Setting the Standard: The Class of 2014 S
an Juan Hills High School has only been around for seven years, but with each graduating class, there have been plenty of breakthroughs and “firsts.” And while the school continues its upward swing, academically and athletically, the class of 2014 has set a high bar for future Stallions and proudly proclaimed they were second to none. On Tuesday, June 24, 457 graduates, along with their families and friends, gathered at Stallion Stadium, nicknamed “The Badlands,” to celebrate four years of academic achievement, success on the sports field and contributions to the community. The class of 2014 may very well be the last of the “firsts.” Previous commencement ceremonies were held at the Bren Center at UC Irvine, but the class of 2014 became the first class to graduate on their home turf. It was on that
turf, too, that the Stallions football team became the first in school history to win a Sea View League title. These pioneering Stallions were the first to enter high school as part of a full campus—freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors—and as Capistrano Unified School District Trustee Jim Reardon noted, they are the first, among thousands of high school graduates, to be educated entirely in the 21st century. Student speakers focused less on the days ahead but used the occasion to memorialize their accomplishments and celebrate each other—they reminded the crowd that they were the first and only three-time winners of the school’s annual “Clash of the Classes.” “We’re a united class. Everything we did, we did together,” said senior class president Parker Smith. “We were able to make our own traditions. We were able to make history
Change through Character
at our school. We were truly a family and that’s what I’m going to miss most.” But what makes the class of 2014 truly unique, was their character, said Principal Tom Ressler. “While we should all celebrate these accomplishments, we must always also remember that the true mark of this day is not whether you had the highest or lowest GPA, it’s not whether you won or lost the game,” Ressler said. “The true mark of this day is that each one of us have discovered that being a good and caring person is what will live on and what will give lasting meaning to anything and everything we do in the future. Class of 2014, thank you and congratulations. San Juan Hills is and will always be a better place because of you.” —Brian Park Photos: Brian Park and Andrea Swayne
Scholar of Scholar’s speech praises classmates’ integrity
By Anna Bruns, San Juan Hills High School 2014 Scholar of Scholars, 4.7 GPA
G
ood evening, Deputy Superintendent Clark Hampton, Trustee Jim Reardon, San Juan Hills administrators, staff, parents and the class of 2014. Society has created for us a very clear idea of what makes us matter and so have our peers. We’ve been taught to seek obvious and loud success. You know, Seth Villanueva wanted to get into an Ivy League, Matt Mucerino wants to succeed in sports and have the nicest muscles of anyone here, Jameson Johnson wants to rule the world, which I hope happens because she’d be great at it, and I wanted to be Scholar of Scholars because wearing a fancy gold robe and standing on a fancy pedestal makes me matter. These successes are valuable and certainly worth celebrating, but I list them with a slight air of bitterness because they are not the kinds of success that I think matter most. Part of why I feel this way stems from something I read a few years ago. It goes like this: “The growing good of the world is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life and rest in unvisited tombs.” According to George Eliot, the world is a good world because of people who will live and die unnoticed. So perhaps we don’t need to be as well-known as Matt Mucerino or Jameson Johnson in order to be influential. I’d like to translate some of what I’ve said now so all of us can understand. En Español, el mundo es un mundo bueno debido a gente que no recibe crédito por sus acciones. Hay tanta gente en nuestra clase con éxitos perceptibles y obvios, pero
The Capistrano Dispatch June 27-July 10, 2014
esto no es lo que importa. Maestros me han dicho que somos una clase única, diferente. Somos una clase fuerte académicamente pero también simpática, receptiva, y sin prejuicios extremos. Y, en mi opinión, debemos ser tan orgulloso de esto. From my perspective, we’re a pretty unique class. We’re not a clique-y class. We’re a class that’s united enough to have won Clash of the Classes three years in a row. We’re also not a class driven by popularity or appearance consciousness. You made me your prom queen. I’ve never been to a high school party, and I socialize about once a month, but I have a freaking tiara in my room. And, I should add, you elected one of the shyest prom kings in history. Page 11
We’re also a dedicated class. I’d like to point out, Mr. Ressler, we didn’t ditch. But above all of this, we seem to be a class that, for the most part, is not plagued by judgment or bullying, and I hope this has been your experience too. We’re a kind class. So yes, many of us have high GPAs, many of us were accepted into nice colleges, many of us have astonishing leadership skills, athletic skills, unique skills, but I want to challenge all of you to consider other qualities to be what make our class matter. Shift your priorities and value those who live a hidden life, those without obvious successes, those who made our class what it is, those who are simply kind. One person who I’d like you to notice now is James Gibson. He is ranked second in this class, but I don’t think I’ve encountered anyone as humble as he is, as considerate as he is to his peers and to his younger siblings. His successes aren’t so obvious but the way his character has influenced me and influenced others is profound. Teachers like Mr. Lynde and Mr. Baker have said they admire all of you not only for being especially academic but just for being good and kind. Admire yourselves for that too. And carry this sense of camaraderie, this kindness, to wherever you’re going next. I admire you and I admire us and I’m confident that the world’s goodness will increase just a little bit when we enter it today. www.thecapistranodispatch.com