“THESE HALLS, THESE CLASSROOMS, AND ON THIS STAGE..”

Panthers Return For Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony

ceremony. Many students dressed in suits and blazers as they prepared to listen to the nominees’ speeches in an event that took the approval of countless people, students and the United States Grand Marshal to commence.

The Alumni Association organizes all aspects regarding the Hall of Fame, and did not declare a date earlier as they waited for all inductees availability. Once the date was announced, MPSH’s Activities Director Elizabeth Valero quickly took charge to ensure the day went smoothly.

“It was a lot of work, it was very stressful, there were a lot of moving pieces. A lot of things had to be approved, a lot of things had to be constantly updated, changed, shifted, pivoted and it was constant movement for three weeks straight. Because we didn’t have a lot of time to plan it once we were given the date due to availability, it was kind of go time because we had to make it happen for this day no matter what. We were in the middle of the regular stuff going on: grad bash sales, drama show. So it was just kind of making this event that needed one hundred percent of our attention happen in the middle of a lot of other things too,” Valero said.

Since MPSH class of 1988 alumni and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson attended as the Alumni Association’s “Committees Choice,” Valero and other faculty members

“The U.S. Marshals were obviously on site due to the fact that Justice Jackson was going to be in attendance. They handle security for the Supreme Court Justices so there was that. There was also Miami Dade school police who had to handle a lot of stuff. They’re normally on campus events but they also were in larger attendance because we had a lot of school board members on campus as well… And then, of course we also had our local jurisdiction of Pinecrest Police were here because we were in Pinecrest,” Valero said.

With increased security presence adding pressure to the event, Valero and Student Council teamed up to delegate tasks to groups such as greeters, hospitality and ushers.

“The planning and preparation was stressful and fun at the same time. It consisted of many early morning meetings and lunches spent working but it was all worth it in the end. Essentially, special events was in charge of overseeing the entire event and working one-on-one with Mrs.Valero to make sure everything was going according to her plans. Student Council as a whole took over many jobs that day from waiters to ushers. Without their hard work and dedication this event would not have been possible,” MPSH junior and Student Council Special Events Chair Estefani Cerna said. “Even if a student’s job was to hold a door, that day they were the best door holders anyone had ever seen.”

Supreme Court Justice

The day of festivities began with a luncheon service in the Media Center, where honorees enjoyed bagels and juice before taking the auditorium stage to accept their inductions. Each inductee could bring a few guests, and past Hall of Fame inductees were also present. MPSH’s Television Production team organized and hosted the event, presented by Student Council President Abigail Lambert and Vice President Devica Shah.

To introduce each individual nominee and highlight their accomplishments, brief videos played in the background highlighting key points of each nominee’s achievements before each inductee took the stage and presented their two-minute speech. Lambert and Shah practiced their script beforehand and coordinated with people backstage to alternated awarding each inductee with a “Hall of Fame” plaque to commemorate their achievements.

“Right before I kind of freaked out because I practiced my speech a million times…with the microphone without the microphone, projecting and not projecting, with emotion and without it. But it’s so different when you’re actually up there speaking because it’s easy to think about people being there to watch you, but then when hundreds of people are actually sitting in the room, it’s very intimidating. So it was definitely shaky while I was speaking, but… then after the first 30 seconds of speaking I got very comfortable and when the crowd interacted with what I said, like they’d laugh, or I could feel people engaged with what I was saying, it was definitely more comforting to speak in front of such a large group of people. And then throughout the ceremony, I’d say there are opportunities for me to kind of express my own personality that weren’t really planned. So that definitely created a more comfortable relationship between me and the crowd,” Lambert said.

Throughout the ceremony, MPSH’s jazz band played music while inductees walked on and off the stage. Inductees ranged from alumni to past teachers and administrators. No matter the profession, every speech and anecdote instilled inspiration among students, so they, too, can strive to attain what the inductees all have — success.

“I’m here to talk about investment and not the financial kind. Around the years, I’ve been blessed with a collected investment of time, energy and resources in me and my future by my family and friends as well as my teachers and administrators. But ultimately it was and remains the additional investment of faith in myself that has allowed me the privilege of being able to stand here before you today,” Class of 1993 and host of “The Katie Phang Show,” Katie Phang said. “Success is not an accident. There is so much hard work and sacrifice. There’s long hours and there’s sometimes little to no recognition for the hard work that you are putting in, but when you believe in yourself and you have faith in yourself, your dreams can be a reality. There’s a saying that’s become something of a mantra for me over the years: always be a first-rate version of yourself than a second-rate version of someone else. Listen to who you are and set your gaze on who you want to be and then do it.”

Inductees shared valuable life experiences and offered meaningful advice to the students in the audience. As Class of 1985 Lee Levin approached the stage, he gave a fist bump to the MPSH jazz band drummer before giving the audience his insight as a Grammy award-winning musician.

“If I had to give one piece of advice that truly helped me to become successful, I would say that my whole career has never been about me; it’s been about helping and supporting others. As a drummer for hire, I help the artists find their vision and create the art that expresses the way they hear the music. I help songwriters express their deepest feelings by supporting the melody and the lyrics so the listener understands the beauty and the meaning of their song. I work with the producer to take the artistic vision they have in their head and help develop music that will fulfill that vision for themselves. But in doing all those things for those around me I became successful in myself doing exactly what I love to do which is play drums. I didn’t want a spotlight nor do I care about the fame; I’ve seen how fame can be an endless struggle to remain relevant in a rapidly changing world. Instead, I’m known as an individual who can support others and by helping to fulfill their dreams, I’ve been able to live my own,” Levin said.

Halfway through the ceremony, MPSH’s drama Troupe 1298 took the stage to perform an excerpt from their recent play, “Legally Blonde.” MPSH’s Variations dance team performed a lyrical dance near the end of the ceremony, highlighting MPSH’s arts department to students, teachers, nominees and guests before inductees continued with their speeches.

Students, teachers, nominees and guests highly anticipated the final inductee’s video and acceptance speech. Everyone rose to their feet as Class of 1988 Ketanji Brown Jackson, United States Supreme Court Justice walked to receive her plaque and speak to the audience. Throughout her speech, she recognized MPSH as a stepping stone for her career in government.

“Attending Miami Palmetto High School, in particular being part of the Speech and Debate team, was the experience that best prepared me for success in law and in life. An extraordinary teacher here, a wonderful woman named Fran Berger was my coach and my mentor and she had an enormous influence on me… she taught me how to reason and to write and through forensics I gained the self-confidence that can sometimes be quite difficult for women and minorities to develop at an early age,” Jackson said. “I have no doubt that all the things that I’ve done, it was my high school experience as a competitive speaker that taught me to lean in despite the obstacles, to stand firm in the face of challenges, to work hard, be resilient, strive for excellence and believe that anything is possible.”

BRETT BEVERIDGE ‘89

KARYN CUNNINGHAM ‘81

LYNN EVANS

TOM FOLEY ‘77

JANET HUPP

KETANJI BROWN

JACKSON ‘88

TIM HARDAWAY JR. ‘10

RICK HIRSCH ‘75

KATIE PHANG ‘93

DAVID SODERHOLM

IMOGENE JOHNSON

LEE LEVIN ‘85

HAROLD NERENBERG

BRETT PARKS ‘97

KERMIT WEEKS ‘71

DON WESTBROOK ‘64

Lambert awarded Justice Jackson her plaque onstage while coincidentally wearing similar light blue pantsuits. Lambert — not the only starstruck person in attendance — felt great pride in awarding a fellow panther and accomplished woman her award.

“That was the most exciting part of the whole thing for me. And when I went up to her, I said, ‘thank you so much, it’s truly an honor.’ She says, ‘No, it’s my honor.’ And I was like, there’s no way this woman just told me that it’s her honor to accept this award from me as an 18 year-old-senior. It’s not only because she’s like a Supreme Court justice, but because she’s a Supreme Court justice who respects me as a woman and is one of the only people working to protect my rights as a woman in this country right now. And the fact that I got to see her face so close to mine and shake her hand…like, I peaked in high school. There’s no going up from that, it was just amazing, the whole thing,” Lambert said.

In a closing statement, after all the inductees had been granted their awards and given their speeches, Shah spoke directly to the student audience, urging them to believe in their futures and proceed to strive for greatness.

“I want you to take a moment to realize something. Sitting amongst you today is a Major League Baseball player, former Senior Editor for the Miami Herald, an American Aviation Wizard and a Supreme Court Justice of the United States of America. You may be thinking ‘wow that is where I want to be, what I want to do.’ You may be thinking ‘wow that’s my dream job, my dream path,’ but why should it be a dream? Most of the inductees attended Palmetto and started their dreams right here in these halls, these classrooms and on this stage,” Shah said.

Following the ceremony, inductees returned to the Media Center to enjoy a spread of fruit, cheeses, drinks and more. Security measures prevented Justice Jackson from mingling with all the other guests, yet all the inductees met each other and mingled in a separate room to celebrate their induction. Following the ceremony, Justice Jackson also met and spoke with members of the MPSH Debate Team as it was her stepping stool to her passion for law. Laughter and joy filled the room as guests created an embracing environment and reminisced on their classes and memories together.

“I was just glad it was successful, that people were happy, that they enjoyed themselves, that the inductees all had a very memorable and special day to be celebrated. On top of that, it was really gratifying to know we all came together as a school to make this happen as a unit so that was really gratifying,” Valero said.

Samantha Elkins

Print Co-Editor-In-Chief s.elkins.thepanther@gmail.com

Amy-Grace Shapiro

Online Editor-in-Chief a.shapiro.thepanther@gmail.com

DESIGN BY ELLA PEDROSO

PHOTOS BY RYAN MCKEAN

PHOTOS COURTESY OF FOXMAR

PHOTOS COURTESY OF LORENZO CASTILLO-RIOS

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MATTHEW LEWIS

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