doctor how long members of the school committee parents grandparents friends especially the class of one thousand nine hundred five is my great pleasure to welcome you to our ceremony this is a very special place the school and i have a reading that i'd like to open our ceremony with its called this house this is a house for the in gathering of nature and of people in nature is a house friendship a haven in trouble an open room for the encouragement of our struggle it is a house of freedom guarding the dignity dignity and worth of each person it off as a platform for the free voice for declaring both in times of security endanger the full in undivided conflict of opinion it is a house of truth seeking where the scientist can encourage the devotion of his quest in the mystic progress this house is a cradle for our dreams and the workshop of our common endeavor in just a few moments i'm going to introduce somebody who really doesn't need an introduction please for the class of  before i do that i wanted to make a couple of brief statements this year we have a photographer who will take a perfect picture i'm told of each of the graduates so it will be unnecessary to come up into this area we would like people to basically remain seated throughout the ceremony that will help us the other thing is that this is a ceremony that combines i think two emotions the first one is seriousness and the second is the feeling of celebration we've committed ourselves today to do those two things at the appropriate times we feel very strongly that the speaker should be listen and that at the end of the ceremony there is appropriate time to speak to celebrate it's now my great pleasure to introduce a young man who really personifies the outcome that we would like to have for all of our public school students he's a young man who has worked very very hard he has shown incredible leadership this year he has taken this class and pulled them together and presents them to you as they are today  he will be going to syracuse university next year and he's going there because he worked very very hard he does in fact personify the idea that this is a meritocracy and it doesn't matter what how much of the school committee dr holland mr right parents grandparents teachers friends of course class ninety five so this is the end  everyone likes to call graduation the end i would rather not call today the end rather i like to call today the beginning maybe the end of our childhood but is the beginning of our adulthood the beginning i don't know i guess it sounds happier better after all of today's celebration we've been preparing for this day for a long time now the drama school system for teachers supervisors principals and counselors along with of course our parents have been preparing us for the past twelve thirteen years for today graduation and to achieve a status of adulthood as they've helped us to church or as individuals so that we can go on with our lives and become excessive success and whatever we do excuse me for saying this but i feel that everyone has done a damn fine job with us because we are the best class ever to graduate from dahlman high i really enjoy it feel this that we are graduating not as bunch of different people but rather as a group of individuals combined together to make this class so next year wherever we  weathers down the street or on the other side of the world we will be fine maybe sad for us to leave our family friends but by no means is this the end this is the beginning the commencement of our lives we would now like to share with you something that is at the heart and soul of our school a musical production actually written by one of our graduating students joe devo and they are should come up and get ready to do that now and they've asked me as they're setting up to read the words to the song to you so there won't be as big an interlude so joe and medical so please come forward the title of the song is called the end of the beginning and it goes like this yesterday yesterday was something we knew it made us laugh and cry and actually believed that we could fly it was us though our worry and wonder but through all that we were under we never felt the thunder the thunder is unknown leaving only clues to its presence read really shown only shown like poor peasants who travel forever on leaving only shadows to darken their dawn we don't know because it won't show but we are now free we are in a sense alone never have we had the power the knowledge and the drive to be independently ours and the responsibility to survive we are free our new free for now and always to be which once was our future is now our reality let us blessid for our safety and success let us twelve on only our happiness we have reached the end of the beginning of our journey but the road ahead always give us strength to fight the intelligence to and streetlamps for site we are free our new free the good afternoon members of the school committee dr hall and mr wright parents teachers friends and belmont high school class of one thousand nine hundred five where are you going that's a question that those of us a maroon ganz have become quite familiar with in the past few months where are you going to school next year where are you going to work this summer where are you going the responses to these questions include harvard and c state u conn i'm going to take the iraq i'm going to work in the video store i really don't know where i'm going it with so many inquisitive friends relatives and curious adults the responses to these questions become quite automatic and convey less and less of the passion that initially sparked the plans for whatever it is we've each decided to do you know the old routine where you going i'm going to dartmouth oh it's lovely up there yeah i'm sure i'll have a great time however i have sensed in these superficial statements that we all make about our futures a certain anxiety that is often left unsaid i think it is the ambiguity of the future that makes it so scary back in april we were very busy preparing for our futures we were writing senior theses and analyzing calculus problems singing and dancing  yankees running in track meets and reading in the library taking math exams and going on cultural trips doing science experiments in affirming our face and editing the zenith and doing the chicken walk through the school cafeteria we were leading some and following others taking here and giving there laughing and smiling the whole time in the midst of all this i found myself uncertain about my own future i pictured a future where i would have to combine a great many skills into whatever circumstances came my way or i would not succeed i felt that everything i did had to be fused into a unique and singular style that was mine that would make me a pioneer among a country of revolutionaries where only the most creative and brilliant are remembered i think if you can see by these words that i was fearful of how to prepare for my future i admit sometimes i am afraid and feel lonely trying too hard to answer the question where are you going but well fear may be lonely we are not alone in our fear a few weeks ago i was in my room writing messages on the backs of my senior pictures and i recalled an experience that i had with a friend of mine we had been in a beach in florida with my church youth group and had wandered away from the from the rest of the group to explore the new plant life in the sharp coral of the southern m es at the time i had a strange feeling of companionship with my fellow explorer but i couldn't say exactly barefoot we left our prints in damp sand and walked over sharp rocks pulling up shiny shells and examining the delicate balance of the water in the plant life one of us would find a new channel cutting through the tangled growth and call back to the other so he too could share in the discovery then the second would notice a new type of plant or the beauty of the sunlight shining through the leaves and pointed out the first all around us nature sang in its intricate simplicity and as we walked back to the sandy beach i carried its tune with me and my friends childlike smile on his picture i rode on never forget walking through those mangroves with you what were we searching for in that mangrove i didn't know where i was going and i thought that and that and the thought that i didn't know where i was going never occurred to me while i was there we were simply there in the present just the two of us looking at what was around us if we embrace the present we need not fear the future as matthew writes do not be anxious for tomorrow for tomorrow will be anxious for itself let the days own trouble be sufficient for the day i have found that how i see my future often determines the quality of my present and the quality of my present often determines how i see my future if i am afraid of the future i will be scared today of what tomorrow will bring and i will not be able to put myself only in the things i am doing now similarly if i do not put myself fully into the things i am doing now i will not have a positive outlook for tomorrow we can make the best of any situation if we choose to i put myself only in the things i believe and enjoy the people and events in my life as they have happened this has made me hopeful about my future i know that if we embrace the future the present we need not fear the future i am now all that i ever was still the child who innocently stumbled in his first attempted step still the child who try infinitely walked in curious football across across the kitchen floor and what you see before you now the boy who is afraid of what you might be thinking of these words the boy who is confident they will make a difference in someone's life i'm all i see for myself on the road ahead the parent and teacher in the kitchen watching the young child taking its first tentative steps knowing that both fearful stumbling and curious confidence are in those precious shoes the past present and future are in each of us today so we do not need to worry about where we are going that will come to us we are in this together the way my friend and i were in florida and with faith we will go far hold on to your dreams hold tightly so that they are as much a part of your life as the bronze baby shoes on the piano the diplomas you are about to receive and the friends family teachers and classmates who surround you hold them all tight for they are the life we have and we will carry them with us wherever we go congratulations to the belmont high school class  good afternoon members of the school committee dr holland mr right faculty and staff parents relatives friends and class of one nine hundred ninety five as i sat down to write this speech had a very difficult time deciding where to begin these past four years and involve so many experiences and emotions how could i possibly capture them on paper looking in my mind w visions of pep rallies our two performances p s u dances and of course the cafeteria potato pops but so often my visions were personal snapshots of friends snapshots of laughter by my locker of conversations in the courtyard of lunches i clip upon each of us guards a personal album of snapshot each of us projects a treasure of memories so after sketching out thirteen opening lines if i now share with you my snapshots you can savor and understand your room today we leave behind our premier there high school halls yet today i remember vividly when those blu lockers and colorful murals seem so foreign after all how can we ever forget that first day of freshman year we struggled with our combination locks we try to decipher those blue class schedules we argued about the color of math lockers but amidst the confusion that day i smiled with a trembling expectation for i sent so many possibilities within the unexplored hallways and classrooms walking across freshly lax floors i wondered what experience was going to come to me paging through glossy cover textbooks i wondered what new ideas would lie in me glancing at unfamiliar faces i wondered which individuals would be friend me throughout the morning different images of myself dance through my mind i could see myself as a choral cheerleader or the athletic musician or the acting journalist wondering which of these images i would become and encountered my first high school assignment it was an assignment which did not require note taking or folders or calculators in his assignment which consume me more than any calculus or english essay where the assignment was to create a definition of myself although cannot be found in our point in notebooks this is simon has confronted each member of this class for throughout the past four years we have dedicated ourselves to the task of self definition seeking to discover our own interests we have experimented with new outlets for expression athletes have devoted themselves to pla musicians to sports actors to music looking through my album of memories i see our development through this task from the first pages i see snapshots of freshman freshman class from little circles freshman of pace and selves generic labels of athlete actor artist but in the final pages i see snapshots of individuals individuals with different voices different tastes different stories individuals who define themselves by unique interests talents and dreams gathered here and i'm a room gowns we appealed up those one word labels  celebration amidst the awards and banquets in your books their lives quiet reflection for us we have all defined who we are i see no longer the endless possibilities in our high school hallways colorful posters you my me no longer of tomorrow's meeting the scribbles in my notebook remind me no longer of tomorrow's assignment the faces in the lunchroom remind me no longer of tomorrow's party rather as i go into that those empty blue lockers i see yesterday i see yesterday's meetings yesterday's assignments yesterday's parties walking past the shiny floors i recall the trembling into patient of my first i see again the different images which had danced through my mind and now i wonder if i had made the right choices because this time of excitement is also a time of introspection as we shuffle through our snapshots must each contemplate our past decisions without notes or formulas or textbooks we must each evaluate our personal definition for our first high school assignment is great and not by any teacher but by our own sel floors to unfamiliar classrooms for the each page of college catalogues my stomach flutters in that freshman expectation with each glimpse of sprawling campuses i wonder which dreamed interest i will discover with each photograph of colorful ball sure's i am again the little freshman unsure of who she will become but today we are far more prepared than those nervous freshman four years ago for our high school experience we have created a personal definition and in this time of reflection we have gained in individual awareness through our experiences in college and work will be guided by this individual awareness throughout our experiences in life we will shape the definition which we have created here although they are not complete it is these personal definitions which animate our class when i sometimes arrive at school early in the morning and i sometimes come in the evening to pick up a book the silent classrooms and dark stairways seem so foreign as my footsteps echo through the empty halls the large building no longer feels like my school for it is not the desks and books and blackboards which i compose my high school experience is the individual faces and laughter that educated me is that diverse perspectives and dreams and fear that have been able to me to grow each individual in this class has contributed to our high school experience each individual has a live in those dark and empty halls with a waving hand and greeting smile we cannot all be the class officer who restructures the school schedule we cannot all be the captain who leads a champion team but perhaps your creative idea inspired a class officer to institute reform perhaps your stories invigorated the actors during those discouraging play rehearsals or perhaps your warm smile and comforting shoulder supported a classmate through difficult times jason chute was not a class officer or team captain but his smile and laughter are more powerful than any fundraiser or tropi for although we part in different directions his smile will still glow in our snapshots his laughter will still echo in our memories as we leave behind our desks and lockers we take with us our personal definition but we take also a treasure of memories memories that individual smiles and voices and stories and myths new faces and experiences our personal definition will change but the treasure of smiles and laughter will always embrace us and failure always strengthen us and hardship always inspire us to dream i need only to look at all the trophies and banners and plaques to be certain that we will fulfill our dreams or i need only to look at all the determined and inspired individuals before me throughout the past four years i've witnessed our development it's my pleasure now to make the department awards that were voted by the faculty at belmont high school to be given to the students and the class and i can ninety five before i do that i think it's an appropriate time for us  to recognize what part of what carolyn was saying each of the students sitting in this gathering today has a yellow ribbon in memory of jason shoot who died a year ago in a car accident it's my feeling that he's his memory which is classmates but there is also tradition at this time before i make presentations that i do a very short last opportunity to teach you something we think is important  short it's actually a sermon that was delivered by an anonymous deliver at st paul's church it goes like this something i'd like you to listen to carefully go placidly admit in the ways in haste and remember what peace there may be in silence as far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons speak your truth quietly and clearly and listen to others they too have their story avoid loud and aggressive persons they have x ations to the spirit if you compare yourself with others you may become vain and better always always they will be greater and lesser and lesser persons than yourself enjoy your achievements as well as your plans keep interested in your own career however humble it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time exercise caution in your business affairs for the world is full of trickery but let this not blind you to what virtue there is many persons strive for high ideals and everywhere life is full of heroism be yourself especially do not feign affection neither be cynical about love for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment i perennial as the grass take kindly the counsel of the years gracefully surrendering surrendering the things of youth nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune but do not distress yourself with imagin gs many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness beyond the wholesome discipline be gentle with yourself you are a child of the universe no less than the trees in the stars you have the right to be here and whether or not it is clear to you right now no doubt the universe is an unfolding as it should therefore be at peace with god whatever you conceive him or her to be and whatever your labors and aspirations in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul with all that sham drudgery and broken dreams it is still a beautiful world be careful and strive to be happy it's now my chosen for the foreign language award it's a young woman who is an exceptional student she said ambitious enthusiastic and energetic she has added independent study courses to her curriculum and has taken courses at harvard extension tough some brandeis and is deeply involved in the orchestra of course she her counsel writes that she's mature beyond her years and is a real asset to our school and we were fortunate to have her here as a student she will be attending brandeis university in the fall on you ro the english and science department awards goes to a young woman who's demonstrated tremendous preparation whatever she does she always goes a step further she's an active participant in all activities in the school she is sensitive to the needs and feelings of others  she's editor of our school newspaper one of the editors she volunteers at local nursing homes and it can't for special needs needs youngsters and carolyn gavin will be attending harvard in the fall carol and she can deliver a really good speech as well i have to call you back up after saying all those wonderful things you're also supposed to get the science award i think it deserves two trips anyway the math department word goes to a young woman who is bright energetic motivated she frequently goes beyond the curriculum undertaking and extra projects she's an exceptional athlete she has earned the letters and swimming indoor and music award goes to a young man who is in a long line of folks who in his family are going to force school tech to think this will be the first year i haven't had somebody from this family in my school he is a one of the most gifted people that we've seen here in a very long time he combines musical talent with a fine academics record he's a member the wind ensemble the symphonic band the orcs of the jazz band of course he is a jazz musician as well as a classical musician he has earned all kinds of awards in music which are too numerous to to the west but eric nelly who will be tending the university of massachusetts a member the art award goes to a young man who has a rare mixture of intellectual curiosity a strong math background and an avid interest in art he's also a terrific athlete his counsel well rounded gifted in a person who offers so much promise shawn soccer will be attending syracuse university  the business department has chosen young woman who is a fine student with a sense of purpose and direction she has a sincere desire to meet her highest goals she's a fine athlete play soccer  she's a kind person her guidance counselor writes who's willing to lend a helping hand always she volunteers her time to help others whenever possible and allison will be attending university union college in the fall allison this is a word from the physical education department so work goes to one of my very favorite people in the whole school and i don't think anybody knows who's going to get this maybe some of you do this is a fellow who can actually walk up walls without using his hands the social studies department award goes to a young woman who has been really at the heart of the school throughout her time here sarah has a record of school and community citizenship which is an equal by any student in my recent memory her participation in school and community activities has been extensive meaningful and genuine serious co president of the student council student government and a driving force in amnesty international her musical accomplished complements are numerous she's a member of the national honor society and will be attending harvard university in the fall sarah w the industrial arts award goes to the young man who his presence will really be missed in the school i don't know what we're going to do technically in the school when he goes because i think he's rewired everything and he hasn't told anybody how it's been done but jed is a personal energetic young man he's enthusiastic about learning and exhibits responsibility and maturity beyond his years jet does the lighting and design for the performing arts company and again that wiring is a maze that will be attending university of massachusetts  this year we had a committee of students and parents and other interested folks to talk about graduation and how we would maybe do some things differently in the students said that we oftentimes make a large deal as we should about academic success and that there are hundreds and hundreds of kids in the school who every day do what they should do and more and contribute mightily to our culture and so we have a whole bunch of new awards from each of the departments which recognize citizenship in thoughtfulness and hard work the social social studies department shows a very special person katie as we know her has earned the respect of the faculty and yet in her the music department chose a person who has affected the work involved in almost every part of our school christina is a school leader who has been active in sports music in school affairs member the band orchestra she's won several awards for her performances  star in track she played soccer she leads a youth group and sings in her church choir she's an exceptional the english department special award is given to a young woman who is just very very energetic and she's an order on a roll student was shown great leadership leadership throughout her time in school she's a member of the performing arts company she sings in the madrigals she has been student representative to the p t a and the advisory council she's a leader in our students against drunk driving group member the belmont club she'll be majoring in chemical engineering kristina the physical education and special award goes to a young woman who is an outstanding student was strong grades and in a very challenging program she is a school leader who has distinguished herself as a great athlete on the high school excelling in three sports soccer basketball and softball claudie has chosen or was chosen to represent our school girl state and is regarded highly by her teachers and peers alike she is a scholar an athlete and a wonderful person  the science department you have to understand that we make these choices without consulting with one another and so there the department this is a very pure stuff science department goes once t community service organization for your member of performing arts company and has worked on the staff of the yearbook in the highpoint and catherine johnson gets another awar the math department has chosen a young woman who ranks near the top of her class she's active in school programs such as tutoring for the national honor society she's in peer leadership she's interested in becoming a teacher and clearly has the necessary talent and intelligence and motivation sensitivity to others she is genuine sincere and a very very disciplined young woman  the foreign language you weren't goes to a young woman who has maintained a wonderful academic record about my sky school she has to develop an especially strong ability in the foreign languages she's always willing to lend a hand and take on more for her share of responsibility she member the performing arts company a member of student government and contributed to the school newspaper and school magazine she was also finalists in national history day claudia reuben smith we could probably have given awards to another fifteen twenty thirty other students in this gathering i think it's time to give them all around applause for their hard work and su just now my pleasure to introduce dr peter holland who is the superintendent of schools he's a good friend of mine he's somebody who cares very deeply about what we do here for starting graduates of nine hundred ninety five parents grandparents brothers and sisters friends and relatives faculty members of the school committee and other special guest i'm pleased to present school committee shield certificates to two graduating seniors a shield certificate for outstanding achievement an exceptional distinction and scholarship was awarded to the senior valedictorian of the class of one thousand nine hundred five commanded student in the national merit competition a member of the national honor society has scored perfect score in the advanced placement test in both european and united states history the recipient of the boston law medals the harvard prize book award the society of women engineers certificate of merit editor of the highpoint performing arts company a member of the chorus and appear at leader the recipient of this award who is no stranger to the dyess this afternoon is caroline ga a shield certificate for outstanding achievement in exceptional distinction and scholarship is awarded to the senior who is salutatorian of the class of one nine hundred ninety five a national merit finalist a member of the national honor society a student who scored a perfect score on the mathematics section the p s a t a recipient of the yale university alumni book award the american high school mathematics examination award the wrestler medal is a section leader in the marching band member of the performing arts company a member of the mask team captain of the indoor track captain of the outdoor track and   member of the cross country team the recipient recipient of this award as frederick or one the pretty graduation assembly which was held last week we failed to give derek the award for being a national merit finalist so we have both the pen and the certificate for him now congratulations again each year at graduation i take a minute or two under very severe restraints this year because we want to make sure the program runs very smoothly and quickly to introduce an influential thinker and some of his ideas and the person i've chosen for this is robert greenleaf who was born in one thousand nine hundred four and died in one nine hundred ninety at the age of eighty six and is certainly a contemporary of ours some of his books were entitled servant leadership another teacher a servant and a third trustees a servant green we spent most of his professional life in the field of management research development and education at eighty and t at age sixty him barked on a second career and founded the center for applied ethics where he worked for another twenty five years until his death at its core servant leadership comes from greenleaf's notion that and i quote caring for persons the more able and the less able serving each other is the rock upon which a good society is built whereas until recently caring was largely person to person now most of it is mediated through institutions often large complex powerful impersonal not always competent and sometimes corrupt if a better society is to be built one that is more just and more loving one that provides greater creative opportunities for its people then the most open course is to raise both the capacity to serve and the very performance as servant of existing institutions by new regenerative forces operating within them and another section he speaks a servant led society is one in which the majority of its institutions churches schools businesses philanthropies and government agencies are led by servants when he was asked how we know what the signs of this are he responded you can tell by the consequences of the servants influence on other people well all or almost all of the people touched by that leader's influence grow as persons will they while being served to become healthier wiser freer more likely themselves to become servants and the effect on the least privileged in society will that person benefit or at least not be further deprived i judge the quality of any society by what the least privileged in it are able to achieve unquote as you move through this transition from high school to university and through other transitions in your life i ask that you reflect on these ideas of one of our very influential contemporaries and now to the school committee chair m mary power i am pleased to certify that the seniors here president have met the requirements for graduation from belmont high school emily m alan christina carmen claudia elizabeth bell allison elizabeth brown allison french b jenna rosanna gregory emerson down kimberly and fields paris george stephanie rachel green danielle robert harris katherine harris kathleen see hailey amanda mackenzie howland internet chevelle johnson benjamin michael johnson jacqueline claire mcneil william mansfield christina martin kelly lane mcbride nicole elizabeth mccarthy caitlin bridget mckenna scott michael mcmillan stephanie marie mellow emily elizabeth rank daniel hamilton rogers caroline lynn scandal alexander donald julia stay out of it kevin w turner damon j wake us keith malls and writers gathering johnson michael z goldman nina elizabeth tokyo this is almost the conclusion of the ceremony we will have the magical singers sing a traditional irish blessing and they should come up here at this point and get themselves set up well they're doing that i'm just going to do you a short into the ceremony so listen again it's called the gates of freedom and this is sort of dedicated to joe devo and his crew and their original music through our knowledge as though our knowledge is incomplete our truth partial and our love imperfect we believe that new light is ever waiting to break through individual hearts and minds to enlighten the ways of people that there is mutual strength and willing cooperation and that the bonds of love keep open the gates of  off until we meet again go in peace geoffrey