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Hubbard Class of 2010 puts a cap on graduations from old high school
By SEAN BARRON
YOUNGSTOWN
Christina M. DeSantis has made the Youngstown State University cheerleading squad, but she’s certainly not waiting until next fall to start cheering.
For now, she’s celebrating her own latest victory: being a high school graduate and receiving her diploma.
“I’m feeling so many emotions at once,” DeSantis said after accepting her diploma Friday during Hubbard High School’s Class of 2010 commencement ceremony at Stambaugh Auditorium.
“I can’t even believe it; there are no words to explain it,” she said.
DeSantis was one of 196 graduates who took home diplomas after the hourlong program.
Her educational goals are to attend YSU starting in August to study physical therapy and exercise science, she said. Beforehand, though, seeing high school friends as much as possible is on DeSantis’ agenda, she added.
DeSantis said one of her fondest school memories likely will be when she learned she was made captain of the varsity cheerleading squad during her senior year. Another probably will be the many teachers, students and staff she’s met, she said.
“High school has been the most amazing experience of my life so far. It’s taught me a lot of who I am and who I want to be.”
Each of the class’s 10 valedictorians and one salutatorian read poems and shared brief recollections during the ceremony. Some also expressed hopes and ambitions.
The Class of 2010 will be the last to graduate before Hubbard High, which opened in the 1953-54 school year, is razed to make room for a new, two-story building to open in September, noted Superintendent Richard Buchenic.
To honor the current school and the one before it, Buchenic asked those who graduated from Hubbard during every decade since the 1920s to stand and be recognized.
Afterward, the superintendent advised members of the Class of 2010 to seek from their elders what mistakes they have made and what they learned from them.
The ceremony also featured remarks from Principal Ron Garrett as well as performances by the school band.