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Class
of 2001, plus one, graduates from Mira Costa
by Paul Teetor
When the Class of 2001 entered the halls of Mira Costa High School in September 1997, they were accompanied by an honorary member — Principal Lynn McCormack, who was also reporting for her first day of work at one of California’s most distinguished high schools.
Four years later, McCormack had a few Cliff’s Notes on life for her honorary classmates as they graduated late Thursday afternoon.
"After four years of constantly giving you instruction and direction, now I would like to speak to you on a more personal level, one that grows out of my own experience as an educator and a parent," she said. "I will try to be brief, as I know that I am part of what stands between many of you and dinner."
That line brought a ripple of rueful laughter from the sun-drenched crowds jamming the stands at Waller Stadium, home field of the Mustang Football team that made it all the way to the CIF Southern Sectional final game last fall.
As she looked out at the thousands of well-dressed, bursting-with-pride family and friends who juggled cameras and programs folded up as fans to fight the heat, McCormack spoke for all of them.
"The people gathered here care deeply about you and love you very much. They have made you their priority," she said.
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Mira Costa students walk away with long awaited diplomas at Thursday afternoon’s graduation. Photo by Laylan Connelly |
And she lauded Mira Costa’s fine faculty.
"Your teachers have worked hard with you for the past four years to contribute, in no small way, to your success. They have pushed you when you needed to be pushed, slowed you down when you needed to be slowed, supported you always and on occasion, bailed you out when you found yourself in trouble," she said.
"Tonight they are filled with a great sense of pride, knowing that they have made a difference in your life. They are filled with a sense of satisfaction that only comes with a job well done. The witness of your graduation is a special gift that renews our faculty’s commitment to teaching," she said. "Faculty, you have prepared these graduates well."
Then she spoke directly to the parents, faced with letting go of children they have spent their whole lives protecting.
"I know that your parents are sitting here tonight reflecting on how well they have prepared you for the other side of this passage," she said "It has oft been said of parents that the failures and pain of our children are more difficult to bear than our own failures and pain. The same is true of our children’s joy and success — they are always greater and sweeter than our own joy and success. Tonight is surely an example of this."
She told parents to expect unexpected feelings as their new graduates leave the home.
"Through many years in education, I have had the honor and opportunity to hear from fellow parents about the traumas of their children leaving for college or starting their first job," she said. "There was the father who couldn’t sleep because he was worried that his daughter wasn’t sleeping. And the mother who would not erase any phone messages from her absent son. And the many parents, who before turning the child’s room into a badly needed den, choked up every time they walked by the empty room that used to drive them crazy with its clutter and noise."
Just as the crowd grew even more silent and still with the emotional truth of her words, McCormack ended with a light touch.
"And then there is my husband," she said, "who cried at the sheer joy of knowing that he no longer had to share our car with our daughter."
Like more and more high schools, Mire Costa no longer follows the tradition of having the senior class valedictorian speak at graduation. Instead, the students decide among themselves, consulting with the faculty and administration, on who should speak.
Th
ursday’s
graduation featured a welcome address from class President Heather Suminski,
and speeches from seniors Zeeshan Merchant and Siji Prabhakaran.
"Siji is from our hearing impaired program, so we were proud to have her speak," McCormack said.
Speaking in slow but clear tones, Prabhakaran summed up her class’s feelings.
"Finally we made it. I’m excited and nervous as the same time," she said. "It seems like just yesterday we were freshmen. Now we’re graduating seniors."
And Prabhakaran said Mira Costa is a nurturing environment for anyone with learning disabilities.
"I have many friends here who accept me for who I am," she said. "In the past four years, I have learned more than I ever could have hoped for." ER