p> After over a week of cool temperatures, rain and fog, the clouds parted on Sunday morning just in time for the 47th annual commencement of the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School. Before the ceremony even began, Tyler Meyst was beaming.

With a wide grin and a deep laugh, Matt Rivers would be the first to say that he is not the most athletic kid on the court.

The students manning the phones at the Hebrew Center on this January night are there to kick off the first night of the 2006 SafeRides season. The student-run program provides a free and confidential ride home to any student of the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School who is not in a condition to drive safely or who wants to avoid being a passenger with an unsafe driver.

Huddling under what served as a gigantic umbrella, graduating senior Mario Spindola looked out from inside the Tabernacle before Sunday's high school graduation and could only smile. "It's a great day," he mused, his eyes scanning the growing crowd. "Too bad it's raining."

"You should have seen their faces at the end of the testing," said regional high school history teacher Corinne Kurtz. "They were skeletons."