Saturday, June 11, 2005
Smiles and tears for academy grads
By KATHERINE ROSENBERG/Staff Writer - Daily Press
VICTORVILLE - Nearly 100 students of the Academy for Academic Excellence bid farewell to their school and each other during graduation ceremonies Friday night at High Desert Church.
One of two valedictorians for the class, Jeremy DeLaHoussaye, focused his address on choices and responsibility in the important years ahead.
"I think its safe to say that the best years of our lives are still ahead of us," DeLaHoussaye said. "Make sure in all your decisions that the end result is worth everything you're going to have to give up; every choice comes with a sacrifice."
Salutatorian Katrina Dennison, left her fellow classmates with encouragement to seek excellence in life.
For many though, the evening was not about the future but a celebration of the past and of accomplishments of the past four years.
Steven Raimo beamed with pride over his daughter, Charlanda. She is the third Raimo to graduate from the academy, her father said.
"We will probably go to dinner afterwards, but this is her day, we're trying to let it be about her schedule," he said.
One grandmother wiped tears from her eyes as she left a heartfelt video message for her grandson.
On the evening of Kyle Woolley's graduation from the Academy for Academic Excellence, his girlfriend was making a video memento for him with appearances and well-wishes from his family and close friends.
"He's a very ambitious young man; he's graduating with almost straight A's," his mother Virginia said as she began to cry.
Used with permission by Daily Press, Freedom Communication, 2005