Nearly 290 Fox Lane High School seniors are expected to line up at the Caramoor Center for Music Arts Thursday to complete their last act as students of the Bedford Central school District.

The school's 2010 commencement ceremony is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. inside Caramoor's Venetian Theater.

"We've held the ceremony at Caramoor for 10 years now," said Brian Davidson, the assistant principal at Fox lane High School. "It's a very elegant affair. We try to make it a really nice for the families."

Davidson said the students will meet prior to the ceremony to make sure everything is in order and that the seniors are made aware of what is expected of them. 

 "We  want to make sure that there aren't any messages on mortar boards or beach balls floating around," Davidson said. "We normally don't have any problems with beach balls, although we did have one few years ago."

Teri Gardner, who works in the district guidance department, said she expected about 285 students to participate in the ceremony. The final number depends on the results of this week's finals exams. She said the size of this year's graduating class is typical compared to other years.

This year's valedictorian is Grace Kwan and the salutatorian is Christine Maroti. Alison Strongwater will give the student speech and William Sandoval, the senior class president, will be the master of ceremonies. Joel Adelberg, the high school principal, and Jere Hochman, the district superintendent, are also scheduled to speak.

The keynote speaker will be Delbert Shortliffe, the coordinator of the English department and the Advanced Placement literature and composition teacher.

"He was chosen by the students," said Davidson. "They choose the speaker each year and they really look forward to it. What's amazing is that only 45 to 50 kids have had him as a teacher and he's only been here for five or six years. The kids must really like him."

Tickets for the event can only be obtained through the school district. More information about the graduation can be obtained on the Web sites of Caramoor and the Bedford school district.