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Diamond just one thing shining at graduation

In print: Saturday, May 3, 2008

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ADVERTISEMENT [EDMUND D. FOUNTAIN | Times] Retiring St. Petersburg Collegiate High School principal Linda Benware kisses graduate Katie Kesneck, 18, as thanks for making a movie about various events from the past year.

ST. PETERSBURG — The gift of a diamond ring, a golden retriever marching to Pomp and Circumstance, and a tribute to Robert Frost marked the St. Petersburg Collegiate High School graduation ceremony Friday night.

It was as distinctive as the high school itself where students, grades 10-12, trade sports, drama club and peer pressure for smaller classes, individualized attention and a vigorous three-year curriculum that allows them to complete an associate's degree from St. Petersburg College during high school.

The ceremony was held at the Palladium Theatre, where 60 seniors and one dog took to the stage to celebrate the end of a chapter.

St. Petersburg College president Carl Kuttler presented principal Linda Benware with a 1-karat diamond ring.

"Tonight you'll have to ask your husband to understand," he said, explaining it was a gift for her outstanding service.

Benware, 62, was the first principal at SPCHS, which opened in August 2004. Since then the charter school has received an "A" rating by the Florida Department of Education every year. The students' Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test scores are the highest of all Pinellas high schools.

Benware also taught gifted students, supervised the district's magnet programs and was principal of Tarpon Springs Middle and St. Petersburg High in her 35-year career.

The stone glistened under the stage lights, but there were many other bright moments.

Senior class president Benjamin Manning said he gave up football to come to the school. Quoting from Robert Frost's poem The Road Not Taken, he talked about the chance they all took.

"We took the path less traveled, risking everything and ultimately received the greatest reward," he said.

Valedictorian Blair Crombie got a few chuckles as she remembered the good old days of "Oscar Meyer Lunchables," notebooks called "Trapper Keepers," and "gel pens."

Kaitlyn Goffe's golden retriever, Kanuka, marched across the stage with her owner — after all, Kanuka has future plans too.

"She's training to be a service dog for people in wheelchairs," Kaitlyn said after the ceremony. "She goes everywhere with me, to school, on dates, to the movies."