Jeremy's graduation

My son Jeremy graduated from Northwood High School yesterday afternoon. Although he had really spent this year doing next to nothing of any substance at all (he had finished most of his high school course work and just wanted to play baseball his senior year), I was surprised at how emotional I got watching the graduation. It is still a rite of passage and an indication that however much of a child he still is, he is "grown up" in many ways.
I was also moved by the warmth of the ceremony. Compared to my own horrible high school in Philadelphia, which looked like a factory and felt like one too, this school is full of truly dedicated teachers (not all of them, of course, but many) who seem genuinely to care about the students. Although it is not a small school, which is why the graduation took place at the Bren Center at the University, the teachers seem to know each student, and hugged each one as s/he came up to get the diploma. In contrast, my high school graduation was an exercise in alienation.
The students reciprocated by enthusiastically singing the school song, complete with gestures. There were no pranks; everyone seemed full of affection and love.