and gentlemen i ask you to please rise to honor the class of two thousand and eight please remain standing immediately following for the singing of our national anthem or numerous award winners we recognize twenty eight students who amassed thirty eight perfect eight hundred scores on the s a t exam seven students were recognizes national merit scholarship finalists and one of them was awarded a national merit scholarship to seniors are also recognized for their performance on the american high school mathematics competition awards placing among the top students in mathematics in the country his class of bossa been recognized for their creative abilities and talents eleven members of the class of two thousand and eight were recognized as boston or boston globe lastic for their talents as peters photographers and sculptors twenty students recognised for excellence in instrumental music course in theater arts other members are shown that their creativity through distinguishing themselves on the playing fields today we're in the presence of a boston globe oscar lastic athlete and three quarters of an all american four by one hundred indoor relay team finally the students of assembled assembled here today of also demonstrated an understanding of the responsibility of those who have so much talent and ability to give back to the community the two hundred eighty members of this class collectively completed over thirteen thousand hours of community service this year alone forty three members of this class receive presidential community service awards signifying a minimum of one hundred hours of service completed this year if it wasn't clear enough to teach students have some great accomplishments under the but under their belts they also earned over one hundred nine hundred scholarships totaling over eighty one thousand dollars this year new shown yourself to be a group of young people that future delmon high school classes should attempt to emulate in about ten days off reside with mrs alexander over the eighth grade promotional exercises at the cherry middle school for the incoming class of two thousand and twelve i'll tell them that they've had it they have a lot to live up to given the example of this group of students you've made your families your teachers and the taliban are proud of you who graduation see you all enjoy the celebration you've truly earned it now my pleasure to introduce to you mr jeff parsons the president of the class of two thousand an good afternoon i would like to begin by thanking dr holland dr robin dr harvey members of the school committee parents grandparents teachers faculty and mr zak power for helping us during the past four years and making what seemed like only a dream into becoming a reality i was a man once said this is the best high school in these united states and i proudly stand before you today as president of a class of uniquely talented and that young men and women today we celebrate our efforts in realize that this victory was worth the fight we may never have been re warded for every little step we made in the past four years for every homework assignment to be completed but today each of us are recognized for the growth that we have made i do not know what  lies ahead for each of us but i do know that we are fully prepared academically we have been willing to challenge ourselves and to take risks and today we celebrate our acts and accept these challenges we have battle numerous difficulties struggles that only our generation understands and today is the tomorrow that we all dreamed about yesterday for many of us arriving on the stage today it was no small feat it was pretty hard but we are here today together we are educated the proof is in the diploma you may think of it as a ticket to the good life but let me think of it in another way think of it as your ticket to change the world and asked my dad what does it take to be successful in today's world i was surprised he didn't say ask your mother but she said successful leaders have to inspire motivate encourage and empower leaders have to possess integrity honesty fairness and dignity while respecting themselves and others leaders have to strive to live their lives through service to others i hope that i have represented you well and i countless characters in our lives at belmont high school and after my last final exam my mom asked me after your four years about my high school what will you remember the most the people i said the people i've encountered along the way some teachers have made a member impact in all of our lives and have changed the way we went about our high school days the first person that comes to mind is by my high school zone mr d i cannot think of another teacher like him someone so oping so caring and concerned and just an overall nice guy i mean whether the chicken so he has paraded down the italian coast about the fending of students from italian mercenaries and another person that comes to mind is english teacher extraordinary misheard  i just want to thank you for putting up with us i don't know anyone else i could handle a job with antics day in and day out like she did it's a truly extraordinary feat in addition i would like to recognize my history teacher mr cd that's a class i'll never forget and i'm sure we've all had a favorite teacher over the past four years so to all of them i just want to say thank you and there are moments in our lives when we find  ourselves at a crossroad whether it is that we are frightened or just without a map the choices we make in these moments can define us for the rest of our lives most of us when faced with these difficult choices would rather turn around retreat and be safe however occasionally people push on to something better the bravery and courage it takes to succeed because it is only when we are tested is that we discover who we truly are and it is only that when we are tested we discover who we truly can become i just want to thank me for testing me personally the person you want to be does exist beyond the hard work and beyond the fear of what lies ahead graduation day is tough for parents after eighteen years of child raising they are now unemployed your families are extremely proud of you graduation is one of life's moments where we should all have feel a sense of relief a sense of accomplishment and as we leave this field house today as don my high school i will be marking a significant change in our lives as i leave high school the most valuable thing i would take with me are the memories and i would like to thank each and every one of you for being a part of that for your individual part of my memories to my friends and classmates about my school class of two thousand and eight my life will be forever richer because you are all a part of it thanks for the good times the not too good times in the open gym  rate today from by my high school remember some of the essential lessons that our books and teachers have tried to teach us trust your instincts embrace your freedom make wise choices and maintain your honor and integrity with the words of a man who saw the magic the wonder in life and embrace it for what it was worth the great well after all of your dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them thank you and congratulations to bama high school class of two thousand and eight graduates of the class of two thousand and eight parents and grandparents friends and relatives faculty members of the school committee and other special guest i'm pleased to present a school committee award for outstanding achievement and exceptional selected to the eastern senior district band the past winter he volunteered countless hours at mass general hospital and was a four time presidential service arrived when i received for our city letters in track and astro recognition in the well dr hall dr robin members of the school committee dr harvey faculty family friends and of course my classmates i read malcolm this afternoon i wa congratulate the class of two thousand and eight on an extraordinarily impressive milestone your impending graduation i must delighted to note that for the first time in quite some time a bell is called out than memory and today i want to speak most particularly about that thing that i hope most fervently believe if you come to understand fully that life is not and should never be about  something that may seem strange to say at a ceremony in which we celebrate our successful academic progression but i think we have considered the value of academic success effort and perseverance quite enough for the past four years instead i want to consider something different but equally entitled to the high school experience and the human experience in general the pursuit of happiness perhaps tell from the fact that i'm delivering end in themselves not of any significance in themselves the kinds of achievements to do matter are never those that can be quantified reduced to a reward or certificate those achievements that matter are those for whom no one ever has where ever will give an award those achievements that matter those to bring happiness whether to us our families people we have never met people to whom we have no obligations hopefully all of the above anything that we achieve any work in which men gauge any labor we perform does not have any worth if it does not lead to happiness or enable us to produce it and of course i do not imply by that statement that we should abandon work calli life must sometimes incorporate its fair share of works that it can be enjoyed more fully later but the point the central message is that life ought to be enjoyed for its own merit not just to gain anything else i mean to say that the happiness that we should strive to create a need to imagine and we're even created on a grand sweeping scale certainly some of us will spend our lives in a spirited and hopefully successful effort to save the world and that is entirely to be commende however the world can never be saved if we do not save it ourselves put another way magnificent visions of environmentalism founder if none of us takes the time to plant a tree and great visions of social welfare will dissipate if no one takes the time to work in a food pantry so efforts towards happiness that may seem quite ordinary monday when first consideration are in fact of the most essential an absolute  off saving the room and any other grand aspirations you have lay down whatever burdens you have for the nonce and please have fun this summer but second let us try to my work towards that pursuit of happiness for ourselves and for others no as the long days go that to live is happy has found his happened thank you the second school committee a world for outstanding achievement an exceptional distinction and scholarship is presented to the senior who is valedictorian of the class of two thousand and eight he is a dedicated and responsible student with absolute commitment to whatever undertakes he is able to engage others with wit and enthusiasm and he creates warm relationships with his friends teachers and family went to a national merit scholarship he has achieved perfect scores on the s reasoning test and met in writing and mathematics as well as mathematics level two united states history and the physics s a t s subject test and the dance placement here and perfect scores in biology european history macro economics micro economics and united states history he was a participant in belmont high schools of argentina exchange program he was an avid participant in community service winning the server presidential run his sophomore year and the presidential award his junior year president of the belmont young crowd and a writer for the highpoint newspaper he will be attending harvard university in the fat all the recipient of this award is daniel cell gr good afternoon dr holland dr robin dr harvey members of the school committee faculty family friends and most importantly members of the class of two thousand and eight i feel truly honored to  have the opportunity to speak here today it's my pleasure to celebrate the achievements of these two hundred and seventy eight graduates of the my high school class of two thousand and eight we have not only shown academic progress but  areas outside of the classroom yet captains club presidents nationally recognized brainiacs members of the ninety ninth percentile and in some ancient program cultures where even consider god amongst men the one in the short of it is this is a group of truly amazing people so who am i to try and point impart any sort of knowledge to this truly phenomenal class am admittedly the stupidest person i know so when dr holland presented the shield i felt as if you were describing a stranger yes one part of me is tragically and unforgiv but the other parts those that most define me completely disparate from the others one part of me is the editor who wishes that i have had given my speech another glance over before reading it today and one part of me is the ham who secretly enjoys taking center stage and having all eyes on him for a change but the other is the tacky quest spent on for years in the b h s d r program hiding in the darkness backstage multiple personality disorder my point is this we are multi faceted dynamic beings we are imperfect we change our high school careers are not defined by the achievements and blunders of solely one person but rather an entire chain of personalities ok well that did sound a bit crazy but if there's one thing that will take away here from my time at p h s it is an appreciation for the would suspend judgment on anything said in the circle and not allow it to affect our perception of the speaker so let me get this straight in high school we're going to stop judging people isn't that what this place is all about unless i plan to dance seemed of no use but then i paused and thought of what i could have used this freedom from the judgment of others a flood of memories deciding to wear entirely green clothing to school one day performing the thriller dance as a part of a history presentation in one nine hundred eighty s music writing and directing a ten minute movie in my a p history class parroting mean girls with characters from american history attaching to  and a said teen comedy a five minute clip of myself dancing to a swedish techno pop song alone in my room wearing only pajamas i was in a weird person i just did great thing in my self deprecating denial i realized that casting seems so foreign to me because i had in fact never articulated it i had lived it whenever i dance whenever i speak whenever i share and express myself with society as i am today i run the risk of being defined by one moment but if we don't pick up the keys we won't get anywhere we just have to trust in others we need to believe in our own sense of being we want to present to the universe the person we want to be in that second in that hour or in that year borges the other one that things happen to news of core haste reaches me by mail little by little i've been turning everything over to him though i know the perverse way he has of distorting and spinning everything so my life is a point counterpoint a kind of fugue and a falling away i don't even know which of us is writing this page for his imagine the universe as an inf the real world all we can see is the turn the next televising i had the next fork in the road as we approach the next bend in our lives which i look back on the path that has led us to this point for me the path is a just jointed series of photos i may look different but today i feel more than ever like that slightly overweight middle schooler who stumbled into his freshman year so instead a child looked towards the future but it is impossible to know no matter how hard we plan and schedule and fuss over our dreams the russian american novelist vitamin r because rights time is about memory in the making to be means so there we have it there's no future there's no past there's only the here the now the present today is one of the few times in life we can look in which we can look into the mirror and say hey self you know we may not be sure but it all means to day we celebrate the people we were the people we are and the people we've become we have planted here at the turn for just a moment but if i for only moments then you follow it take a pill and swallow it none of us forget about who we are it's not forever you can fool around in the dark let's go now you and i and the famous for it's a ts eliot it had enough of these heart unhurried w congrats two thousand and eight this is your day you my pleasure to present the department awards for the class of two thousand and eight for academic achievement in art the winner is george  for academic achievement in english winston hill the school community warden english goes to michael mcnamara the academic achievement award for foreign languages presented the school community award for music is presented to scott baker the school community word for mathematics is presented to max chase the academic achievement award for science is presented to daniel  the school community word and science goes to ma the academic achievement award for social studies goes to winston hill mike as my final graduation at belmont high i want to refight very briefly on some of the changes that have occurred within our school system over the past two decades one nine hundred eighty one nine hundred eighty eight to two thousand and eight and this time the we in the belmont public schools have worked very hard to ensure that ass students have access to the best curriculum and this results in two levels a ban on high school college prep as the one lab on the second level is honors and advanced placement our system is enrich the curriculum to the extent that belmont high school now offers twenty six advanced placement courses whereas we had five in one nine hundred eighty eight reflecting on the accomplishments of students the s test scores are outstanding and reflect the academic focus of the students and the community of students have stepped up and met the challenges of the massachusetts education reform act of  recently newsweek magazine published a ranking of public high schools in the united states and ranked belmont high as the one hundred fifty six best public high school in the country cruelly placing this clearly places beyond high school and the top one percent public high schools nationally students but for many of us academics are only part of the story what about the other parts the other parts of student life and student development we like to say that the graduates of bam and high school we like to say to the graduates about high school we not only care about what you learn but we also care about the kind of person you become don high school considers service warning a core expectation with a minimum of forty hours of community service required for graduation recently one hundred one thousand students at the school including forty three seniors receive presidential service or rights for contributing between one hundred and two hundred fifty hours of service in all at the high school thirty two thousand hours thirteen thousand from the seniors were provided to the community by belmont high school students embracing a global society prominent students have traveled to and we have hosted students from argentina china france italy spain austria and germany just in the past few years next year we have programs planned the music department will sponsor a trip to the united kingdom and other administrators and teachers will be traveling to china in and at the battery of a mantri school we have also expanded our in script programming for special needs students diamond host an active metro program with one hundred twenty five students k through twelve thirty here at the high school and i'm pleased to say that i have forty students will be attending college next year i'm sorry all ten of the graduates will be attending college next year the others are still undergraduate participation in athletics fine in performing arts and after school clubs is high and continues to grow and athletics by mine is added lacrosse boys and girls skiing girls hockey in the past decade the essence of a good education really comes down to relationships between students and teachers which support learning a well defined curriculum we can ask ourselves how have we done how can we best measure our success in this endeavor i suggest talk to our graduates look at their accomplishments see how they spend their time as a starter you might review the senior thesis topics which are listed in the high points student newspaper and finally i have a last word for the seniors the graduates i asked to you indulge me for one last favor your final assignment as it were after graduation should you choose to do it and i really recommend that you do spend a few minutes some time later this week during the week and send a letter of thanks to someone who has made a difference for you it very well might be your parents but it could be one of your teachers our coaches are several things our friends a bus driver or someone else it's very special for you send a notice thanks to someone who helped you to make it to this stage which in return her which in turn prepares you for many further stages in your life and now to the school committee chairman john b am pleased to certify that the students here present have met the requirements for graduation from belmont high school you the class of two thousand and eight for today in for years to come in graduation season we hear talk of dreams jeff mentioned dreams earlier today like dreams when we sleep dreams for our lives are all over the map some are serious like careers and family and public service some are personal like our interferes love and how we think of god some are just fun you will reach many of your dreams but some will never come close to reality or no way whether you reach them or not you will still have more dreams and believe it or not many of your dreams are the same as mine your teachers and your parents you thinking geez please don't say you're one of us now ok i won't but please do this share your dreams with each other and with us your fellow adults many of your dreams are indeed the same as ours and together we can realize them but there's something unique about you you are also part of our dreams again the school committee congratulate you and your families and continues to wish you the very best winston sinclair hell melissa blank corn taryn caesar spreading black today christopher could now erica hammarlund isaac has a horn catherine jones laura kennedy thomas leo margaret lynch gina manning reagan mclean michael mcnamara john morrissey kathleen cork alexandra riley kenneth savage jonathan smart gabrielle steinberg charles sullivan gabriel thompson lacey van dyke page word timothy rice jonathan woodland christopher harris kno and geoffrey parson i'd like to thank everyone for coming to share in a celebration of faith journey i have some thanks to give our first off want to thank our faculty for working every day with the students and giving your all because and finally i'd like to take this opportunity to recognize dr holland for his twenty years of service to the belmont public schools