Graduation
Page 12a — June 28, 2013
The ReCORD-ReVIeW
John Jay High School
class oF 2013
Reflecting back, moving forward at John Jay By NATALIA BAAGE-LORD
On Wednesday, June 19, hundreds of friends and family members filed under the white tent at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts to help 283 John Jay High School seniors celebrate their 2013 graduation. Several students had been together since grade school, while others had only shared class together for a few years. However, salutatorian Angelo Angelino said that all of the students are similar because they all share the same commonality of having a special gift that should be recognized. He noted that everyone has a gift that allows them to contribute to society, and that people should look to understand other people’s gifts as well. “By embracing the skills of others while unpretentiously sharing your own gifts, we may grow as individuals and advance our communities,” Angelo said. “You all have a gift, and you should be proud of it. And if you don’t know what it is yet, go out and find it. You’ll be doing an injustice to this world if you don’t find and share that gift.” Katonah-Lewisboro superintendent Paul Kreutzer agreed with Angelo, saying that the graduating class of 2013 embodied the word “special.” He also noted that they were talented and creative. “They’re a pretty sharp group and they know a lot more than you and I did at their age,” said Dr. Kreutzer. “They’re connected to a world beyond their front doorstep… Thank you graduates for all we already know from you and what we’re about to learn.” The audience smiled widely and wrapped arms around each other, whispering comments during speeches. Many women wore summery dresses while most of the men donned slacks and dress shirts. The memories came flooding back for school board presi-
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Members of the Rolling Tones musical group
dent Mark Lipton. He explained that the class of 2013 is the most special to him as they are the sons and daughters of his friends. Over the years, he has witnessed their growth and maturation. Mr. Lipton recalled an artistic student’s first art project was when she colored her sister with a sharpie. He remembered when another student, at a young age, sat at his dining room table and shoved a grape up their nose. He also reminisced about the first time a student made frozen pizza, but didn’t take it out of the box before putting it in the oven.
On a more serious note, Mr. Lipton said that the world will expect more from the graduates as they enter their post-secondary school lives. Hopefully, he added, John Jay, helped them reach a good level of expectation. Speaking to the parents, he noted that graduation marks the end of their students’ lives as children, and that, hopefully, parents can begin a new relationship with their children as adults. Valedictorian Daniel Fulop said that his fellow graduates should reflect back on their years at John Jay. High school was a time of experiences and mistakes that they, ultimately, learned and matured from, he said. Some parents moved to the tent’s outskirts, attempting to snap more close-up photos of their graduates. Other parents raised their arms from their seats, zooming in their digital cameras all the way to get the best shot possible. The 2013 graduating class’ senior gift were seeds, which they attached to the Key of Knowledge, passed down to the next 12th-grade class. The seeds were to represent growth for the upcoming students to receive. Graduation is a milestone that will be etched into the seniors’ memories forever, said John Jay teacher Alexander Smith, as this “great moment” will never happen again. He added that the students have excelled so much at John Jay — be it at science, math, art or music — and most are not even yet 20-yearsold. From here, he said, they must build on their talents, letting this day not be the ceiling of their successes, but the floor. “Every step, there will be roadblocks,” said Mr. Smith. “There will be people looking to bring you down. Face the naysayers and critics head on. Make your critics work in your favor. Take their negative energy and make it positive… Help make a difference in other people’s lives every day. Share your great moment. As a famous soldier once said, “What we’ve done for ourselves dies with us. But what we’ve done for others is immortal.”
suPerintendent’s address
Finding common ground with the class of 2013 By DR. PAUL KREUTZER
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elcome, family, friends, respected faculty, staff, trustees and, most of all, graduates. Each year I prepare a brief but hopefully meaningful speech for the official “welcome.” I’ve presided over about a dozen of these ceremonies, and this year I struggled to create something new to say, something different than “these are the best years of your life, the future looks bright, don’t forget blah blah blah … I had to get down to speech basics, public speaking one-on-one. Chapter one in the book: “know your audience, find common ground, and relate to them.” So, I centered in on our graduates. This day is their day, so naturally they should be at the focal point of the speech. Looking over the events of the past year, we know this group of graduates to be very talented, bright, outgoing, creative, artistic. They are the embodiment of potential. It doesn’t take long to know that the class of 2013 is special, but what do you and I have in common? How do I relate? “ALL right, Paul, think of something cool. Ferris Bueller is cool … (no, no, no) Ferris Bueller and Sloane Peterson could be their parents … MTV? MTV was cool, but they don’t even play music anymore. This generation has never heard Men at Work, or seen it on a sign for that matter, progress all around I think. But, really, they have never seen Kurt Cobain in concert or glimpsed Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in the city … Hmmmm, I have to think of their generation … Justin Bieber and Dakota Fanning are going off to college. Technology. Hmmm, their discs have never been floppy, their phones have never dialed or
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Procession
used dimes; of course their phones have never had four bars either, at least not around here. Sports? The “Great One” has been a King and a Ranger but never an Oiler. They do not remember the 1994 World Series, but that’s OK, neither do any of us (I’m still bitter). My Green Bay Packers have always been leaping in Lambeau, and L.A. has never had a football team. They think Arnold Palmer is a mix of lemonade and iced tea. I was grasping for anything … blue M&M’s and nary a tan
one? Their duct tape comes in color, TVs are everywhere — on their phones, their gas pumps — if they don’t like what’s on TV, they can turn the dial to 1,000 different channels … oh, that’s right … they don’t know … what … a … dial … is … But, as I said, they’re a pretty sharp group, and they know a lot more than you and I did when we were their age. For instance, they know race is not a factor in who does or does not lead this country. They’re connected to a world beyond their front doorstep, networking, leveraging the collaborative power of our humanity. Sure, they know about terror, but they’re not afraid — New York City is their second home. They know that being down by three goals with seven minutes to play does not mean you’re out. They know Mother Nature is an awesome force, but they also know that nine days without power brings families closer together. They know the cure to cancer is not simply found in the lab but on a high school track in the middle of the night. They’re a pretty knowledgeable group — smart, talented —with a lot going for them. In 10 years the class of 2023 will be graduating and brief but meaningful speeches will need to be written. I ask our graduates to live in such a way, to strive to such feasts, that any future writer will struggle to find commonality with those graduates. I hope that my daughter, who is in that class, will know a thing or two because of you. I hope this group of graduates will help teach her, teach her that gender plays no role in who will or will not lead this country, that cancer has a cure, that the world can be fed —with real food — and that while Mother Nature is an awesome force, she can be healed with the work of our hands. So welcome, and thank you, graduates, for all we know, and will learn, because of you.