Simi Valley High's graduates prepare to make great leap into adulthood
By Eliav Appelbaum eliav@theacorn.com

WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers ROUND OF APPLAUSE- Graduates, from left, Joshua Acuna 18, Laith Abuzaid, 18, and Phillip Abarca, 17, clap after a speech is given by one of their classmates during last Thursday's Simi Valley High School Class of 2008 commencement ceremonies.

At the same time Kobe Bryant was jumping over defenders to lead the Los Angeles Lakers past the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the NBA Championships, a large group of Simi Valley High seniors were preparing to take a leap of their own- into adulthood.

Though the Lakers ended up losing the series, nothing could put a damper on the 85th commencement at Simi Valley High, as more than 550 Pioneers picked up their diplomas in the center quad in front of Tom Harmon Gym last Thursday night.

"It's a great day. It's great to see these kids blossom into adults," said Principal Steve Pietrolungo as he hugged and highfived departing seniors before the ceremony.

Before arriving at Simi Valley three years ago, Pietrolungo had been principal at Hillside Middle School for two years, which meant he was saying goodbye to some young men and women he's known since they were in eighth grade.

Simi Valley Unified School District board members Debbie Sandland and Janice DiFatta, along with Lowell Schultze, associate superintendent of business and facilities, and Lynn Friedman, director of curriculum and instruction, handed out diplomas.

The ceremony included speeches by co-valedictorian Anusha Devareddy, cosalutatorian Christopher Lin and graduate Paul Bacera. Senior choir members Megan Maurer and Shelby Boyce sang a duet.

Pietrolungo said he wanted to start a new tradition at Simi Valley by acknowledging retiring teachers. Those honored included Holly Dolliver, Roger Evans, Ken Hibbitts, Sally Hibbitts, Betsy Robinson and Donna Wilson.

Valedictorians Devareddy, Johnny Nguyen, Johnathan Pham and Siddhartha Shankar and salutatorians Lin, Dana Baba, Joshua Cohen, Nin Gan, Lisa Lee and Daniel So will all attend either UCLA or UC Berkeley. Salutatorian Heather Cook will enroll at UC Davis.

When Lin praised the CIFSouthern Section Division I champion Simi Valley baseball team, the crowd broke into hearty applause.

He also urged his fellow graduates to retain their youthful energy and creativity.

"On this day, society says we have to grow up and be realistic," Lin said. "But every single graduate here has the potential to be extraordinary and create miracles. Everyone here can become an astronaut or a doctor or a supermodel or even president of the United States of America. We can become heroes every day."