my high school class of ninety two is an extraordinary collection of people this is perhaps the ultimate cliche for a president to use any graduation address but i do so anyway because it is undeniably true th comprised of people who are extremely gifted intellectually who are peerless in the athletic arena for outstanding artist and who are genuinely friendly and outgoing everyone in this class has contributed to this high school by their has made on high enjoyable place today there is however one member of this class who is not here today with himself truly extraordinary i don't know i don't know if you would have been a great athlete but if you could compete with heart and roll along with penn state champ and three sports i don't know that joey would have been an outstanding artist but it would not comeback and there volunteerism is school the majority of this class participate in the community service program or in some other volunteer capacity varying from visiting elderly to working at the front of school our class recognizes that the extravagance of the age exacted enormous toll on our collective sense of purpose we believe that in the future happiness will be more accurately measured by what we've given them by what we've  taken is not likely nor do i mean to suggest that most of the members of the spy plan to go on and spend their lives in exclusively charitable occupations however i do believe that they have incorporated volunteers from into their busy lives  students my classmates will go on to incorporate volunteers and into their busy lives as doctors teachers lawyers and business people this class of altruism to try to be more time in our nation can no this country those of us graduating today been fortunate to receive the many resources given to us by the belmont schools and our families this is our obligation to try to improve the quality of the last people who are born into less favorable economic circumstances i will also take this time to remind my fellow classmates a lesson that their actions demonstrate they have already learned this lesson is to treat one another not only with respect but with kindness anyone who lives by this credo well nourished other peoples as well as their own lives and they will always be remembered as joey is remembered today problem when i tried to write a speech to can sum up our experiences at some of the higher for good general advice about the future in three or four minutes and he would want to hear such a summary if i will if i were able to do this anyway i cannot make a general statement about our high school experience because we have all had three different experiences here we are lucky to live in a town where we can pursue a wide variety of interests both in and out of school we are often unaware of the available resources and the different activities of our peers in important things about ourselves at rehearsals just as we discover different things about our self worth each of these experiences is valuable to us it teaches us but sometimes we tend to prioritize these activities since i often feel that the school and their peers believe that certain activities are more significant than others instead we should see that having each of these different experiences is a vital it is important to learn about them from others if not if we do not experience from ourselves should not limit ourselves by thinking that there's nothing to be learned from the situation no matter how mean you are seemingly integrating from a person regardless of our first impressions everyone has such a wide range of experiences and thoughts to share one cannot say that his or and or on no and beginning each of you will receive an award today in order for some of you have worked harder than others some of you have achieved more and we and we have in establishing a hierarchy which places one of us of the other i'm worried about this day and i'm worried that you might accept where you are so those of you who have achieved well i'm worried you may be self satisfied and you may not see the true challenges for those of you without these four years have not been your best i'm worried that you will accept your  have truly wonderful things to discover about yourself wonderful towns to uncovers and i'm worried that you might stop too long here and let what has been dictate what can be part of your work is to know your own value and we tend to reward a small somewhat narrow band of talent here that is our tradition i worry that those of you who have not been located on that band may not recognize your true work there is very little that we have to teach you that you all can learn most things are really simple just things which others like you and i have discovered zum times the complexity of our own creations this is a wonderful world of all of  world in front and friend come close beside and keep you sleepless i wish you the thrill of knowing who you are where you stand and why especially was not prosperity but dreams i wish for you not riches but a sense of your own work i wish to do is not even a long life however i would like to have it so the life that is crammed with living hour by  from the business department this is a young man who has a great deal of energy has received barfi letters in both soccer and wrestling students he's captain of both of those varsity teams he's a hardworking member of the student government will be do from the physical education department this young woman has been the class secretary for four years he was awarded the scholarship for summer study of george washington university is editor of high point member of the performing arts company plays the violin as president of the debating team captains attracting a cross country teams he's active in our church choir varsity tennis team future teachers of america she's listed among the who's who among american high school students and she'll be attending san jose state university in california i foreign language department woman is ranked often her class scored seven hundred in math and english as a member of the belmont student government peer leadership said she's participated in the amigos program and in the south and central championship triple jump and you will be attending dar social studies department when participated in schools the school play was the french exchange student editor of the high point member of amnesty international member the national honor society leader for youth fellowship it's worked in two kitchens she's walked from hunger to participate in community and volunteer activities throughout her time here there will be attending wellesley college  the next young man actually gets to work to be receiving both the science department of work and the music department works he plays the trombone the bass and two other members performing arts company marching band jazz ensemble you graduates and i see ninety two parents friends and relatives faculty members of the school committee and other special guests i'm very pleased to present school committee shields i guess to two graduating seniors a shield certificate for outstanding achievement an exceptional distinction and scholarship is awarded to the senior who was valedictorian of the class of ninety nine and to receive the national merit commendation as a member of the national honor has received the massachusetts association of school superintendent certificate of merit the harvard prize book award the society of women engineers certificate of merit the math department of all award and is a member of the concert choir the recipient of this awar durable shield certificate for absenting achievement an exceptional distinction and scholarship is awarded to the senior salutatorian of the class of ninety nine to receive the national merit commendation is a member of the national honor society receive the the recipient of this award is lauren young in scholarship in the arts in athletics and in community service but this time i would like to share with you some brief ideas taken from a challenging book entitled the good society published in one nine hundred ninety one authored by  robert and four colleagues so sociologist the good society has a sequel to an earlier book habits of the heart and i think three years ago at graduation i commented briefly on that habits of the heart examine the role of individuals and communities in our society and its conclusion is that we americans often think of ourselves as isolated individuals pitted against the institutions in our lives because society response to the same question as its predecessor how do we have americans think about how we live a good society argues that we live through our institutions and for better or for worse we can implement a good society only by contribut improving and perfecting our institutions the authors posit that fundamental american institutions such as corporations political parties universities and schools and churches have failed to create a good society because they have overemphasized individual as i'm their focused on the unfettered opportunity to compete for material well being and in general has shown a disregard for the good life predicated upon working for the common good let me share a brief passage to give you a flavor of this many powerful institutions which influence our lives and consume much of our energy economic governmental educational pulled us apart it seems to to compete for individual advantages rather than to combine for the common welfare and they empty out meaning from our lives when they structure our existence as a competitive race for money power prestige and are the consumer goods that symbolize them our institutions need to give us membership recognition and the opportunity to contribute to the common good all the book is sobering it's also  concluding chapter is entitled democracy means paying attention and the author is a lab right on the skills needed to create a life giving institutions and organization i think the implications are fairly straightforward and in my view the belmont community continues to expand considerable efforts to nurture assented to sion such as the belmont public schools the good society is good reading i recommended to y and now to the school committee chairman mrs karan pressie i am very pleased to certify that the seniors here present have met the requirements for graduation from belmont high school members of the school committee dr hall and members of the school administration mr wright members of the class of nineteen ninety two parents and friends it gives me a great pleasure to represent the school committee here this afternoon and i am grateful to the chair mrs presley for the privilege of allowing me to address you i spent an evening last week reading yearbook of just graduating class you deserve a lot of credit and you did a great job of putting this book together and i know that it will preserve treasured memories for you in the years to come i happened to be looking at your pictures and reading the write ups under each one of them and i came upon a quotation which particularly struck life is a confrontation between you and yourself when you accept yourself you don't need to be accepted by others you may smile and thank you in yourself to the same person  a big deal but if you think about it for a minute you may be who you are now today and yourself maybe what you want to become what you really want to be for the rest of your life when you become and accept that self you no longer demand the approval of the acceptance of the high school graduation is always thought of as the major turning point in your life i know that you've all heard to try to expressions in the last few weeks you know an adult you'll be on your own  there will be no one to nag you were to look out for you look to the future the future is you all know always your time graduation could be the beginning of you becoming yourself we hope as parents grandparents and teachers do we have given you the tools and training to become the best self that you can be like we believe that belmont high school has offered you the best educational and extracurricular opportunities available we hope you have each taken advantage of what has been offered i don't mean that you  call on is because of the you were in the first spring on every sport i hope that you took a chance and tried out for the school play i hope that you stuck it out in band even though you were not always  circle you have proven as a class and as individuals that you have the talent  have had the privilege of knowing many of you personally go camping trips academic various school field trips science fairs at the middle school been through church ever watched you develop through elementary and middle is certainly impressive it gives me great pleasure to see how much you as a class have accomplished over your poor years you should be very proud of yourselves and i know that your families are proud of you wal not everyone here is a medal winner not a they have to be you are still a success and you also can be justly proud you are here today graduates and just in itself is no small accomplishment you participated as a member of your class and you made your class richer by your presence and you share in their accomplishments to now high school  and you are ready to compete in college and in the workforce your family and the community have given you moral and ethical values to guy do in your decision we hope that you maintain a sense of values throughout your li and we hope you always consider belmont to be awful the army wants you to be all you can be as you leave belmont high school we urge you to go out and become the b you are willing to accept when you accept yourself you don't need to be accepted by others the hardest thing about high school just the experience of play school is being yourself kids spend on high school years trying to be accepted by others they often forget about themselves you want to be part of a special social you want to have a popular girlfriend or cute boyfr you want to be on the vast city sports team or you want to have a good part in the senior play you want to have the right clothes and go to the right time everything is second to being  accepted when you leave belmont high school you're on your own and there is no one to impress but yourself being and becoming this is your opportunity to confront your real self to become real you take with you everything don't want high school and your family has given you and create your own future become the so you want to be we wish you the best of luck to each and every one of you and we look forward to hearing about your future accomplishment thank you very much glenn lewis michelle al maria teresa neil francis edward mel christina marie was anthony walker the more of our own david thomas john paul maxwell matthew h eager george wellington julie dorothy courtney jeffrey oh tha john brandon wagner jennifer catherine age i guess i'd like to say it is the way of ending ceremonies is so important in our culture just a very brief reading to close the ceremony and it picks up on some of the things that andrew said some of the things that diana said some of the things that lauren said some of the things that dr holmes said some of the things that mr davies that was written by ralph all the time of this very short so bear with me it's called success it's kind of