A prideful crowd filled the Indian River High School gym Monday night, waving graduation brochures toward their faces to cool down and cheering loudly for each of Indian River’s 167 graduates. The 2006 graduating class was the first to graduate in the new high school, the gym of which they packed to capacity on Monday. And everyone in attendance had something, or someone, to be proud of.
Coastal Point • JONATHAN STARKEY
Twins Ashley and Antoinette Hickman, above, stand back-to-back after the graduation ceremony.
“I think this is one of the best classes we’ve had; academically, athletically,” said Mark Steele, Indian River High School’s principal. He added that, by statistics, the 2006 class might be the best. “We raised the expectation bar, and they stepped up to the plate and met it.”
As a group, Indian River’s 2006 class received about $800,000 in scholarships to attend various colleges. Two 2006 graduates earned merit scholarships.
Seven sports teams during this school year won either division or conference championships.
Four seniors brought Indian River a BPA (business club) national championship; the only national championship trophy ever to grace the halls of Indian River High School, Steele said.
And, he added, the students who graduated on Monday probably set Indian River student testing records.
“Everything they’ve done has molded the expectations of this school,” Steele said.
Steele opened Monday’s ceremony before handing the microphone over to Tom Jurusik, the 2006 senior-class president and one of four members of the national championship-winning BPA squad.
Coastal Point • JONATHAN STARKEY
The graduating class of 2006 sits and listens to Lt. Gov. John Carney give a speech.
“Has it ever occurred to you that high school graduation is a lot like going deep sea diving for the first time?” Jurusik asked. He followed through with the metaphor, saying that the students would probably meet “sharks” in the deep waters of life but that they will be ready for every challenge.
“I’m looking forward to diving overboard,” he said.
Indian River’s salutorian Andrew Cordell Carey, a standout soccer player and kicker for the football team who recently received an academic award from The News Journal, spoke next. Carey used his sports background to compare life to a game.
“Growing up as an athlete, many people told me the most important game I’ll play is life,” Carey said. “With hard work and determination, we will find success,” he told his fellow graduates. “I have faith in all of you, my teammates.”
His sports-minded speech led way for the school’s valedictorian, another honored athlete at Indian River. As well as being named an All-State softball player, Kathryn Riley graduated with a grade point average of more than 107.
Coastal Point • JONATHAN STARKEY
Krista Showalter and Ashley Shan pose for the camera.
“It’s not the years in your life that count,” Riley quoted, “it’s the life in your years.
“Life is like a boxing ring,” she added. “We will take some punches but we will give them right back.”
Riley’s speech preceded the guest speaker’s, who seemed to be humbled to follow the students’ impressive speeches. Lt. Gov. John Carney was elected in 2000 to the office that he still holds.
“You will always be known, the Class of 2006, as the first class to graduate in this building,” Carney told the crowd, who were already anxious to receive their diplomas. “I know it’s been a tough road, but it looks like you left this building intact.”
Before the 167 graduates lined up to receive their diplomas, Jurusik presented an Indian River jersey to Carney — who had arranged to speak to the students even though it was his wedding anniversary.
“I hope you’re not sleeping on the couch tonight,” Jurusik said to Carney, prompting laughs from the crowd.
Then, one by one, the graduates received their diplomas. Posing for pictures, high-fiving friends and hugging parents, they remained relatively calm until Steele read the last student’s name — Megan Renee Workman. Hats flew upward and, as the students fled toward the lobby to continue their jubilant celebration, some of Jurusik’s words resonated with the crowd.
“We will all leave here with something in common,” said the class president, one among the 167 people who Steele said won’t ever again be in the same room together. “We will all leave with memories.”