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Show se Friday, May 24, 1996 Jordanelie moderates river level By MARK EDDINGTON he Daily Heraid Graduation season makes me ilosophic. How Last week a long white enve- d olf ty { E L-E. officials J-O-R-D-A-N T re name of th 2 tassel fell out, the kind you see aying from a graduate’s carea0 balanced mortar board. mee * The tassel and ali that goes ae it (a doctoral degree) were by my friend Michael. Provo ¢ S Now, Michael's graduation with j = his doctorate is, in itself. enough + make me grandly philosophic =y memoryclicks into rewind R 4 ¥ e B “Pand spins back a couple of Secause S decades to showa tall, lanky ae student with sun-bleached ir, raggedy Levis, and a pillow- of Jor ck ne kind of pe? gh the A j Daity heralded 2 full of books slung overhis der. If the BYU English “4 riment ever was home base Jb a genuine hippie — and thatis % doubtful — Michael wasthe man. Scott Gladden, a graduating student from School in the Utah State Fork, sits next to fellow graduate Kip Nicodemus during a commencement exercise at the school Tuesday. Principal Carol Bittner, background, addresses family the F h Herald members and friends at the school’son ation. Four students graduated from the Alpine District school 4 graduate at Developmental School ~% Neverin doubt was Michael's lent as writer and poet, even ~*with his bare feet clearly visible ~ Jin his sandals and his hair slop“Ping overhis ears. (The administration instructed me totell him to conform. | told him, in a poem. He sighed, then got shom and $ocked.) Actually, Michael had a * talent greater than even his writ+ = ng genius. He had (and has) a 3ham Jent for goodness. But talking outa living person's goodness “is a very delicate, not to say embarrassing, rr. (I don’t Know quitewhy...) us all on that +. The point i So4 will spare ted to give Michael a A anin his midyears with a family of four shows remarkable‘courage and fortitude in sticking with a doc= toral program and seeingit through toghe graduation march. je deserves applause and conatulations Ba thouchitul gifts m those wholove him. Yes, | we Michael. The boy who began Sverthe years, first a protégé and » finally a soul-son. I mentionthis - Only to makeclear that | needed a meaningful gift for this occasion “life: cel brated with gifts handed + down from generation to generaon: Grandfather's big pocket atch, Grandmother's pearl earer In one chapter of Mama's ank Account, the narrator dramatizes how she grew up onthe lay she came to value her moths silver brooch (treasured from “fier Norwegiangirlhood) more » than a store-bought vanity set lice Walker's “Byeryday Use” *fcounts the importance of two Qandmade quilts, valued by one a @ster simply because such“artiare currently in vogue, but = by another because ofthe beloved Sggersonal history they hold “$2 But I had no such items of acy to present to Michael on is Momentous occasion. Like at of so many Americans, my ersonal geography stretches aeross the globe: Pennsylvania, w Jersey, Arizona, Utah, ~fBurope. Massachusetts, back to tah. Along the way, many hings” got scattered, discarded, Fe@valued,lost. | have.all told, a g and a lapel watch of my her's, a family Bible, a res and a handsomely ra Rivera print that was my other's for a while, a present ssed down (or back) to her om a soul-daughter she had on lucky enoughtofind along ‘own path. Yes, we are drowningin Istuff.” We're too apquisitive, ‘ing around junk we never ok at from one BGrae tothe xt, At the same time,it's sad so manyofus nolonger val ° the precious personal items t could link us..J°d like to ‘eae a pen that belonged to my father, a mirror or even a ling pin of Nanny’s, a wooden my Welsh ancestors had . If you have such treasures, the sake of the Michaels in ir life, do keep track of them. And toahe Michael in mylife: Pim pout proud of aya. yo: "AT CHRISTIAN Daity Herald AMERICAN FORK — At Thursday's graduation ceremony for handicapped students at the Utah State Developmental School, Principal Carol Bittner her students have some phys- ical differences, but they are there for the same reason as students everywhere; to learn Graduating from the school operated by the Alpine School District were Amber Reitveld. ings peSea Gladden and didi: physical differences inclu wheelchair ramps and classroom restrooms instead of central restrooms. She said district supply workers must sometimes think it is strange when they get an order for the school for the developmentally handicapped. Bittner said her facility frequently orders batteries for small electrical toys, used to teach students how to turn an electrical switch on and off. The principal indicated that while her students may learn fundamental skills rather than complex academicssthey nevertheless learn every day. She said they learn the important skills of becoming more independentand Jearn to commu- 600 celebrate culmination of years at Am. Fork High By ALEXANDER STOCKS The Daily Herald Parents and families looked on in the Marriott Center as almost 600 American Fork High School students, young men in red gowns and women in white, celebrated with accomplishment in their smiles and hope in their eyes Senior Class President Behrad Tabatabaeitold graduates to go out into the world with integrity. He spoke of Karl Maeser’s statement that no walls, no matter how thick or far-reaching, could be erected that he wouldn't try to escape from. But stand him in a circle and draw a chalk line around it and have himgive his word ofhonor he wouldn't cross the line, and Maeser said he would never cross that line for anything, Tabatabaei said. Student Seth Jones told parents, grandparents and substitute par- ents they are the force behind the success of the graduating seniors. He compared themto Shel Silver stein’s short story, The Giving Tree Thetree gave apples to a small boy whenhe was hungry. It let him take fromits trunk to build a canoe when,later, he wanted to get away Whenhe wantedto build a house, however, the faithful tree told him he must dothat on his own. It had already given most or its trunk. Likewise, parents havesacrificed for students, Jones said Valedictorian Torry K. Johnson spoke of faith and facing future obstacles as the graduates begin newlives. Hetold graduates to remember what a general once said, that “anyone who says something can’t be doneis generally interruptedby (See GRADS, Page B2) Pl. Grove graduates praised for successes gy CHRISTIAN he Daily Herald Pleasant Grove High School commencement speaker Lila Lee told the Class of 1996 that they will no longer be in the safe environmentof their high school. But after reading the Robert Frost poem about two roads con- verging, Lee said graduation was the proper time for the road oflife to diverge. Rebecca Pelton spoke oflearn- ing even frompitfalls. and she said that whenone falls down he or she is at least moving forward. She wished her class good luck in life. In his valedictory address, Nathan Pierce toid his classmates that he had a lot of respect for them, and he said that for true freedom in one’s lite and to achieve one's goals, there must be rules and laws that have to be adhered Lee said that she and other to, Michael Baker thanked teachers graduating students have been taught by friends, parents and at Pleasant Grove High School and She advised that when faced they are not there for money, they must really want to teach us,” be said. said they put in a tremendous teachers, but now they have their effort and are not paid enough. “If lives in their own hands with a problem, people should say net will be bigger than that prob- Baker said should not hare hicIeetter ak eae speaker Spencer Fugal a life's course and said that, as said ‘s dreams are now with homework, it is not so much today’s reality and that the hope of the hours one puts in as what one graduating from hi; school had puts intothe hours. tized. and. it was time to Hepublicly thanked his mother ask what next goal should be developed into a reality. (See SUCCESS, Page B2) nicate in any way they can. She said most students cannot actually talk, but they can communicate in other ways. They also learn what is acceptable behavior Bittner and others who spoke during the ceremony praised the students. parents and teachers and staff at the school About students, she said, “We are proud of them and whatthey have accomplished.” Bittner praised the staff { treating every student with dign ty and for working at a high level of professionalism. “Teachers have Teamedehow to measure : student's progress in small incre meats,” she said Alpine Sch of Education Calder sa t Distinct Bo member Var ferent ta | | | cess is di He told lives w Distric water. The 90 deg ) days 3 he Prove River is at ‘| Beckstrom gin to wane after Su ine the commitment, dey this weekend dd kindness of the school’s st fn short in full con ension of what it takes to work at the school He said what students at the have done with their tal ents and abilities has put them relative ly way ahead of students at other district schools And while we expect thie flows May go up once again, expect that” wel see we don flows any higher tian whatwe wre encounter ing t now,” he ddded wot and ching water diversion and a e cone) structures t0 ensure tha they dre functioning properly Lehi seniorstold to keeptrying By ALEXANDER STOCKS The Daily Herald Lehi High School graduates and parents were anxious and excited Thursday as the students filed into their seats in the Marriou Centerfor the official end to their high school careers. “Now bid me nun, and [ will strive with things impossible,” from Shake speare’s Julius Ceaser, the theme of you try to cross the road you fail’ Gerber said. “The hevy hitters, the ones who hit the most home runs. also strike out lot.” she said Nicole Anderson continued the themeof striv with things impos sibleas she t of a lone man walk ‘ as autiful sprin: all town in France. His was occupied with thoughts of ¢ ‘ther lard’s story of @ moth that fell out of physicians bh aving told him he would never find the cure to nibies. Louis Pasteur not only went on to discover the cure fe or nubies, Andes son said, but also the cures for silt and anthrax as well as he process. of pasteur- its cocoonontothe road. It struggled tocross the road onits injuredlegs, stumbling and meeting obstacles. but eventually made it to the other side where it looked at the world from a new perspective. Eventually it leammed tofly “Don’t expect it to be easy and don’t be discouraged if the first time It is a fundamental of success impossible to a that nothing courageous heart, she said Scott Tucker said to remember to haveanattitudelike that of Thomas Edison when stru and failure threatens said that if he f the 1996 graduating class. was very possibly the dominating emotion owing through the excitement Emily Gerber told of Annie Dil- iauon. Parachute play ment $0,000 times. he had never really failed, only learmed 10,000 Ways Hf won T work A boy known as Sparky felt he Was a failur Tucker said. He tned out foggolt and lost his only impor tant aggtch and didn’t feel he had any talents. He decided to accept mediogrity as his lot in life. The only gat of his lite he fel about Was his art. He enjoyed art He Started drawing his life in car toons and eventually the “Peanuts cartoags becdme immensely suc cesstul Charles Schulz was making more than 30 million dollars at the heighgpfhis career. Tucker said. 1 think he discoveredthat one« the secrets to being successful is tc believe in yourself and never, neve ¢ up.” hesaid Manivn W. Kofford of the Alpine Board of Education told the Lehi graduates to never forget the fine legacy of the community they were raised in. |