IT’S OFFICIAL—Oak View High School graduating seniors celebrate with the traditional tossing of caps after their commencement on June 17. WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers Oak View High School graduates had much to celebrate on June 17.

The alternative school graduation was conducted in Oak Park High School’s Pavilion on June 17.

Principal Lou Tabone began the event with words of gratitude.

“I am grateful for the district’s vision that declares all students can learn and all students deserve a second chance,” Tabone said.

Oak Park Unified School District Board of Education president Barbara Laifman invoked the memory of school board member Marie Panec, who died suddenly on May 3 of a brain aneurism.

Laifman said Panec was an advocate for students in general but always stood up for the individual student. “I know Marie would have been so proud to see each of you receive your diplomas,” Laifman said. A moment of silence in Panec’s memory was observed.

Superintendent Tony Knight taught at Oak View High School in 1982 and served as principal of the school from 1986 to 1989.

“This is the place we put our very best teachers,” Knight said.

Knight presented some statistics to the crowd. Nationwide, 30 percent of high school students never graduate.

“If our country had more Oak View High Schools we wouldn’t have a 30 percent dropout rate,” he said.

Numerous scholarships were awarded to graduates. Jenna Hamilton and Nicole Franko were the recipients of $1,000 National Charity League scholarships. Jenna wore double gold cords on her gown to symbolize the academic achievement of earning a grade-point average between 3.75 and 4.0.

Jack Sorfazian was presented with a $1,000 scholarship from the Conejo Valley/Simi Valley/ Moopark Association of Realtors.

The Samuel Manocchia Memorial Scholarship, in honor of an Oak View graduate who died in 2005 at the age of 18, was awarded to Desiray Dusablon.

Nicholas Renyer was the recipient of the Millie Andress Memorial Scholarship. Andress was the principal of Oak View High School for many years. She died shortly after she retired in 2005.

The Christine E. Brown Excellence Award was awarded to Michael Lapine, an honor cord wearer for graduating with a grade-point average between 3.5 and 3.75.

Four students were chosen for the Associated Student Body scholarships: Jonie Astoria, Eric Corleto, Tanner Klein and Christopher Weiner. Jonie and Eric also wore gold honor cords, and Christopher donned a double honor cord during the ceremony.

Stories about the students were told throughout the ceremony. Emily Gilchrist was described as feeling “delicate and scary . . . uncomfortable and vulnerable” when she first arrived at Oak View. The school, which had been coined “Smoke View” by naysayers, turned out to be “refreshing and real” for the student.

Christopher said Oak View turned out to be a wonderful experience for him. His only regret was not attending the school sooner. To celebrate the graduation, he danced and sang a portion of the Tom Jones classic “It’s Not Unusual.”

Sonja Rosa, the parent of Brett Rosa who graduated in 2008, spoke about how the school helped her son. While her son had many challenges to overcome, he found the support and respect he had been looking for at Oak View.

Daniel Paris, a 2005 graduate, shared the inspirational tale of his journey from Oak View High School to Harvard University.

“Public school made me feel like a standard test score,” Paris said.

Diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and depression, Paris dropped out of Oak Park High School and was involved with drugs, gangs and other destructive behavior before he decided to get back on track.

Paris recently graduated from USC with a degree in psychology and will be attending Harvard University in the fall for his graduate studies.

A full profile of Paris will be featured in next week’s Acorn.

When the graduation was over, the students met outside on the patio to celebrate by throwing their caps in the air.