A unique characteristic of Oakwood High School’s class of 2009
is the close friendships the dozen classmates developed during the
last four years.
Morgan Hill
A unique characteristic of Oakwood High School’s class of 2009 is the close friendships the dozen classmates developed during the last four years.
At the school’s inaugural graduation ceremony Thursday, tears flowed and cheering voices thundered as students and faculty members reflected on the experiences they all shared since Oakwood’s first high school class began its freshman year.
“We’re not like any other class,” said graduate Michael Helvey, who plans to attend Brigham Young University after a year of mission service for his church in Belgium. “We’re like a family. At a normal high school, only a few of us would have been friends.”
Khoe Thi Huynh Tu thanked her classmates for “all the laughter, memories and friendship.”
It was the first class to graduate from Oakwood, a private K-12 school in Morgan Hill that was founded in 1998. All 12 graduates have attended class together since ninth grade, with two who enrolled at the school in 2nd grade and one who has been at Oakwood since 6th grade.
And all 12 have plans to attend college now that they are done with high school.
Oakwood co-founder and Executive Director Ted Helvey said after the ceremony that the students’ plans are not a coincidence, as the school’s curriculum is strongly focused on preparing enrollees for college. He said the graduating students were offered an average of about $150,000 in scholarships and grants from universities all over the country, with a total of about $2 million in offers.
In his remarks to open the commencement ceremony, Helvey struggled to hold back tears as he described not only what the class has achieved, but also how the graduates have set a positive example for future high school classes at Oakwood High School.
“The highest credit belongs with these 12 individuals who made it happen. They are remarkable,” he said.
Helvey’s wife and Oakwood co-founder, Michelle Helvey, described the class as being “diverse in their talents, interests and backgrounds.” She said the graduates consist of aspiring doctors, architects, writers, actors, athletes, musicians, scientists, and an interior designer.
Graduate Kevin Jaatinen hopes to become a surgeon, but will also major in theater when he enrolls at Pitzer College in the fall, “because any student can be as involved as they want to be.”
“Oakwood has taught me not to abandon my passions,” Jaatinen said.
After the ceremony, his mother Darlene O’Banion said she enrolled Jaatinen at Oakwood because the public schools he attended previously in San Jose “bored him.”
She said he had many more opportunities to pursue his interests at Oakwood than he would at larger public schools, such as playing lead roles in school drama productions, participating in student government as vice president of the student body for the last two years, and being a teacher’s assistant for Oakwood’s younger students.
Principal Patty Crone noted her assurance that Oakwood’s class of 2009 will make a positive contribution to their generation.
“I’m confident that if this graduating class learned anything, it’s how they fit into the evolution of our society,” Crone said.
She added that over the last four years, all 12 students have shown their inability to be discouraged by failure, and “return to the fray with greater determination.”
As far as advice, graduate and California State University Northridge prospect Alex Bacon told future Oakwood classes to “take some time for yourself,” and not become too absorbed with academics.
And perhaps just as importantly, he offered a line from the iconic film set in 1990s Southern California, “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.”*”Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes,” he shouted to laughter and applause.
