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Lodi High School grads celebrate their day

By Ripley Howe
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Lodi High School graduates toss their caps into the air Thursday evening as their commencement programs ends in the Grape Bowl. (Jennifer M. Howell/News-Sentinel)

Thursday was Josh Silvia's day.

His family made sure of that, because Thursday was Josh's graduation day.

"My parents took care of me," Silvia said. "They took care of my clothes, and they made sure I didn't have to do anything. It was my day."

Thursday evening, along with 419 of his classmates, the 18-year-old Lodi High School senior received his diploma at the Grape Bowl.

Minutes after the end of the ceremony, Silvia was feeling a rush of emotions.

"I'm excited, sad, every emotion you can feel," he said.

And judging from the excited squeals, yells and occasional tears from his classmates, he wasn't alone.

As the wind swirled around the rapidly cooling Grape Bowl, the pomp and tradition of the Lodi High graduation ceremony brought to a close the Class of 2003.

An enthusiastic standing-room-only crowd of parents, friends, classmates and others filled the seats and even the grassy hillside to watch as the well-orchestrated ceremony played out.

And after the boys in crimson red and girls in pure white satin took their seats, and the flower girls in swaying pastel hoop-skirts had made their rounds, the speakers took over.

Sarah Hoff, Associated Student Body president and one of the classes' top students, took the podium.

"With us, we take the solemn promise of the life before us," she said.

Adriana Maldonado followed Hoff, and welcomed the audience in Spanish. As Maldonado addressed the audience, the wind began to swirl, and lifted the American flag in the center of the field.

Speaking to the crowd, Richard Dean, president of the Lodi Unified School District Board of Education, recalled that 29 years ago, in 1974, he had graduated from Lodi High.

He also listed the names and graduations of other LUSD board members who are Lodi High graduates: Clifford Mettler, Class of '60; and Dr. Ken Mullen, Class of '62.

"When you go on in life, you will always be a graduate of Lodi High School, and that is something you can be very proud of," Dean said.

Valedictorian Reed Doucette then took the platform.

Lean, tall and self-assured, Doucette spoke with the confident manner of a politician, often grasping the podium with both hands, and made effective use of hand gestures as he spoke.

Having achieved an impressive 4.5 grade point average, Doucette encouraged his fellow graduates to live up to expectations.

"The world wants and needs us to tap into our potential," he said.

Lodi High Principal Bill Atterberry, who served as master of ceremonies for the evening, made sure that credit was given to the parents and that school staff.

"It has been your love, guidance and dedication that has brought these seniors to their graduation," he said.

He also announced Lodi High's Teacher of the Year, Jennifer Terpstra.

"She has an uncanny ability to apply complex standards to varying needs," he said. Atterberry also noted that Terpstra has only been teaching for five years.

As the darkness began to settle and an evening chill came over the field, after the tassel turning and the toss of the mortarboards, some graduates (no longer students) reflected on the life that lay before them.

"There's no structure any more," said Melissa Ingrum, 18. "I get to play by my own rules now."

Ingrum plans to take courses at San Joaquin Delta College or Cosumnes River College, and may pursue a career in accounting or real estate.

But there was one immediate benefit she knew her diploma would bring.

"Now I get to sleep in!"