Apache/1.3.4 Server at flipse.com Port 80 Gonna have to add a bunch of text here... The biggest event of the year at Williamsport Area High School is always commencement. We prepare for it like no other, with a full-scale practice the day before. The announcement of the two seniors who will speak at commencement is greeted with at least as much anticipation as the announcement of Prom King and Queen. This is the one event in four years of high school that the extended families of most students try to attend. Finally, there is no other time when you can be sure that every person in a class will show up for a school function. Traditionally, the commencement is held outside. This allows everyone to have their entire family and as many friends as they want come to watch them graduate. But the principals in charge of planning the ceremony have to keep an eye on the weather channel, because, if rain threatens, they have to move it inside. Unfortunately, rainy weather was possible on the night of commencement this year, so it was held in the gym. This is unfortunate for two reasons. First, graduates can only have five or six guests each. Second, even with a limited number of people in attendance, the Magic Dome still gets very warm, very quickly. With well over four hundred members, getting all the members of the class of 1999 into their seats is no easy manner, but everything went without a hitch on the night of commencement. The graduates processed in, took their seats, and listened were greeted by speeches from Mr. Thomas, Jenni Baltzer, Erin Coulter, some chick, and senior class President Andy Paulhamus. Awards were given out, including Sarah Blackman as valedictorian and Kristen Rightnour as salutatorian. Then, row by row, they walked up to receive their symbolic diplomas. Some graduates quietly took diploma, some turned to their families and waved, and some looked out at their classmates as they cheered and applauded. In the end, there’s one important thing to remember about commencement. It’s not the end of something. Commencement means is the beginning, and graduating from high school signifies the beginning of the rest of your life. The members of the class of 1999 will go on to do many different things, some of them in college, some of them working, some of them just finding their way in the world, but whatever they do, it began on this night.