BHHS Graduation: 'Class of 2012—You're Up!'

An overcast sky couldn't stop the spotlight from shining down on the students who graduated Friday.

"Class of 2012—you're up!" Principal Carter Paysinger told the seniors as thousands of family members and friends looked on from the BHHS front lawn.

In his commencement speech, school board President Brian Goldberg advised each graduate to "Be a risk taker, be an explorer, try new and different things."

"You will never have as much freedom as you do today, because time is on your side," Goldberg said. "You have the time to make and learn from your mistakes. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes."

Cameron Countryman was one of the class of 2012's speakers at the ceremony. He's heading to the University of Pennsylvania to attend the Wharton School of Business and play football. When asked about his fondest BHHS memory, however, the star athlete didn't mention sports. Countryman recalled his time on the Associated Student Body, the high school's student government.

"My favorite memory is going to New Orleans with our ASB and sitting down at dinner with [BHHS English teacher] Ms. Newman and a couple other of the chaperones and just talking about school and life," he told Patch.

Graduate Melissa Javidzad's family gave her hugs and flowers as she made her way to the front lawn after the ceremony ended.

"We're extremely proud and we can't believe that this day came so quickly," Javidzad's cousin Jason Ramin said. "It was just yesterday that she was a little rugrat running around and now she's graduating high school." 

Gary Woods was attending his first BHHS commencement since of the Beverly Hills Unified School District last summer.

"Graduations for me are the highlight of the year," he told Patch. "They're an end in some respects, but they're also the start of a new beginning."

To view a photo gallery of the 2012 BHHS graduation ceremony, click .

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