Drizzle doesn't dampen spirit of Carson graduates

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The preferred accessory at Saturday's Carson High School graduation was the umbrella.

It was the first time in the nearly 30 years, that Carson Vice Principal Carl Henry has attended the graduation, it rained during the outdoor ceremony on the football field.

Principal Ron Beck took it as a good omen.

"There's a saying that if it rains on your wedding day, you will look forward to many years of prosperity," he told the damp crowd as the ceremony began. "I can tell this class they look forward to many years of success."

Helaine Berris, 18, hopes her success begins as she leaves to study abroad in Italy.

"High school is over," she said. "This is another chapter of our lives."

Candy Llamas, 18, is heading to beauty school. Taelor McDowell, 18, wants to be a firefighter.

"I'm ready to make a change," McDowell said.

Other than the rain, there were other changes at this year's ceremony as well. With the $1.2 million upgrades to the track and football field, the girls were not allowed to wear high heels, and space on the field's turf was limited.

Graduates weren't sure what the setup on the field would look like this year. But Taylor Phillips, 18, had a pretty good idea.

He had to help set up chairs as punishment for his senior prank where he "yarned off" the school, filled the speed dips full of flour and sprinkled bird seed on the front lawn, along with signs proclaiming "Class of 2009."

He might not have gotten caught but for the aerial photo he left in the front office - he was pinpointed because it's well known he has his pilot's license.

But neither the rain nor the castigation could dampen his spirits.

"I'm in a good mood," he proclaimed. "And life is going to slap me in the face."

And that, said class president Heather Costella, is the point.

"Do wonderful things and create great stories," she advised her classmates during her speech.