By By KATHIE HEMPEL / Niles Daily Star
NILES – There were tears. There was laughter.
Neither wind through the microphone, nor its blowing graduation caps around the field, long before the tassel change, could dampen the spirit of the over-capacity crowd. The bleachers at Niles High School were filled with parents, grandparents and friends.
In gold and blue gowns and caps the students filed in to the traditional strain of 'Pomp and Circumstance.' waving to parents, before taking their seat. The choir sang "Give Us Hope" following the National Anthem.
They were 244 in number. Between them, they had put in 3,437,350 classroom hours to complete 13,664 classes for which they received 6,647 A's and B's.
In this manner, Dana Daniels, President of the Niles Community Schools Board of Education, explained the journey of the seniors, who accepted their diplomas. Thursday evening was their time to say goodbye to their high school years, on the football field of the school they called home for four years.
"You guys have made the commitment. And just so you understand, your parents as taxpayers have paid $14,327,047 to make it possible. You've made that commitment, now go make it count," said Daniels.
While the statistics were met with the obligatory moans and groans from the students, their eyes told a different story-one of pride in accomplishment.
The voices of the three students who took to the podium to represent the Class of 2007, were filled with emotion. Each spoke of their freshmen days and challenges met and overcome.
"We've grown so much from those short timid kids, who first walked these halls as freshmen. Now this sense of accomplishment has become part of our personalities … this may seem like the end, but it is only the beginning of the rest of our lives," said Paul Butler, first of the students to address the crowd.
He introduced Chantuea Hudson by telling about her great and loud laugh.
"I was never very confident. I would never have taken on this task before. Even now, there are so many challenges: what college to attend, the inevitable changes with friendships, finding jobs. Going out into the real world they can seem too much to bear," Hudson said.
However, the young woman, who said she was once overwhelmed by such an out-front assignment, looked poised and spoke with sincerity about the transformation she had undergone during her high school years.
"We need to be open-minded. When the regular comfortable routine doesn't work, we may need to step out of our comfort zone. Life does not go on hold. Sometimes, we must be uncomfortable to make the decisions we need to make," Hudson said.
She spoke of two people she credited for her newly developed outlook on life.
"Mr. Potts was always there, even when I was trying to avoid him. Lisa Buzby of the Ferry Street School Community Resource Center gave me the opportunity to work there for several months. She helped me so much in developing my social, computer and other skills and showed me I could be a good office assistant – if I learn to stay off the cell phone during business hours," Hudson said with a smile.
Summarizing the thoughts and feelings brought forward by her fellow seniors, was Kayla Leonard.
"We became who we are today in these halls with these people. We shared breaking up, breaking curfews and breaking down barriers. Our class has exhibited many admirable qualities: teamwork, pride and unity. We learned to relax and take things in stride. We changed the senior class dress code with sweat pants and flip-flops," Leonard said.
She spoke of the teen curse of redefining procrastination. She urged her fellow classmates not to be afraid to make mistakes.
"Have faith that what you do makes a difference. When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. Shakespeare once wrote that in life we will experience: 'as many farewells as there are stars in the heavens.' Tonight, we are saying goodbye to Niles High School. Take it all in. Hold on to every minute. It's so hard to say goodbye but we made it," Leonard said.
Finally, Cyntoya McCall took to the stage and formally gave the permission for the students to flip the tassels on their caps. There were smiles and tears as 244 hands reached for the side of their mortarboard in preparation for their final dismissal.
When it was announced, they did the traditional toss into the air of the caps and the wind assisted in having them soar above the stadium lights.
Now the Class of 2007 filed out of the field to live up to their class quote, by Mahatma Ghandi.
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."