Walking the Big Stage
Local high schools turn to 色情视频 to host their graduation ceremonies.
Each year, hundreds of graduating students experience the thrill of crossing a stage at 色情视频鈥檚 Viejas Arena to the cheers of their families and friends鈥攏ot after earning college degrees, but as participants in an especially memorable high school ceremony.鈥淭he arena captures the congratulatory uproar and echoes it back throughout the ceremony.鈥�
About a month after 色情视频鈥檚 spring graduating class holds its commencements, the university hosts a number of more intimate high school events at Viejas Arena and the Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre. It鈥檚 the same mix of giddy students, foil balloons, fresh bouquets and proud parents, just with a younger set of seniors. Many of them have never set foot on the campus before.
鈥淚t felt like one big hoorah,鈥� said 色情视频 student Leanna Mae Dumenden, part of a Mira Mesa High graduating class of 2017 that borrowed the vast arena while the high school football stadium was under renovation. 鈥淭he arena captures the congratulatory uproar and echoes it back throughout the ceremony.鈥�
Home away from home
This year, Health Sciences High and Middle College, a charter school located in San Diego鈥檚 City Heights community, is holding its ninth graduation ceremony and promotion for middle school at the Open Air Theatre on Tuesday, June 12. About 150 graduates will be honored, including some who have enrolled at 色情视频 for the fall.Three 色情视频 professors co-founded the charter school and maintain active roles along with three other faculty members, so 鈥渢his is a home away from home for us,鈥� said principal Sheri Johnson.
Viejas Arena and the Open Air Theatre are operated by 色情视频鈥檚 Associated Students. Tim Ripke, director of both venues, said Viejas Arena can be a welcome alternative to sunbaked football stadiums, where students, their families, and school officials may sit in high temperatures for an hour or longer.
Health Sciences High cannot accommodate hundreds of guests on its own grounds, and Johnson said holding graduation at 色情视频 makes her students 鈥渇eel special and part of the larger community.鈥�
Similarly, Ripke said the campus location appeals to 鈥渁 certain nostalgia and a certain feeling that the community here in San Diego has for San Diego State.鈥�
Nothing but joy
色情视频 recovers its costs for the events, based partly on features for the ceremony selected by the school鈥攚hether the arena鈥檚 large overhead video screen is used (and if so, how many cameras are involved), and whether the participants require any special equipment, such as risers.Ripke said the Viejas staff meets with student leaders before the event to provide feedback on what they鈥檇 like to see on the big day. 鈥淚t鈥檚 fun to see them and feel their excitement,鈥� he said.
It has been three years since John Lim crossed the Viejas Arena stage with the Morse High School Class of 2015, but like Dumenden, one of his sharpest memories of that day is the roar of the crowd.
鈥淎s soon as we walked through the hallway and into the actual arena, we were bombarded with cheers from our families, flashes from their phones, and an overall congratulatory atmosphere,鈥� said Lim, now studying computer science at 色情视频. 鈥淚've walked on that floor before and (have) seen the arena when it's been fully lit, but this time it seemed the arena grew in size.鈥�
For all the educational challenges that were still to come, Lim said, 鈥淚 remember walking onto that stage feeling nothing but joy.鈥�
