Is the world ready for THS grads?

Atascadero news photo courtesy of Max Morton • Templeton High School salutatorian Max Morton delivers a fun speech to an appreciative crowd at the school’s graduation ceremony. Shortly after this photo was taken, he donned a wizard’s hat and quoted Gandalf.

TEMPLETON — One hundred and eighty seniors graduated from Templeton High School Thursday evening. One beach ball attended, there was a key lime pie and also a wizard’s hat.

Graduating senior Ben Lowerison said the two-hour ceremony was a good one, with only one minor problem.

“The sun was directly in the graduates’ eyes for the first 10 or 20 minutes, but after that it was fine,” he said.

Principal Tom Harrington’s welcome was also a farewell, as he will not return as Templeton High School’s principal next year. Another bittersweet event in what is usually a bittersweet ceremony.

The ceremony’s keynote speaker was social science teacher Scott Lewis, who compared the graduating class to a key lime pie, a comparison Lowerison said was apt and nice, since the graduating class was, indeed, sweet, tart and zesty.

“He was given a key lime pie in the middle of the speech,” Lowerison said with a laugh. “That was a condition for him to speak.”

Offering a little comic relief was salutatorian Max Morton.

“Just think, four years ago we were wide-eyed, ignorant, naive, inexperienced freshmen,” Morton said. “Now we are wide-eyed, ignorant, naive, inexperienced seniors. But on the bright side, we are all a little taller.”

How much taller is anybody’s guess. But he seemed to have a clear vision of the future, partially based on its past.

“A question frequently considered at graduation is whether a high school has prepared its students for the real world,” He said. “But let’s be honest, the real question is whether the world is prepared for us? No. However, the world clearly wasn’t prepared for our parents either. I mean, just look at its current state. Economic meltdown, the constant threat of war; the bar is set pretty low. I’m not sure we can really mess this up.”

Morton made the first reference to a wizard of the night when, after a quick pause to don a pointy hat, he quoted Gandalf.

“I would just like to leave you with a bit of wisdom Gandalf the gray left with the fellowship of the ring as he plunged into the depths of Moria while combating the Balrog,” Morton said.

Later in the evening, valedictorian Emily Thurston made reference to another wizard: Albus Dumbledore. Thurston was far less funny than her counterpart, and obviously put a great deal of thought into her few minutes on stage in front of her peers.

“We all have made countless difficult decisions in the past 18 years, and there will certainly be many more to come,” Thurston said. “Who we are is determined by how we respond to these decisions, because they give us the opportunity to move toward our goals, to reveal who we want to become. Dumbledore [seeked] to inspire in us the courage to make the decisions that we feel best represent us. Our decisions aren’t the difference between right and wrong; they are either representative or unrepresentative of the person we feel we are or the person we want to become. Staying true to ourselves is the surest path to happiness, even when the times are difficult.”

She discussed change and the act of maturing. She focused on moving forward and continuing to grow and learn and to not be afraid of making mistakes. And she talked about that one time that 3 plus 3 equaled 9 for her, and how that small mistake taught her the importance of sweating the details.

“It is important for us to remember that we are not leaving here as clean slates,” she said. “Sure, we are going off into a new world, but we will arrive there as ourselves, as the people leaving here today. In this new world, we will take hold of our lives, and, through our choices, become who we’ve always wanted to be.”