Congratulations, Class of 2009!

Peering out from under his graduation cap, Palisades Charter High School valedictorian Taylor Savage stood before his classmates and challenged them to embrace the future. ‘The changes we face are not walls, but stairs, for change brings new prospects, new challenges, new faces and ideas, new words which will write the next chapter in our lives,’ Savage said during last Thursday’s graduation ceremony at the Stadium-by-the Sea. Savage, a Pacific Palisades resident who earned a 4.4 GPA, will soon embark on his own new adventure: He plans to attend Stanford this fall to major in computer science or engineering. He was also among the 71 graduates who were named California Scholarship Federation Affirmed Sealbearers. To receive this honor, students had to earn a certain number of points based on their grades. Savage’s classmate, fellow Palisadian Ava Sun, was the salutatorian, and she has plans to attend Yale. An active volunteer throughout high school, Sun was president of Pali’s American Red Cross club, ran on the track team, played the piano and tutored, in addition to achieving a 4.4 GPA. Thursday’s celebration began with the 575 graduates entering PaliHi’s stadium to the traditional ‘Pomp and Circumstance’ by Edward Elgar, while friends and family clapped, cheered and sounded blow horns. Senior Mariela Mejia belted out the national anthem, then student body president Nicholas Morshed led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance and gave a welcoming speech. Students greeted friends and family in languages such as Japanese, Korean, Tagalog, Hebrew and Russian. Graduate Brittney Merritt noted that the future is in good hands with her classmates, saying that they are ‘geniuses who will remedy the economy and retool the automotive industry; environmentalists who will save the polar bears ‘ and future entertainment executives who will make sure that Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan never reach the airwaves again.’ Seniors Michael Jones and Sarah Tehrani spoke about memories and life lessons. Tehrani told her peers to congratulate themselves for their accomplishments. ‘Look back at all the things you have done for yourself,’ she said, noting that it may have been passing a math class, pulling through a hardship or earning the grades to achieve college acceptance. ‘Right now, I look at all the seniors, and I see a graduating class that represents success.’ Several seniors mentioned dealing with the tragic loss of a classmate in their speeches, referring to senior Nick Rosser, who died in an automobile accident on January 31 on Palisades Drive. His parents, Stacey and Richard Rosser, attended the ceremony in his memory. Graduates Daniel Allen and Elizabeth Rich sang Jack Johnson’s ‘Better Together’ and India Hughes performed ‘100 Years’ by John Ondrasik. Shane Liliedahl (singer) and Michael Lis (guitarist) performed ‘I Believe I Can Fly’ by R. Kelly, and PaliHi’s concert choir sang ‘Crossroads,’ composed by PaliHi music teacher Josh Elson. Principal Martin Griffin, who is leaving the school after one year on the job, told the graduates, ‘Your time at Pali has prepared you to go out into the world. Excel and shine brightly.’ He and PaliHi Executive Director Amy Dresser-Held then handed out the diplomas. After the final diploma was presented, senior class president Melody Javidzad stepped to the podium and asked the seniors to move their tassels from left to right to signify that they had graduated. ‘Congratulations class of 2009. We did it!’ she said as the young adults tossed their caps into the sky toward the setting sun.