Graduation Auditions are Coming up: sign up now!
Graduates attentively listening to the speakers impactful message.
Auditions for the 2023 graduation Ceremony start in mid-April. Sign-ups close on April 9th. Auditions will be held April 17th.
There are four categories: speech, singer, welcome greeting in Spanish, and welcome greeting in Tagalog. There will also be assigned student interpreters for American Sign Language. There will not be auditions held for this specific category.
Some basic requirements for the graduation speech will include a time limit of 2-3 minutes, which should be optimistic, and “will avoid cynicism and sarcasm.” The keys to a great graduation speech and what judges will look for will be relevancy, poignancy, and delivery. To access the form for graduation speech or song, click the link above.
Graduation song auditions will also be held to similar standards, however, the most important elements to include in the audition will be, “Stage presence, Tone quality, Emotional impact, Appropriate fit for the occasion as well as the audience,” according to the official sign up form. Groups are allowed and the names of every group member should be included when signing up to audition.
As for the welcome greetings in Spanish and Tagalog, the speech will be provided before the week of the 17th to anyone who signs up for practicing purposes. Faculty and Staff can not help with the memorization of the speech, but plenty of time will be provided to study, as well as having the sheet in front of you during the ceremony itself.
Though Hart high school has a Spanish greeting, most schools in the Hart District district don’t consistently represent the non-English speaking households that attend their schools during graduation. Golden Valley makes it clear that any student or family will be represented, appreciated, and accepted into the Grizzly Family.
Every year since 2019, Golden Valley has had a welcome in Spanish. The Tagalog greeting however, courtesy of Assistant Principal Brian Necessary, was just added last year and will be included in every graduation going forward. “I wanted to bring in and emphasize the cultures that make up a big part of Southern California,” says Necessary.
Mr. Necessary brought multiple Spanish-speaking staff members to help create the Spanish message. Credits for this welcome go to Laura Gonzales, Irma Camara, Victoria Mendieta, Susana Smay, and Lia Boscarino. “Staff rewrote the welcome into Spanish in their own way to best capture the message and not get lost in translation.” Necessary adds. As for the Tagalog reading, credit goes out to the Fil-Am Association of Santa Clarita Valley and Jose Bareng.
The ASL interpretation is also presented by Golden Valley students, putting emphasis on the program with a mix of class levels. If you are a senior interested in auditioning for these important positions, the links are all found in this article and practice speeches will be supplied where needed.
Genesis Perez is a Senior with a position as a staff writer for Campus News Team. She is involved in Golden Valley Girls Basketball and CSF. With experience in a leadership role as team captain of her team and being involved in group extracurricular activities like choir, being a writer for the school newspaper was an easy yes.
Though she covers campus news, she has a passion for the arts and is excited to cover events like school plays. A goal of hers is to express her point of view on students and places in Santa Clarita that are involved in the arts and explore the different cultures that are present in Golden Valley.
Being a student journalist this year is very important because this is the foundational year for the paper to really kick off. Being a part of the main structure and setting the culture is really exciting and will definitely be the most rewarding part of being a part of the paper.
Danielle Luna, a student reporter and writer for The Grizzly Gazette, is on the Campus News Team. Currently in 12th grade and in three clubs on the campus, Danielle is very enthusiastic about this opportunity to write about campus and to students: her own classmates. Knowing high school for the last 4 years of her life, she is passionate to cover relatable topics and stories that are different from usual advice. Being a part of this team is an entertaining concept to her that she can finally create it to whatever she wants it to be for the future teams of journalism.
Putting aside the motivational speech, like almost every other person, she loves music: perhaps an article criticizing new albums can be released by yours truly. A proud Diamond 2 rank (and yes, don’t even finish that sentence you were coming up with). She will always be ready to be upfront and honest with any person, she will also likely have a big mouth most of the time- being perfect for journalism!