They marched onto George A. Gammon Field to “Pomp and Circumstance,” more than 360 of them, the boys in green gowns, the girls in gold, wearing sneakers and black oxfords, sandals and high heels, yellow tassels dangling on the right side of their mortarboards.
After the presentation of The Stars and Stripes, four graduates-to-be sang the national anthem, and Savelle Jefferson, the student body president, spoke to the crowd of several thousand and welcomed the Vanden High School graduating class of 2012.
“We made it,” he said, pausing, then adding, “Most of us, anyway.”