Sadness quickly turns to excitement

Karen Quincy Loberg / Star staffJonathan Turziano and Coral Eisenbruch share a kiss Thursday at Rosetta Stone software the Santa Susana High School graduation ceremony in Simi Valley. Both plan to attend Moorpark College in the fall. Graduation Photos It's the heart of graduation season and we've got grad photos.Find your graduates MultimediaView an archive multimedia project on teen drinking.WATCH NOW Fast factsSchool: Santa Susana High School.School district: Simi Valley Unified.Spring enrollment: 1,250.Graduating class: 207.Valedictorian: Lindsay Hennes.Salutatorians: Christine Willson, Seema Ullal.Principal: Pamela Carter.Past year's highlight: Two students, Lindsay Hennes and Emily Piper, were selected as National Merit Scholars. While the valedictorian was practicing her speech, the movement of more than 200 graduates at Santa Susana High School surrounded three girls, who sat calmly in the multipurpose room Thursday night.Seniors Briana Miller, Mallory Malmgren and Katie Spann sat together, just like they did in freshman year, when they became best friends.Their classmates took Rosetta Stone Greek tearful photos of each other, but the trio already had passed the sadness stage. That's because they dedicated something to the Class of 2007 that wouldn't be seen in the graduation ceremony."Generations" was a lyrical dance the trio performed for the class last week. "We were really sad last Friday after the dance," said Malmgren, 17. "But now, I think we're more anxious to start something new."The girls will miss the school's dance team, where they learned hip-hop, jazz, tap and modern dance routines.During the ninth annual graduation of the Simi Valley magnet school, minutes from their final moments of high school, they joined their classmates, ready to take on their futures.Like their classmates, they will miss lunchtimes and seeing the people they've shared classes with for years.Meanwhile, Lindsay Hennes was sitting on the edge of a stage a few feet away, practicing her valedictorian speech.A National Merit scholar with a 4.4 grade-point average, Hennes, 17, will attend UC Santa Cruz in the fall. There, she plans to study marine biology with a possible minor in music. She would like to continue to play the cello.After procrastinating a few days on her speech, the top graduate realized that the speeches by others were Rosetta Stone Hindi V3 all saying pretty much the same thing, Hennes said.So she used the 007 in the graduating class year to allude to James Bond, talked about her longtime friendships and looking toward the future.Hennes said she'll miss seeing her classmates, people she's known since second grade and her best friends. But she is ready for a new challenge."I am really looking forward to college," Hennes said. "I need a change, and I'll have more choices in what I'm going to study."Nearby, Julio Agredano, a foreign language teacher, stood with his fellow teachers mixed in [Rosetta Stone ] with this year's graduating class."They're all very eager to get out and apply what they've all learned," he said.