Looking out to the sea of white today, Beckman High Principal Adele Heuer reminisced with the crowd.
Five years ago, Heuer stood in the middle of massive construction after she was named as principal and the only employee at the time of Beckman High School – and there she stood and dreamed about what the school would be like.
Speaking to the first class that attended Beckman all four years, she asked them a few rhetorical questions.
"Do you remember our first days and our football games with everyone sitting in beach chairs? Now look at us. Our games are standing-room only.
"Do you remember our first dances in the Commons when 80 people showed up? Now we have 800 people dancing under the clock tower under lasers and fireworks.
"Do you remember that we had two A.P. classes our first year? This year, we administered 1,200 A.P. exams."
The school opened with no sports teams, no clubs and no traditions, recalled senior Nikki Anas. But just this year, Beckman had its first homecoming – the school started four years ago with a group of freshmen and sophomores. Previous dances were "forthcomings" because no one had graduated to come home.
The white caps and gowns donned by the class of 2008 today represented the first class to attend Beckman all four years.
"I love it. It's so nice, cool (for the hot weather) and clean. I kind of wish we could do it all the time," said Nancy Stuck, who directed the school's first all-male choir this year as they sung "You Raise Me Up."
From hereon out, the gowns will be blue.
The first graduating class also got medals to signify that special bond — the souvenirs doubled as a mirrors as some did last minute hair and makeup checks on the back of the shiny medallions.
Senior Jesse Barrios told his peers during the ceremony: "Be proud not only for your friends but also most importantly for yourself. (We're) leaving a lasting legacy in our school history."
Speaker Ashley Barnes said she wished that "there were words more beautiful than these to describe how proud I am of us all" as she gave her speech and reminded her classmates to "drink in all of the faces you see. Remember these faces, these eyes, and these smiles."
