for each of the past six years i've met with the incoming eighth grade on their last day in middle school to welcome them into the ninth grade i met with this particular group of students in the gym four years ago you guys remember that and i also gave you an assignment if you remember this i challenge you to get involved and take every advantage of those offerings that high school made available to you and today four years later i can see the challenge i laid out for you that day list of knowledge and skills we require students to master in order to graduate from the young men and women assembled before us certainly embody the meaning of these words and if distinguished themselves and if some extraordinary ways while it's impossible for me to do justice to the incredible diversity of talents that can be found in this group of individuals please allow me to take a few minutes to give you a brief overview of the accomplishments of the class of two thousand and twelve using the motto learn think create and serve as a guide learning and thinking of the cornerstones of our educational institution all of the students of the class of two thousand and twelve have demonstrated they are effective communicators researchers critical thinkers and problem solvers through the completion of a myriad of assessments here's a sample of the distinctions that these students have earned in the classroom twenty nine of the students a per test students qualified as national merit scholars representing the top four percent of all students in the nation on the pre three of those students achieve the distinction of national merit scholar finalist and were awarded scholarships from the national merit program only eight thousand three hundred students nationwide are in these awards and we have three of  the individual members of this class also received honors for their achievements in the mathematics olympiad for their expertise in the science by the intel talent search and the society of women engineers and through the international biology olympia and two of the students assembled here today are members of the two thousand and twelve national economics challenge national championship team and finally in our award ceremony last friday one hundred sixteen students of the class of two thousand and twelve were awarded over sixty five thousand dollars in scholarship money second public schools motto is create belmont high school students show their ability to create in many ways some do so through their ability to make music either with an instrument or with their voice others create works of art through  camera or through electronic media some show their creative ability through their portrayals of characters on the stage and others are able to create through the use of their physical act abilities on the playing fields among the many honors achieved by in other ways no matter what the when our students learn through these efforts is the value of serving the public good and the responsibility they have to improving the world again in the other areas  hours of service forty one members of the class of two thousand and twelve were recognized with the presidential service award which signifies at least performance of one hundred hours of service in a year nine of the students here i've achieved the presidential service award in all four years of high school two of those nine earned the gold award all four years which is over performance of over two hundred fifty hours per year for four as a group you've shown yourselves more than worthy of the title belmont high school graduate you've made us all proud of you graduations our school and to our community and i'd also like to welcome my family friends and most importantly the class of two thousand and twelve it is an incredible honor to have the opportunity to speak before two hundred seventy five of my peers will very soon be high school graduates today we are not only celebrating the academic accomplishments of these students but also their achievements in countless areas outside of academia it is safe to say we have upheld the school's culture of extensive well rounded news we are currently in the presence of sports captains counted musicians actors and actresses dedicated volunteers economics national champions and many who have simply describe as being great all around human beings when i sat down to begin to write the speech i tried to think of what to take from this experience from four years of study and one of the country's highest performing public schools and from a diverse and encouraging and mentally stimulating community that is i came to the conclusion that our sponsibility to the society is really quite simple you must take what we know and what we've learned having had an edge over most eighteen year olds out there and enjoying a very high quality of life and apply our insights to a constantly changing world we live in a community where our voices can easily be heard if you want to let all of your peers know exactly what you're doing right now regardless of whether they care or not you can be assured that you can easily do that with modern day technology as teenagers we feel a need to express ourselves often we are led to question your immediate impulse and proceed onwards with steady intention a few weeks ago my impulse was tested a friend and i are playing frisbee on the beach and the disc was overthrown and landed in an area marked off for the looking beyond the rope i stare at the frisbee line beyond me there are no birds or nest to be found was i causing harm by crossing the line right i don't know i thought the answer was no but the truth was i didn't actually know for sure this cannot keep advancing without our voices to keep a check on the validity of the limits and guidelines that are set in place for us but having said this it is equally important that we recognize what it is we don't know and b h s has given us the tools and critical thinking skills to acquire new knowledge and wisdom throughout the rest of our lives i recognize the importance of this registering to vote in the social studies office recently i was telling mr straight that i hadn't actually followed the election close enough to make an informed previously thought really bothered me being hearing this i knew but i didn't know so from there all it's do is go figure it out let me reiterate that our high school education has provided us with all of the assets which we can grow mentally and become a part of this real world and this community the last this field has this town this state even this country my classmates you are truly thank you dr harvey and the class of two thousand and twelve graduations to you and your parents before i present the outstanding citizenship awards i would like to take a moment to recognize another graduate of the class of twenty twelve who one like you has taken eight years to get to this stage of his life i am referring of course to dr harvey dr harvey on behalf of the school committee and the school district administration i wish to present you with a certificate of appreciation and also with a small mento to remind you about your yours yours in belmont and not to forget this  now pleased to present the first of two school committee awards for outstanding achievement in scholarship this award is presented to a senior who is an outstanding student who enjoys independent learning and research and analysis of complex problems this individual is one of five members of the belmont high school team for the moodies mega math challenge which placed in the top twelve out of over six hundred teams entered she was one of four members of the belmont high economics challenge team that placed second in the new england federal reserve cup competition she volunteered last summer at the harvard stem cell institute and has continued to take on leadership roles this year including one as co president of the model un team another as co captain of the ski team and also as captain of the quiz bowl team i understand by reputation that she's also a superb baker of cookies cakes and breads and she will likely be very popular in her dorm room if that dormitory has a kitchen she can use she will be tending a little college across the river by the name of harvard this fall the thank you dr king's dr harvey think of the first test you took all the way back in freshman year do you remember it now but you're a member the first class but wait your imagination on fire or that sunday afternoon you spent by the pond discussing math or the book you were reading in english what about the class you were hesitant to take but ended up loving or the sport you were terrified to try out for the main extraordinary friends and challenge yourself to reach higher as a result what about the first time you stepped on stage in a school play or volunteered at the food pantry sometimes the most important measures of how far you've come of how far we as a class have c are not the tangible our journey can only partially be measured in the grades we have received and the assignments we have completed rather is the intangibles  everything from the friends we have made to the clubs we have joined to the knowledge we have accumulated over the last four years for me much of my high school experience could be  in my morning walk to school with some my friends the tired mornings the frenzied studying the laughing and occasionally cheers as we made our way through snowstorms pelting rain and very rarely showers of pink flower petals against a clear blue sky walking past the vicious german shepherd leaving his chain and i think to attack us each morning brought a new conversation i knew journey and a separate microcosm of our experience in high school as a whole but through it all i was never alone and that is what made my and our journey so amazing and rewarding the people we shared it with take a moment to look around to appreciate this moment and the parents teachers and students who have profoundly influenced our high school experience without them we would all be very different people than we are today they have helped us and we have helped each other to grow and mature and to open new worlds to our curious minds steve jobs once said you can't connect the dots looking forward you can only connect them looking backwards as we move forward in our own endeavors remember your years here they will serve you well in your next adventure thank you all for making the last four years so truly incredible the second school committee award for outstanding achievement and scholarship is presented to a senior who is an incredibly thoughtful and caring young woman and who gets actively involved loves to write and is certainly curious about the world of creating things has triggered her leadership in organizing the belmont high school ocean ball club she is also an inspirational member of the science club who organized a group of classmates to clean up clay pit pond and no they did not find an automobile there she has played a lead role in the biology olympiada team at b h s and she is a poet member of the national honor society selected for her character and her drive for learning she has written for the high point newspaper since her freshman year and she will be attending cornell university in the fall the recipient of this war thank you dr kingston my life is largely governed by routine from the minute i wake up in the morning i'm going over my daily schedule trying to protect my homework assignments and organizing my time slots according to where i will be in the afternoon and evening even when i help around the house cleaning up after dinner folding the laundry and gardening i have a procedure that has taught me bits of what i might have to know in these daily routines i'm comfortable all our lives we have had that structure to help direct us i could count on the late night conversations with my mother where we would discuss everything from my day at school to what she thought i would be like in thirty years i could count on my father to make things right again when my computer crashes at two am in the morning and to send me to school every day i could count on my teachers to space assignments to be manageable and to invest themselves in my learning and to push me when i felt the strong p i had set deadlines steps procedures i had a structure where as long as i stayed with the net i could expect to be taken care of and help now at this age in the euphoria and anticipation of being on my own i feel absolutely ready to come out from beneath my parents wings that feeling might be perfectly sound or it might be youthful enthusiasm regardless it is a feeling that most of us share at this moment we are stepping out of  invisible walls now into these of the into a world that is more unexpected and more like the life we would have as independent adults going to college is more than a change of institution is symbolic at the beginning of adulthood and as the loosening of the carefully constructed world of our childhood it is a time to shed some old characteristics explore new ones and reinvent others it is a time to test and to use what you have learned these past years and try your hand against the world it is a time to take measured risks and to not be afraid of failure or the unknown i believe that there will be times when we will have no idea how to proceed or what choice to make and there will definitely be times when we feel frustrated however despite any misgivings or fears we may have i know that we are searching for something for felling a way to impact the world more directly than we have up to this point th is what makes half of our venture and what makes us fidgeting are bouncing in our seats desperate for the ceremony to end and to finally to be able to claim declare ourselves be our future guard our future is uncertain but our minds are sharp and our hopes and these are all the tools we will ever this is graham members of the school committee i hereby certify that the students assembled here today have completed the requirements to earn a belmont high school diploma at this time i would ask the belmont school committee chairperson miss lawrie graham and its senior school committee member miss laurie slap to come to the podium to present the d he's a gentleman it's my honor to present to you the graduates of belmont high school class of two thousand a six years in the district and the value that that belmont places on the education of its children has made it a joy for me to work here so thank you and actually fortunate to have known all the and to the graduates of class of the class of two thousand and twelve i can say i've been honored to work with you over the last four years and i wish you all the best in the future good luck