Seven Mount Vernon High School (MVHS) seniors were named as this year's valedictorians. They received this honor for having earned a 4.0 or better GPA. Included on that list were Ahmed Anwar, Amanda Christensen, Amy Dickstein, Katherine Earley, Song-ee Hart, Melissa McCrumb, Molly Mockovak and Jennifer Rea. Three of the students spoke at the ceremony.
Kathleen Pablo, subschool IV principal, said that the theme of the commencement exercises was tradition. They appropriately selected Donna Gulino to be the guest speaker; she spoke about the Gulino tradition of being at MVHS. Eight of Gulino's 10 children graduated from MVHS, the oldest of which, Kathleen Gulino, received her diploma last week.
"I was just so honored [to be asked]. How could I say no?" said Gulino. "It was the fastest graduation, sitting on the stage was the best perspective."
Gulino was touched when her daughter presented her with roses and was particularly delighted that she was able to shake hands with each of the 314 student after they received their diploma.
"Several of them hugged me and thanked me for my speech. It was a wonderful way to end our high school experience," Gulino said.
THE CELEBRATING didn't stop with the commencement exercises. Approximately 200 students went to the All Night Graduation Party that was held at Mount Vernon RECenter.
"It was spectacularly successful," said Patrick Rea, one of the organizers. "The one thing about seniors, if they don't like something, they'll tell you and everybody kept saying what a good time they had."
Rea said that swimming wasn't so popular, but ice skating was big. One of the new games this year was a mechanical surfboard, where students tried balancing on the board before falling onto a moon bounce type surface.
"The DJ did a good job; he had a lot of kids dancing," Rea said. "There was tons of food and lots of parents pitched in to volunteer."
"One kid told me, 'I wish it could last forever,'" said Gulino, who participated in her last all night party.
For a few students, the excitement continued into this week. Some 45 students were entered into the ANGP Regional Grand Prize Drawing. These students were selected from high schools throughout Northern Virginia (one per school) for prizes donated by local businesses.
Last year, the grand prize winner was from MVHS and this year's winner? He was also from MVHS. Kevin Durrell walked away with a brand new 2004 Ford Focus, while Brenda Phillips from Hayfield Secondary School received a $5,000 scholarship and other prizes. Third and fourth-place winners received a two and three-thousand dollar scholarship, while other finalists received at least $500 worth of prizes.