7 minute read
Class Day & Commencement 2018
Class Day Remarks: Leaving Norwood...
“I will leave Norwood as a person socially conscious of the world around me, a person who strives to help the community one step at a time. I will leave as a person who understands how teamwork, understanding, and a sense of community can be beneficial to everyone. The values Norwood has instilled in me will be values that I will believe in for the rest of my life.” -EMMA VAUGHAN
GRETCHEN LAMKIN
Although this chapter in my life is ending, I am excited for the new adventures I get to experience in my future. Norwood has allowed me to take the next great leap, and I will never forget how Norwood opened its home to me. I especially thank Norwood for helping me to be to be brave. Brave enough to give this speech!
SAMMY HEMANN
I know we have made Norwood proud, but also, Norwood has made me proud. I love who I am and the experiences I’ve had. From Williamsburg to New York, from the classroom to the stage, from the concert hall to the athletic fields, I have taken everything from Norwood that I possibly can. I am infinitely thankful to you all for making this possible. My innate fears could have derailed my journey. Instead, the great force of the Norwood community has set me on this promising path. I can’t wait to see where this journey leads, but I will forever remember where it all started—right here at Norwood.
REINA CHANG
Thank you, Norwood. Together with my classmates, I go into the future with a better sense of myself. Even if when I was five years old, I already knew what kind of person I was and who I wanted to be, through the joy, confidence, curiosity, inspiration, self-exploration, and the support you have provided, I have grown into a better, stronger, smarter, more compassionate person than I ever thought I could be. I have been tested—at different times over the years, I felt tempted to not be true to myself and to conform to certain pressures—but you have taught me that the way I lead my life matters. The best path forward for all of us is to be true to ourselves, the values we have learned, and the people Norwood has helped us to be.
Watch the event:
vimeo.com/norwoodschool
Class Day Awards
EIGHTH GRADE AWARDS
The Ronald B. Goyette Community Service Award
Mallory Herron Riley Herron Sam Schulman Rebecca Share
The Faculty Prize for Leadership and School Spirit
Sheldon Mills Jack Parsons Caitlyn Topercer
The Head of School’s Prize for Academic Excellence
Christopher Brown Bobby Burr Alida Camper Louisa Cave Anna Curran Alex Delistathis Ainsley Ganti Sammy Hemann The Head of School’s Prize continued... Riley Herron Jack Holland Serena Hong Maggie Koonce Dylan Luchsinger Daniel Lustbader Linnaea McGuinness Charlie Schulman Rebecca Share Julia Sherman Maya Siegel Tali Smith Emma Vaughan Oakley Winters The following awards were presented at the Middle School Athletic Banquet on May 24, 2018:
Coaches Spirit Award
Anna Curran Trip Latimer
Summit Spirit Award
Dylan Luchsinger
Athletes of the Year
Linnaea McGuinness Daniel Lustbader
Commencement Remarks: Be there for one another...
Hello and welcome, family, friends, faculty, staff, students, and almostgraduates! My remarks today are really for you, the Class of 2018. Thank you for four terrific years. I’ve learned so much about you, and also from you. In his Class Day speech, Sammy said that as a class, you’re the best we’ve ever seen. I have to say, you really are a special group, and I hope you recognize that and stay connected—to one another and also to us here at Norwood. Also, thank you for not following through with the food fight yesterday, or I would have had to rewrite this whole paragraph.
I first met most of you when you were third graders, the year I joined Norwood School with a third grader of my own. How fortunate she was to land in such a friendly, goofy, welcoming group of students. I vividly remember when you crossed over to the fifth- and sixthgrade hall to begin Middle School. You were still little, you sat up front in chapel—and you sang! You raced eagerly from class to class, bright-eyed and full of smiles for your teachers. This year, eighth grade, your last year at Norwood, you’ve lingered at your lockers a little longer, and you are basically still waking up in chapel. I have to crane my neck to look up at all of you who have grown taller than me, and you’ve perfected your eye-rolls —so much so that I recently asked to film one in slo-mo for posterity. You are not little any more. You are still goofy for sure—thank goodness—and you’re also highly capable, confident, creative, curious, self-aware, and ready to grapple with new challenges. As Gretchen noted, and demonstrated, in her remarks yesterday: you have even learned to be brave. While in Middle School, some of you have experienced your greatest joys, the happiest moments of your life so far. And some of you have experienced your greatest sorrows. Some of you have had both, all right here in the last four years. Can I tell you something? There is more to come—more joy, more sorrow, more confusion, more awkwardness, many more challenges, and lots more success.
Through it all, remember what your incredible teachers at Norwood have taught you, including those times when they set their lessons aside. Remember that it’s okay to scrap your plans when something or someone needs attention. Remember what it feels like to be known and understood, and try to create that for other people in your life. Be there for one another.
Remember that you will be wrong sometimes. You will make mistakes, and that’s all part of living and learning. Remember that feeling uncomfortable is sometimes a warning you should heed, but it can also be an invitation. Like Sammy said, fear sometimes indicates a potential threat, but sometimes fear is an opportunity to lean in and learn more about yourself. Are you uncomfortable with something happening at a party? That might actually be a threat; get out of there and take a friend with you. Are you uncomfortable about differences of opinion in a conversation? Wait a second, check yourself, and consider sticking it out to see if you can make a connection, or deepen someone’s understanding, or maybe even your own.
Above all, as Reina said yesterday, remember that the best path forward is to be true to yourselves. Recognize how powerful you are, and use that power to amplify one another’s voices. Demand a seat at the table for everybody. Because, as Emma told us, teamwork, understanding, and a sense of community are beneficial for all.
Since I have a little time left, I want to quickly revisit our last life skills class, where we talked about resilience. You defined resilience as strength plus flexibility, or perseverance and adaptability combined. As a class, you have shown yourselves to be quite resilient in a wide variety of situations. As you move into high school, I hope you will take with you the habit of checking in with yourself, to maintain resilience, and to know what you’re about. You’ll remember there are three questions that will help you, and your answers will change all the time. The first question to ask yourself: which of your own personal characteristics do you value? Next, what activities, roles, and relationships in your life bring you meaning, satisfaction, and joy? And finally, what mission, purpose, or community do you serve, and why is it important to you?
Class of 2018, all of us here are counting on you, and I wish you all the very best. Congratulations!
Watch the event:
vimeo.com/norwoodschool
“You have been stellar role models for the entire student body and an inspiration to us all. You have carried yourselves with maturity and with grace. The examples you set with your individual acts of thoughtfulness, kindness, and responsibility
will not be forgotten.” -matthew gould, commencement
