June 29, 2007

Glad Grads

Senior classes from Silver Creek, Evergreen Valley and
Mt. Pleasant High schools say goodbye to high school life

By Carol Rosen
Staff Writer

Evergreen Valley, Silver Creek and Mt. Pleasant high schools said good-bye to nearly 1,300 seniors on June 14 and June 16 during graduation ceremonies for the class of 2007.

Evergreen graduating senior Janani Muralidharan sings the National Anthem at the start of commencement ceremonies at the San Jose State Event Center on June 16. Photo by Dan Miranda	Graduating senior Krista Frausto celebrates getting her diploma during the Evergreen Valley High School graduation ceremony at the San Jose State Event Center on June 16. Photos by Dan Miranda

Silver Creek High School, which held its graduation ceremony on June 14 at the school’s football stadium, sent 424 seniors off to start a new stage in their lives. The ceremony began with the Silver Creek Band playing “Pomp and Circumstance” as the seniors marched in, followed by the school’s Junior ROTC members carrying the colors.

Silver Creek Principal Thelma Boac said the school’s class of 2007 stands out for her because, “this is my second year as principal here, so I had the chance to know these kids and I had a chance to follow them and know them more closely. It’s just the intimacy for this year, which was different from the year before.”

“This is class is not only extremely energetic, but creative, extremely independent and somewhat feisty, but in a good, good way,” she added. “I think it’s their creativity that makes them so independent and that’s probably why they are so unique. They are so compassionate; this is a very, very caring class. The class is so cognizant of the world around them.”

Members of the Mt. Pleasant High School graduating class of 2007 walk down the aisle at the start of the school’s graduation ceremony.
A class of 2007 Silver Creek graduate receives his diploma during the school’s commencement ceremony.
Silver Creek Valedictorian Elaine Trinh speaks to her fellow graduates during the school’s commencement ceremony at the Silver Creek football stadium on June 14.

Valedictorians Florence On, who will attend Harvard University, and Elaine Trinh, who is headed to the University of the Pacific, addressed their friends, families, teachers and administrators at the graduation ceremony. Boac defined the two as “tremendously caring individuals who are extremely aware of the world around them. They’re both going into the science field to see what they can do with their talents. It gives them that drive to maybe someday come back and give something to the community and to the world at large. These are extremely brilliant kids.”

The 2006-07 class officers—President Victoria Nguyen, Secretary Jennifer Pham, Treasurer Christina Vu and Spirit Leaders Kyle Glasow, Stan Trac and Amy Tran--presented their gift to next year’s student body president Crystal Dinh.

Finally Boac presented the class to Jerry Kurr, ESUHSD Interim Assistant Superintendent of Business Services and George Shirakawa, ESUHSD Trustee, who both happily accepted the class.

Mt. Pleasant also bid a fond farewell to 364 students on June 14 at the San Jose State University Event Center.

Summa Cum Laude graduates Stephen Chan and Thuy Hoang gave the Valediction address while 40 other students, who graduated magna cum laude by carrying 3.51 to 3.99 GPAs, thereby earning the distinction of being able to wear gold tassels at the ceremony. Mt. Pleasant Principal Grettel Castro-Stanley gave the introductory remarks and presented the class of 2007 while Linda Gubman, ESUHSD Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, and ESUHSD Trustee J. Manuel Herrera, who both accepted the class.

The seniors were then presented with their diplomas while class officers Ashley Collins, Sarah Dagnino, Angelica Gonzalez, Louis Garcia and Mychael Normal read the graduates’ names.

Evergreen Valley High, meanwhile, held its well-attended commencement ceremony on June 16 at the San Jose State University Event Center.

“It’s the first time students have graduated off campus and 4,000 parents and friends attended,” said Principal Cari Vaeth. “There was standing room only (available) because all of the tickets were gone.”

Vaeth noted that the school’s 2007 class stood out among others not only at the school, but also within the East Side Union High School District.

“This was an outstanding class,” said Vaeth, “with six National Merit Finalists compared to about 10 in the district.”

As is the custom at Evergreen graduations, the valedictorians and the senior class officers welcomed the students, parents, guests and friends in different languages. Senior class President Christopher Agutos spoke, followed by two of the school’s 11 valedictorians, Joshua Marsh and Jenny Ziong.

The 2007 class valedictorians are Amanda Chong, Jimmy Le, Nam Nguyen, Irene Van and Pamela Wong, who will attend UC Berkeley; Vanessa Gaoiran, who is planning to attend San Jose State University; Catherine Hsu, who will be going to the University of Pennsylvania; Joshua Marsh and Minh-Vu Nguyen, who will be attending UCLA; Divya Sundar, who is headed to the University of Chicago; and Jenny Ziong, who is headed to the California Institute of Technology.

	The Mt. Pleasant senior choir sings during the school’s graduation ceremony at San Jose State University's Event Center on June 14. Photos by Dan Miranda

One unique event at Evergreen Valley’s graduation was the presence of three ESUHSD Trustees, who handed diplomas to their own family members: Lan Nguyen, Eddie Garcia to his goddaughter Amanda Velez, and Frank Biehl to his son Brian. Others handing out diplomas were Vaeth, senior class advisors Christine Ehrlich and Thinh Nguyen; teachers Valerie Arbizu and David Fanciullo; librarian Susie Martin and Alice Fuller, secretary to the principal.

The EVHS Band played “Pomp and Circumstance” for the processional and recessional and Janani Muralidharan sang the National Anthem.