Pulling into the parking lot of the Radison Star Plaza at the recommended 6:30 p.m. arrival time may have been a poor choice for most parents if you were looking to get a good seat. Students, parents and family members lined up from the front entrance and extended deep into the Star Plaza parking lot.

“When I saw the line to get in I thought I’d never make it in. It was too hot to be just standing there, outside, in our cap and gowns. I wish I would have showed up earlier so I would have been in the shade,” Matthew LeVeque (12) said.

While the masses of guests strolled into the Star Plaza, the students were all around the theater getting into their sections and number order. With the help of faculty members, the 715 students were all seated and ready to begin.

“The worst part about graduating was waiting around before we were seated. I wasn’t by most of my friends because we had to line up alphabetically; I was kind of standing by complete strangers,” Akhiemme Hayes (12) said.

Once you were able to be seated with the other (roughly) 4,000 people in attendance, it was time to start the program. The action-packed two and a half hours of graduation was filled with speeches from students, a special video presentation and of course the graduates walking across the stage to receive their diploma.

“The best part of the ceremony was the video that John White made- not just because it gave us a break from the tedious required parts of the ceremony but because it put in perspective what LC truly was to all of the seniors. It showed how Lake Central truly made a difference to us and that we are ready to move on to the next chapter of our lives,” Emily Hendrickson (12) said.

As the night came upon attendees quickly and the ceremony wrapped up, the students threw their caps up in the air in jubilation as they completed their final hurrah of high school. After the ceremony ended, the students rushed out of the theater to get as many pictures with their friends and family before the night ended, trying to make some lasting memories.

“The whole time, I was super nervous; I felt like I couldn’t breathe right. The whole ceremony was all pretty sad. It made me think of all the memories we have made through senior year, all of the basketball games and football games,” Rosalina Arellano (12) said.

Photos By: Alex Miskus, Bridget Protsman and Alyssa Retske