Congratulations soon-to-be graduates. Your day to celebrate with your families and friends is fast approaching. A day you've been waiting for since you entered kindergarten those 13 long years ago. For some of you, it's waiting to get out of school and get on with your life. It's a time when the old childhood rhyme, "No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers' dirty looks" describes just how you feel. For many of you, high school graduation is just the next step in your education. You're likely headed to a university, a community college, apprenticeship training or to the daunting task of preparing for the career you want to pursue. Remember this: The diploma you receive will be your insurance policy with the premium paid in full by your hard work over the past 13 years. The value of that policy depends on how much effort you put into your education and what you do with it as you go on. Use it. Take advantage of what it offers. Statistics show that your high school diploma is your passport to higher earnings and protection against tough economic times. It's not a guarantee, but it will always be a help. Your diploma also represents a public education system that insures that all young people here in Crown Point and across our nation, even the neediest, have access to the same experiences that have shaped you and me: a first rate education, an exposure to the diverse beliefs and traditions that drive an ever more interdependent and complex world, and a chance to experience the joy of learning. Take those experiences with you. Keep close to the student and teacher friends you've made here at Crown Point High School. And do well wherever you go and in whatever you do. You've earned your passport. Use it well. Congratulations again to each of you and may you all succeed in the years ahead.