MOOSEHEART, IL, May 24 - Mooseheart Superintendent of Education Gary Urwiler always likes to have a little good-natured fun with the graduating class at the conclusion of every year's commencement ceremony.

Urwiler knows that when he tells them that they are dismissed, the ceremony is over and their time of living and going to school at Mooseheart comes to an end. So he likes to drag out the moment a little.

But as always, Urwiler never waits too long, dismisses the class, and graduation caps go flying into the air at the school's fieldhouse.

That was the scene yet again this year when the Class of 2010 took its final bow before heading away from campus and to its future endeavors. For some that means college. Others will enter the work force. Skyler Kirby is going to serve in the U.S. Marine Corps.

But all that sits in the future. On May 22, graduation was the over-riding concern on everyone's minds of Mooseheart's 24-member Class of 2010 as they waited through the ceremony and finally for Urwiler's dismissal.

"Most days, my kids ask me 'what's going on at Mooseheart today?'" Mooseheart Executive Director Scott Hart said in his remarks to the audience of 2,000 that came to watch those two dozen students graduate.

"I always tell them 'today's a great day at Mooseheart," Hart continued. "They're like 'really?' I tell them, 'Every day is a big day at Mooseheart.' I know today is a big day at Mooseheart."

Hart referred to each of the graduating class members as a kernel of popcorn about to pop. One of those kernels was class Salutatorian Jamesetta Mator, whose 3-year, 9-month, 28-day stay at Mooseheart was sponsored by Cedar Rapids, IA Lodge 304. She delivered the welcoming address.

"Over the three years I have been at Mooseheart," Mator said, "I've realized that nothing could have been done without the help of the Loyal Order of Moose and the beautiful Women of the Moose. I'm eternally grateful to all the Moose members for their support to Mooseheart. They have really shown us what the motto 'Enter to learn, Leave to serve' means."

One of those on the dais who knows quite a lot about the men and women of the Moose is Director General William B. Airey, who further drew the link between the fraternity and the residential facility it has supported since 1913.

"This is a time of praise," Airey said. "They stuck with it. This is a time of thanks; thanks to their teachers, to their Family Teachers, their friends and thanks to 1.2 million men and women of the Moose who faithfully and willingly gave of their substance so that this class might have the opportunity it is being given today.

By tradition, the fraternity's Supreme Governor addresses the graduates, and this year, that honor fell to Liguori Saladin. He gave his remarks by turning away for the lectern frequently to address the graduates eye-to-eye.

"Each of you arrived at Mooseheart because someone loved you enough to send you to us," Saladin said. "We are all here to celebrate the fact that you are now ready to go out into the world."

This year's Valedictorian was Sean Mayland, who was sponsored by Davenport, IA Lodge 28 through his 4-year, 7-month, 20-day stay at Mooseheart.

"It's scary to think back on my high school career and imagine if I had not been at Mooseheart," Mayland said. "The more I think about the place I have called home for the past several years, the more and more I can't even begin to imagine what my life would have been without Mooseheart -- what my life would have been like back home. How would I be doing in school?  Would I have been involved in half the activities I was here? Would I be preparing to attend college in the fall?  Well, thankfully I don't have to ask myself these questions because I did come to Mooseheart and was able to fully experience everything that Mooseheart offered me."

Mayland reminded his fellow classmates of the need to remain connected after they left the place they called home for a number of years. The average stay at Mooseheart for the Class of 2010 was 5 years and 19 days. The longest any of the graduates had spent at the Child City was Cody Garcia, who celebrated the 13th anniversary of his admission -- May 22, 1997 -- on the day he graduated. Skyler Kirby and Damion Moore each spent more than 12 years at Mooseheart prior to their high school graduations.

"We all have long roads ahead of us and we should not forget where we came from and not forget each other," Mayland said. "We have been successful this far by sticking together. If we continue to stick together, the future can only get easier."

At that point, all eyes turned to Urwiler and the final dismissal. He waited, and waited some more. Then he dismissed the class and graduation caps flew into the air.

Mooseheart Class of 2010:
Adrianna Aguayo, Chicago Southwest, IL Lodge 44
Michael Caprood, Crystal River, FL Lodge 2013
Writy Jasper Cheneyon, Newton, IA Lodge 923
Jonathan Corral, Chicago Southwest, IL Lodge 44
Jonell Crump, Chicago Southwest, IL Lodge 44
Courtney Davies, Tredegar, Great Britain, Lodge 1
Lareece Dunn, Bellwood, IL Lodge 727
Diane Enriquez, Chicago Southwest, IL Lodge 44
Manuel Cody Garcia, Batavia, IL Lodge 682
Marlene Gomez, Chicago Southwest, IL Lodge 44
Martin Gutierrez, Chicago Southwest, IL Lodge 44
Tatanisha Johnson, Chicago Southwest, IL Lodge 44
Skyler Kirby, Aurora, IL Lodge 400
Jessica Loveday, St. Charles, IL Lodge 1368
Jamesetta Mator, Cedar Rapids, IA Lodge 304
Sean Mayland, Davenport, IA Lodge 28
Shawn McReynolds, Joliet, IL Lodge 300
Damion Moore, Chicago Southwest, IL Lodge 44
Munir Smith, Chicago Heights, IL Lodge 828
Jacob Stryker, Daytona Beach, FL Lodge 1263
Kristen Thornburg, Medina Valley, TX 1296
Jesse Tobias, Berwyn, IL Lodge 424
Matilda Tolbert, Cedar Rapids, IA Lodge 304
Robin Young, Lancaster, CA Lodge 1926

Mooseheart Child City & School is a 1,000-acre community and school for children and teens in need of a secure home, located just south of Batavia, IL, between Illinois Route 31 and Randall Road.

Founded in 1913, Mooseheart is supported completely through private donations - the great majority of which come from the 1.1 million men and women of the Moose fraternal organization, in roughly 1,800 Lodges and 1,600 Chapters located throughout the U.S., Canada, Great Britain and Bermuda. Moose International headquarters is located on the Mooseheart campus.

Since its founding, Mooseheart has operated a complete, accredited kindergarten-through-high-school academic program, plus art, music, vocational training and interscholastic sports. It is an extremely nurturing and student-tailored program, with an average student-teacher ratio of 12-1.

Mooseheart students who complete their studies with a 3.0 GPA or better (4.0=A) are eligible for up to five years of annually renewable scholarship funding, covering tuition, room and board in an amount comparable to that required for an in-state student at an Illinois public university.

Mooseheart is currently home to nearly 230 students, ranging in age from preschoolers to high school seniors. Applications for admission to Mooseheart are considered from any family whose children are, for whatever reason, lacking a stable home environment. Mooseheart boasts its own U.S. Post Office and a fully functioning branch of Fifth Third Bank.

In addition to Mooseheart, Moose International also supports Moosehaven, a 70-acre retirement community near Jacksonville, FL founded in 1922; and conducts more than $90 million worth of community service programs annually.