Santa Maria High School officials bid farewell Friday to 676 graduates, who entered the high school to learn and who will now "go forth to serve" - the school's motto.

The graduates, wearing red and white caps and gowns, and several thousand family members and friends cheered the senior class's accomplishments.

The procession started with graduates entering Dave Boyd Field in boy-girl pairs, walking the length of the track and down the grass football field to their seats. Once seated, they batted at several beach balls, performed the wave from front to back rows and sprayed each other with Silly String.

Despite the antics, Interim Principal Esther Prieto-Chavez said the class of 2004 is a very well-behaved group of students.

"They've been the most caring. They're the most unselfish group of students I've ever come across," Prieto-Chavez said. "They care for one another very much. They behaved themselves, even with the beach balls - that's just a little bit of color."

At the beginning of Santa Maria High's 111th commencement ceremony and as the school's American flag flew at half-staff, Prieto-Chavez asked the audience and graduates to reflect on former President Ronald Reagan in recognition of his death.

Prieto-Chavez then introduced the class, as one containing 480 students with a grade point average of 3.8 or higher, 351 acceptance letters from 51 different universities, and $1.25 million in grants and scholarships.

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"We're here to honor you, and your academic success and non-academic success," Prieto-Chavez said. "I hope you will all lead a productive life and give back to the community."

During her speech, salutatorian Jacqueline McKinley admitted that she had mixed emotions about leaving high school despite being done with 13 years of schooling.

"I feel like it took a million years for (high school) to come and it passed by so quickly," she said. "I wish I could be the Toys R Us kid forever."

While the graduates' names where read one-by-one, friends and relatives honked air horns, blew whistles, threw crepe paper ringlets and released bundles of red and white balloons.

In a surprise move before the singing of Santa Maria High's alma mater, a group of graduates asked the audience and fellow graduates to sing "Happy Birthday" to John "Rod" Rodriguez, the school's activities director, who turned 55 Friday.

"We want to thank a person who isn't celebrating four years today, but 26 years of compassionate, unconditional love," one of the graduates said about Rodriguez. "We want to thank John 'Rod' Rodriguez for single-handedly making what this school has and is today - a success."

Rodriguez has been with Santa Maria High for 32 years - 26 as activities director.

After the turning of the tassels, graduates started chanting "sen-iors, sen-iors" and sang their alma mater in unison while waving their index fingers in the air. Graduates, who were now Santa Maria High School alumni, exited the football field to Kool & The Gang's song "Celebrate."

* Staff writer Michelle Hatfield can be reached at 739-2216 or mhatfield@pulitzer.net.

June 12, 2004