By ALEXANDRA NEWMAN

Every graduation day is one to be remembered, but the Chesterton High School Class of 2006 can truly say this will be the year people talk about for years to come.

Many family members came early anticipating the ceremony would be changed at the last minute from the field to the gymnasium. The football field bleachers were filled early, and only a few parking spaces were open after 6 p.m.

The sky was foreboding and the temperature was more like football weather than a June commencement.

“We had to get here before 6 p.m. if it was inside, because after that, seats were open to the public,” said Nancy Leonard, who was sitting with her son and daughter-in-law Jeff and Karen Leonard. They were there to see Kara Leonard graduate.

“It is nice that the band entertains before the ceremony,” grandmother Nancy said. She had been to a graduation ceremony the night before. “The weather was perfect last night, but the music tonight is nice to make the wait go faster,” she said.

As the band struck up the salute to the military, it began with Semper Fi and quite by coincidence, a Marine in uniform escorted his mother up the bleachers.

No one would know by looking at the class marching onto the field wearing their maroon and gold caps and gowns that the air was chilly.

The 365 commencement candidates marched to “Pomp and Circumstance” onto the field with decorum, in obvious high spirits. However, when they turned around to face those who had come to honor them, they saw people wrapped in blankets and coats and huddled together to keep warm. There were a few young women dressed in spaghetti-strap sundresses and a few young men in Bermuda shorts, who refused to wear anything different than what they had planned for what should have been a warm June evening.

Michael Okeley, who has been teaching at CHS for two years, gave the Commencement Address. He read “The Bridge Builder,” by Will Allen Dromgoole, a century old poem that still bears relevance today.

Said Okeley, “For the past 18 years, you have been crossing bridges that others have erected for you, so that you could pass safely through this world, often without realizing the hazards that surrounded you. The spans you traveled were built by your parents, your guardians, your teachers and your friends, your neighbors, your elected officials, your doctors and sometimes by unseen strangers, and you have crossed these bridges often for little or nothing in return. . .

“Your selfishness and inability to see what you have been given, is not inappropriate, it is simply the way of life. As infants, preadolescents, teens and now young adults, it is natural for your family and society to have ensured that you have what you need. You have been able to pass with little or no concern, because others have traveled before you and left paths for you to follow. But now this evening, you have come to the edge of a river “deep and wide.” The current can often be swift and perilous, but the “bridge builders” before you have provided the tools you will need to negotiate the many pitfalls you will encounter. Tonight as you leave campus for the last time as Duneland students, you must become the “bridge builders” for our posterity.

“You no longer can take, take and take. You must become productive members of society, it is your turn to give back now. How do you do it? I don’t know. In fact, no person in attendance this evening can honestly answer for you. It is up to you to find your niche in society, and then, you must dedicate yourself to the task at hand - blazing a trail for the next group of “fair-haired youths” to follow.”

The CHS history teacher concluded his message by using the Nike Corporation “Just Do It” advertising campaign. He urged his listeners to take risks, even if they were scared.

“We only go around once. There’s really no time to be afraid. So stop. Try something you’ve never tried. Risk it. Write a letter to your congressman. Demand a raise. . . You have nothing to lose ‘Just Do it.’ Teach your kids right from wrong...Go to school. Rebuild an engine... Learn to polka. Ask him out...Take responsibility for your actions...Call your mom. Don’t sell a company build one. Defend your nation. Take on the bully. Don’t look back with regret. Make a difference. Open a book. Read it. . . Switch careers. . .The only one who can tell you that you can’t is you. And you don’t have to listen. You have nothing to lose, and everything, everything to gain. ‘Just Do It.’”

In the student address Kathryn Kattalia quoted Eleanor Roosevelt who said “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

“So keep dreaming, and never lose faith,” she said.

As students crossed the stage to receive their diplomas, wind gusts caused some to grab their mortar boards, a couple had to chase them. Some made the trip in flip-flops. The cold air and sprinkling of rain assuredly made everyone move quickly.

Posted 6/12/2006