’s tradition.
And, per tradition, seniors listened, laughed and cheered as the teacher they voted to speak at this year’s commencement addressed the cap and gown-clad grads amassed near the stage at DTE Energy Music Theatre while family and friends looked on from pavilion seats beyond.
‘It was seven weeks of nervousness,? said math teacher Nick Hagewood, noting later he learned he’d been chosen when Principal Vince Licata stopped by to deliver the news during parent-teacher conferences. ‘It was five weeks before I even let anyone look at my jottings.?
His wife, he said, was first. After that, things started moving along’until he got to Principal Vince Licota’s office.
‘He said ‘it’s a great speech, but you’re not going to do the roller coaster thing.??
But Hagewood said he had to. It was all he had; the core of his speech.
After listening while Hagewood pleaded his case and explained his intentions, administrators finally acquiesced’cautiously, and with conditions.
The roller coaster’in which students raise their arms high, tilt, shout and squeal as if actually barreling down a steep steel track above huge crowds and corn dog stands’was a hit. A big hit. And, Hagewood hopes, a new tradition.
But he was nervous as the time approached and senior Luke Floyd approached the stage to lead seniors on ‘one last roller coaster ride.?
‘I wasn’t sure everyone was going to be on board,? Hagewood said. ‘I’ve seen the kids do the roller coaster at basketball games and football games, but everyone doesn’t go to those, and I knew some of the kids wouldn’t even know about it.?
If they didn’t, they caught on quick, and from the stage, Hagewood said, 595 grads moving in concert on a screaming, albeit pretend roller coater, was a sight to behold.
‘I couldn’t have asked for anything more,? he said. ‘It was awesome.?
But it wasn’t just for fun.
‘I wanted to give the kids a message they could take with them,? he explained. ‘If they could tie an action’the roller coaster’back to the speech, then 10 years later they might look back and actually remember what was said.?
The message?
‘What they’re walking into will be a ride with ups and downs,? he said. ‘But if they refer back to the roots they’ve gotten here, the education they’ve received, and the challenges they’ve overcome, then they’ll be able to overcome the other challenges they’ll face.?
As the elected speaker, Hagewood had the privilege of being the last hand graduates shook as they exited the stage.
‘It was really an honor,? he said. ‘It all meant a lot to me and it’s something I’ll never forget.?
Senior Maddy Dunn, chosen from 15 students who auditioned to deliver the senior speech with an assigned topic’certainties in uncertain times’told her classmates in a polished, animated and somewhat facetious address, that ‘death, taxes and cellular respiration? were all she could come up with initially.
‘Then I focused more on my senior class,? she told 594 fellow graduates. ‘The class of 2009 has been challenged by our school and our community from beginning to end.?
This year’s senior class, she said, served as ‘experimental subjects;? the first to spend freshmen year at the junior high, the first senior class to experience trimesters, ‘taking education to a whole new level with longer class periods and a new grading scale.?
‘We were indeed the school board’s guinea pigs,? she said. ‘There is always someone who will disagree with change. However, I see the change as a complement to our class’s strength and perseverance.?
Dunn said upcoming years are full of promise for the CHS class of 2009.
‘I am certain’our lives will be greater than we can ever imagine,? she said. ‘I am certain that each and every one of us holds a needed component to our future. I am certain that I will not miss a single physics test, tardies or waking up early. I am certain that I will miss the doughy chocolate chip cookies in the lunch room.?
An eruption of cheers seemed to echo the cookie sentiment.
‘I’d like to leave this class with one last note for the future,? Dunn concluded. ‘That is to take all the things that are thought to be certainties in life and throw them out the window’because death is completely ambiguous, taxes are for my parents, and cellular respiration is basically just a scientific term’I’ve come to the realization that yes, indeed, I am uncertain.?
And that, she said, was OK with her.
Another wave of beach balls flew as seniors remained undeterred by stern warnings, frowning administrators and a determined team of collectors and deflators.
It’s tradition.