Session Beginning Date: November 10, 2009
Graduation Date: December 15, 2009
Location: Santa Monica Recreational Center, 1450 Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90401
Time: 7:00 to 9:00 pm
Emcee: Erick Pausz
Guest Speakers: Duane Cofield

The final CDD Graduation Ceremony of 2009 took place on December 15th, 7:00 pm, at the Santa Monica Recreational Center. The room had been brightly decorated with holiday bows and lights making the room look very festive. The evening's Emcee was first time CDD Instructor Erick Pausz. Erick kicked off the ceremony with a few opening words welcoming the 100 guests in attendance and offering an overview of what was planned for the evening. He congratulated the graduates and wished them all continued success. Erick then introduced the first speaker of the evening, CDD Director, Kathleen Patton. Ms. Patton was excited to take the podium and begin the night's program. She first thanked all of the volunteers and center staff who make the CDD program possible each year. Kathleen stressed to the graduates that much of what CDD does is build a sense of community. Being that CDD is 100% run and operated by volunteers, it is a direct way for people from very different backgrounds, to come together in a constructive and uplifting experience. Ms. Patton emphasized to the graduates that the CDD Volunteers offer their time because they believe whole-heartedly in the potential of each person in their classroom. She compelled the graduates to keep the ties they have made while in the recovery process. To rely on the support of those who are encouraging this process and to keep building on the success.

Ms. Patton then explained that the graduates would have an opportunity to help CDD tonight by participating in the annual CDD Awards Ceremony. This ceremony is where CDD honors those volunteers that have made an exceptional contribution over the past year. Each of the awardees is given a special City Certificate signed by the Mayor.

Ms. Patton also explained that CDD recently added a new Board Member named Hattie L. Hurts. Hattie works in Broadcast Media, which fits her role perfectly as CDD's Communication's Director. Ms. Patton introduced Ms. Hurts to the audience and asked that everyone help welcome her to the CDD family. Hattie then addressed the guests by congratulating the graduates. She went on to explain how her friend and Co-Founder, Dr. Clark Feldman, introduced her to CDD in 2004. Hattie had been supportive of the work we did and followed the progress. When Clark died in May of 2009 Hattie felt it would be a wonderful way to carry on his legacy to join the Board of Directors. She expressed how pleased she was to be there tonight and wished the graduates much success.

Together then Kathleen Patton and Hattie Hurts than began the CDD Awards Ceremony. They called up the first honoree, Shahab Inamdar, as the CDD Volunteer of the Year for 2009.

Shahab Inamdar was named the CDD Volunteer of the Year for his exceptional work as the Web Team Lead. Shahab maintains the CDD website, recruits and trains new team members and publishes a bi-monthly Newsletter, while keeping a very upbeat attitude. He is a vital asset to CDD.

There were several "Special Volunteer of the Year" awards next handed out for their exceptional work. Derin Oyekan, Katy Porter, Chris Tyler, Paul Brinkmann, Bradley Curry and Joon Huh were all honored with certificates. Paul, Bradley and Joon were not in attendance that evening. Derin was recognized for his dedication to the organization as an Instructor for the past three years, teaching and graduating dozens of students, mostly from Walden House. Katy was honored for her contribution acting as a Motivational Speaker at several of CDD Graduation Ceremonies over the past three years. Katy is also helping to raise funds and build a "Speaker's" Program. Chris was honored for his work on the Install Team, helping to maintain our labs, over the past two years. Chris was also able to arrange for a large computer donation from his company and has been a regular donor of funds as well. Each shared a few words with the audience after receiving their City Certificates as they thanked the crowd beamed with pride.

Next up to the podium was the night's Keynote Speaker. Motivational speaker, Duane Cofield, delivered a very moving speech that night. Duane engaged the audience with his own story of how he turned his life around. He spoke about how he grew up being obnoxious and careless. He had been in a great deal of trouble in his youth leading to his being imprisoned. While in prison, Duane, with the help of his mentor and by doing a lot of reading, realized that he can change his life by investing his energy on positive rather than negative goals. He now travels around giving motivational speeches to those with similar backgrounds trying to help them get their lives back in track.

The audience showed their approval for all of the speakers with a loud round of applause. It was then time for the Student Presentations. One student is chosen from each house to read the essay they wrote during the course. The first student speaker was Stacey Ward from the House of Uhuru, then Denise Howe from Cri-Help, and last was James Sykes from Walden House. Each talked about their past experiences and the steps they were taking to achieve a more positive lifestyle. They all acknowledged that computers skills were important in helping them become successful and recognized CDD's role in getting them started. Stacey and Denise both delivered emotional speeches about how they plan to turn their lives around. James concluded by motivating his fellow students to change their lives for the better, which earned him a huge ovation.

Suddenly there was a stir at the back of the room. Who would appear than non other than Santa Claus himself who looked jolly indeed! Old St. Nick shouted Merry Christmas as he strode to the front of the room with cheers in return from the crowd. Santa explained that he had heard there were some very good boys and girls in the room tonight and he had to stop in to sing a carol. Santa then brought out his accordion! Who knew that Santa played the accordion? Well he does and he played Jingle Bells beautifully while everyone sang along with great joy. That was sure nice of old Mr. Claus to take the time out of his busy schedule to share this treat and it will remain long in our memories.

We closed the evening with the Walden House Ladies Choir sharing some beautiful harmonies and then, the big finale, awarding the certificates to the graduates. Each graduate was called to receive his or her certificate and was congratulated with handshakes from CDD and Staff Members. We all then shared laughs, hugs along with cake and refreshments, to bring to close the final session of 2009. What a special event and a wonderful way to end the year.