From the first day in school until the day I graduated, everyone gave me one hundred plus in art. Well, where do you go in life? You go to the place where you got one hundred plus.

[Granville had a 100 percent graduation rate for the 2003-2004 school year. Newark had 78.1, while all other county schools exceed 90 percent. The state's graduation rate is 85.9 percent.] We are by no stretch of the imagination happy with a 78 percent (graduation rate), ... The greatest single education issue we have to deal with is our drop-out rate.

Nothing would make me happier than sitting in the bleachers at Fitch watching Jesse graduate some day. That would truly be the moment of a lifetime.

They see a mayor getting killed here, policeman being blown up at a graduation ceremony there. If we can get the security situation right, we will unlock that population to build a new Iraq.

The coach talked a lot about the graduation rate, which is about 97 percent. And it's quiet down there, so I can concentrate.

The last scene? I've got to tell you, everyone was bawling. People were just crying. It was like a graduation. It was very surreal. We all spoke about it earlier that day, but people were just breaking down. I mean, seven years, every day. You see people grow up, you grow up yourself, you see people going through ups and downs. It was hard for us.