High school graduation ceremonies are something this writer is used to.

As editor of the Mechanicsville Local for a number of years, I usually went to at least two each year.  Before that I covered them in photos and print for both the Goochland Gazette and the Local whenever asked.

But it’s been a year or two since my last graduation assignment, so I was curious about how Goochland’s ceremony would turn out last Friday evening.

The answer to the question posed by the column headline, is, of course, that it’s never “just another high school graduation.”

Each one is different, each one is unique and each one is a milestone in the life of the graduating seniors.

Today’s young folks enter a more complicated world than that of decades gone by, and the salutatorian and valedictorian talked about that fact.

With war, recession and ecological disaster in the daily news, it was fitting that the ceremony seemed a little more serious than many I have attended in the past, yet one can have no doubt that these new graduates will adapt to their world, just as each previous class has adapted and found their places in life.

Whether they head to college, join the work force or try a hitch in the armed forces, they will surely bring the energy of youth to bear on the challenges they face.

We wish them every good fortune as they continue down life’s path.

End of one season, beginning of another

With the recent approval of school and county budgets, a long and arduous process has come to a close, albeit temporarily. In these times of tight money, tension was particularly high in the budget process at the school board. When the board of supervisors declined to raise property taxes, the die was cast for some hefty and painful cuts both in county services and in school services.

Teacher layoffs drew particularly close attention from the citizens, with strong opposition from a newly formed parents’ group.

One gathers the impression that the heightened attention of the county’s citizens caused by these tough financial times and the two board’s responses will not go away but will transform itself into (hopefully) a more consistent interest in county government and the school system.

Indeed, a meeting was scheduled for last Tuesday evening for the formation of a Goochland branch of the Tea Party movement. We’ll see what comes of that but no one can doubt that there will be heightened interest in next year’s elections of members of both boards.

Let’s hope qualified and motivated candidates with a variety of viewpoints on managing the county’s problems emerge to do political battle, providing voters with choices for each seat on each board when they go to the polls in November, 2011.