Clear blue skies and bright sunshine reflected the soaring spirits of the 266 members of the Class of 2007 as they joined family and friends for the 47th annual Jericho High School Commencement on Sunday, June 24 at the Tilles Center. Students, in a sea of blue and gold, entered the auditorium to sounds of Pomp and Circumstance promptly at 9 a.m. After Senior Class President Adam Kronengold recited the Pledge and the graduation band played the National Anthem, Student Council President Melanie Motschwiller welcomed family and friends to the day's festivities.

Salutatorian Brienne Kugler reminded classmates, "As graduates entering this 'real world,' we have super-sized problems on our plate." She touched on issues including Darfur, Iraq, Afghanistan, global warming, funding for science research, separation of church and state and the educational system. "Now we have an obligation to resolve these difficult problems," Brienne continued. "We are the future businessmen, politicians, scientists, teachers, lobbyists, doctors, authors, pop stars, actors, reporters, artists, moms, and dads."

"Live your future one day at a time," Jericho School Board President Barbara Krieger encouraged. "Your generation will invent new products and careers that don't even have names yet. But only if you allow yourself to be curious about things that don't necessarily fit your long-term plan - so take courses outside of your intended major, know that it's ok to transfer to a different college if you hear of a fascinating new program, spend some time in another country, sign up for a club or activity that takes you outside your comfort zone."

Valedictorian Samantha Ellner challenged classmates to find the extraordinary in their everyday lives over the next four years. "Create the moments which will exist in your memory with resilience. Take a risk, try something new. Take a semester abroad, volunteer at a soup kitchen, join an a cappella group. Do something without regard for the opinions and judgments of others, something that, in high school, you might have thought was completely uncool."

"As a teenager, a student, a daughter, a companion, I do NOT call myself ungrateful, in spite of all I've said. Neither - I think - do my peers and classmates," reflected Valedictorian Qi Yu. "But I also acknowledge that I don't say two words as much as I should, and with as much meaning as I should. The two words: 'Thank you'." Qi asked classmates to reflect on all there is to be thankful for and to share that appreciation with family and friends more frequently.

Superintendent of Schools Hank Grishman asked graduates to take time to consider the obligation we have toward a better tomorrow. "As you leave today and hopefully go off to save the world, remember all the people in it," reminded Grishman. "If you see everyone, if you believe that--- we are--- because others are, if you serve in that spirit, you, your children, and your grandchildren will be here 50 years from now. And it will be even better because you will have fulfilled humanity's first obligation, to honor our common humanity which is far more important than our differences."

Jericho High School principal Joseph Prisinzano likened the excitement and nervousness that graduates might feel as they look forward to their new lives to his own movement toward the next phase of life, his upcoming wedding. He encouraged graduates to "listen with an open mind and heart, understand that we can't always get what we want and in the end, we are in this together."

Then, amid a sea of flashing cameras, each of the 266 Jericho High School seniors received diplomas from Mrs. Krieger, Mr. Grishman, and Mr. Prisinzano. Special "graduation diplomas" were then presented to retiring high school English teacher Diane Antonucci and principals Jeffrey Ratner and Martin Weissman. After leaving the stage of the auditorium to the Grand March, smiling graduates and families poured outside onto the grounds of the Tilles Center. Cheers, kisses, hugs, handshakes, and even a few tears, completed this memorable occasion for the Jericho High School Class of 2007.