Adam graduated from Kings High School today at the Cintas Center on the campus of Xavier University. Earlier this morning, we attended the funeral of my friend, Tony Glass, about two hundred yards away in Xavier’s Belermine Chapel. It has been both a difficult and wonderful day. I cried more today than I have in the past year. I learned that my friend of twenty-five years was awarded the bronze star for bravery in combat in Vietnam. He had never told us. Five hours later, I watched young men receive diplomas who I coached as tee ball players.
I felt an empty feeling because one of Adam’s friends did not graduate with his class. He is a kid that I really like who had a little trouble with the law. He should receive a diploma in August after completing a couple of online courses. I cried when Brandon Berman accompanied a soloist on guitar. He is a brilliant Jewish kid who, at sixteen, engaged me in an enlightening conversation about Frederich Nietchze. I advised him to postpone Nietchze and chase girls. Brandon plays music with Adam and I think he has all the tools to be a very special songwriter. I cried when they read a list of young men already enlisted in the armed services. The entire crowd, including the graduates, gave a long, standing ovation to these seven young men. One of them, Brandon Hayes, is one of Adam’s good friends.
We saw Adam’s beautiful girlfriend, Jenny, receive her diploma. She is going to study nursing at the University of Kentucky. We screamed loudly for Adam’s best friend, Javier Fransisco Cordero, as he walked across the stage. Javier is like a second son to me. His father is an executive with Procter and Gamble who was transferred to Cincinnati from Mexico City when the boys were in fifth grade. They are nearly inseparable. Javier speaks Spanish and English without the trace of an accent. And he is fluent in French. He will study international business at Kent State and something tells me he might run P & G someday.
There is something very special about Kings High School. It is a wonderful learning environment that feels like a family. Both Sarah and Adam blossomed there. Kings just might be the area’s best kept secret. It feels like a small school, but offers the opportunities of a larger high school. The sports, music, and drama programs are top notch. They stress math and science and nearly every freshman passes the Ohio graduation test on the first try. It seems like most of the kids are bright, polite, adventurous, and optimistic. Adam and Sarah attended kindergarten through twelfth grade at Kings. Many of their elementary teachers attended today’s graduation and sought out the graduates they taught years before. Mrs. Weed grabbed Adam and gave him a big hug.
Kings lost a very special principal during Adam’s freshman year. Mr. Higgins was loved by the student body and his untimely death brought the school together. Mr. Mader has stepped in and done a wonderful job. The teaching staff is a highly dedicated group that brought out the best in my kids. Sarah is a pre-med student at the University of Cincinnati. Adam has been accepted into the engineering program at Ohio University, in Athens. We feel that their high school education is nearly on par with the top private schools in the area.
As we stood outside the Cintas Center after the graduation, I remarked to one of the parents that I regretted that Nick Kurtz did not graduate with this class. Nick played sports with Adam and attended Kings from kindergarten through his junior year, when the family moved to Columbus. Just then, I heard someone say, “Mr. Amburgy, I’m right here.” Nick was standing right behind me. He drove down to see all his friends graduate. It was a wonderful coincidence. It was a wonderful day.
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