Posted by ES, a resident of the Southgate neighborhood, on Jun 7, 2012 at 11:03 am

These young adults are absolutely amazing! Cheers to the Paly class of 2012.

Posted by Paly parent , a member of the Palo Alto High School community, on Jun 7, 2012 at 11:06 am

This was the 4th Paly graduation I attended, and it was the longest by about 45 minutes (close to 2 1/2 hours). The people reading names took entirely too long. It got to the point where others in my row were clocking the reading and calculating how long it would take to get through all of the graduates. Some of the announcers sounded like they were trying out for a pro wrestling job.

Also -- five speeches from students? One was nearly 10 minutes long, and was not very interesting. I enjoyed Osagiede's but the rest were forgettable. Disappointing after some of the great speeches I heard in previous graduations.

I hope future ceremonies are managed better, especially if I have to be there again.

Posted by anon, a member of the Palo Alto High School community, on Jun 7, 2012 at 11:51 am

Paly parent, don't be like this. The graduation ceremony is for the graduating class of 2012, not for you. I'm surprised you're so self-centered that you're complaining about the length of a ceremony that many of my peers and I loved.

Posted by Another PP, a member of the Palo Alto High School community, on Jun 7, 2012 at 11:58 am

PP

Yes, this is going to get worse as a result of over-enrollment and mega high schools.

I know of one graduating senior (not this year) who wasn't prepared to sit in the hot sun and didn't bother going. I also know that for my first graduate, I wasn't able to even see the parade, hear my child's name because of the noise from the previous student's family, or get a picture of the "walk" across. As for not being able to find anywhere to sit for the couple of hours and had to stand the whole time. Can't imagine what it will be like next time with an even bigger class.

Perhaps two ceremonies, a - l and m - z?

Posted by Student, a member of the Palo Alto High School community, on Jun 7, 2012 at 1:46 pm

Only in Palo Alto would parents complain about such petty things. Ultimately, graduation is for the students. If you have so many issues with it, don't go. It takes a lot of courage to speak to that large a crowd and saying that student speeches were "forgettable" is very hurtful. The graduates had a wonderful ceremony and a very well planned and executed party. Please don't put a damper on our celebration with your endless complaining about every little thing.

Posted by ES, a resident of the Southgate neighborhood, on Jun 8, 2012 at 10:17 am

To the complainers above - you all need to lighten up. The speeches were terrific! The mood was great. I guess if you want to see the bad side of things you will find a way.

Posted by Crescent Park Dad, a resident of the Crescent Park neighborhood, on Jun 8, 2012 at 11:40 am

Wow PP. You do realize that the students crafted the agenda, selected the speeches, singers, etc. themselves? The announcers were students BTW.

455 people is a lot to process. Bring a book or browse the Internet on your smart phone next time.

Posted by Another PP, a member of the Palo Alto High School community, on Jun 8, 2012 at 11:53 am

Although I am not trying to be negative in my comments, and I am sure that PP isn't trying to take anything away from any of those taking part, it is worth discussing how the graduation ceremony could be improved.

As our schools get bigger, there will be many, many problems like these to work through. Do we really want a couple of hours of names being read when the names are not familiar to even all the students? Do we want 3 hour ceremonies without enough seats for the invited guests of the students? Is there a better way of doing this?

And yes, it is for the students, but it is for the families also!