<p>I was very impressed by our Principal's speech at the end of our HS graduation this weekend (my kid is only a junior, I was just at the ceremony to help out). I don't have an exact transcript of what he said, but in general I'd have titled his speech "What do I say?" He asked what he should say to a list of different students or groups of students (no names of course) who had achieved great things, made sacrifices, or overcome great odds. Among his list was - and I'm paraphrasing from my memory here:</p>
<p>What do I say to the 10 students who came here 4 short years ago as children, and are now leaving as young men and women to join the military and defend our nation and our freedom? What do I say to the student who worked 30 hours per week, not so she could buy things for herself, but to help her family pay for rent and food, and yet maintained great grades in challenging classes? What do I say to the young woman who excelled in our most challenging classes, won acceptance to Harvard, and turned it down because at the age of 18 she understands that prestige doesn't equate to happiness? What do I say (and here he choked up) to the student who has been bounced from foster home to foster home for her entire life, and who this evening becomes the first member of her extended family to graduate from high school? (the student body jumped up to a standing ovation at this point) And what do I say to the other 300 students before me, each of whom has overcome challenges and made great achievements of their own? All I can say is this: Well done.</p>
<p>Anyone else hear any great Graduation speeches at high school or college they'd like to share?</p>
<p>I’ve been a lurker on this website for sometime, but this is the first time I truly felt the need to make a post. </p>
<p>This boy was moving, eloquent, humorous, emotional, and simply amazing. The audience was his. You forget about time when you listen to him. At 18 years old how he could weave together such a masterpiece of words is still beyond me. </p>
<p>The school recently loaded the speech on YouTube, please take a look and pass it along to family, colleagues, and friends as his message can apply to all.</p>
<p>I prefer the youtube… there is something about inflection that is key to a listening to a good speech. Then again, if he wasn’t actually talking, sometimes through his words alone, George Bush actually made sense. This, of course, is credit to his speech writers. </p>
<p>In my children’s school, every senior must give a senior speech to the entire school community. Every tuesday and thursday starting about a month into school, each senior takes a 5 minute span of time and fills it with anything he would like to speak about. Surely parents attend their own child’s speech and perhaps one or two of their friends. But to hear my kids come home from assembly days and tell me who spoke and about what was sometimes as good as being there.</p>
<p>Some speeches are personal, some are insightful. Some take the time to come out of the closet, or admit to their transgressions, to thank a teacher or administrator or parent for helping them overcome addiction, eating disorders and the more common bumps in the road. Some are hysterically funny, others extremely emotional, some are boring and some seem startling when they end. They are all over the map and every single one, in their way, wonderful.</p>
<p>At the last assembly every senior is given a book containing the transcripts of their classmate’s speeches. It is a lasting memory of who their classmates were. Where, in reading their words, take you back to the place you were when you heard them. A wonderful tradition and a wonderful gift to the graduating class.</p>
<p>I thought Mary Bass a long time Seattle school board member gave a great speech at this years Garfield graduation, but I don’t have the text. ( daughter graduated last year- I was there to help with afterwards )</p>
<p>The year older D graduated, her class asked their advisor to speak- it was beautiful and made me cry.
Just a snippet
<p>Well this was middle school, but I really liked what S2’s principal told the kids at commencement 2 years ago. He told them how in high school the choices they make, particularly the friends they choose, will have an impact on their life, and they should choose to surround themselves with good people. He gave a couple of examples of good choices some students had made, and then noted that at the high school, 250 kids chose to take calculus, and another 250 had GPAs below a 2.5, and then asked the kids, which group are you going to choose to be in?</p>
<p>Lattie Coor, the former president at Arizona State, used to give the same graduation speech every year. He said just two things: 1) Keep learning. 2) Help someone.</p>
<p>President Obama gave the graduation speech at Arizona State this year. It was fabulous. A little long, but terrific. His speech could be boiled down to those same two points, worth repeating: 1) Keep learning and 2) Help someone.</p>
<p>I love the “Fairness Postulate”. What a great perspective…and good for every kid to read. Is there ANY child around (or adult, for that matter) that hasn’t bemoaned the phrase “life isn’t fair”?</p>
<p>I have a son, in particular, who seemed particularly inclined to this sentiment. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a better way to combat that kind of whining. Thanks again for posting it.</p>
<p>“Well this was middle school, but I really liked what S2’s principal told the kids at commencement 2 years ago. He told them how in high school the choices they make, particularly the friends they choose, will have an impact on their life, and they should choose to surround themselves with good people. He gave a couple of examples of good choices some students had made, and then noted that at the high school, 250 kids chose to take calculus, and another 250 had GPAs below a 2.5, and then asked the kids, which group are you going to choose to be in?” </p>
<p>Maybe I’m missing something from this, but if not, I definitely DON’T like the message. What is the message? Are you not a “good” person if your GPA is below 2.5 or you don’t take calculus? Again, maybe I’m just reading it wrong, but I definitely don’t get it…</p>
<p>(My child is going to Kenyon next year, so I’ve already read the David Foster Wallace speech…not typical, but I like it. Now, if only I could get through one of his books!)</p>
<p>I agree that the middle school speech seems a little misplaced. As a parent, my question to this guy would be, what is the administration and teachers doing about it? I don’t know if I like the idea of encouraging kids to “choose” friends when really it’s telling them to be exclusive and unsupportive to their classmates. Just my interpretation.</p>
<p>A few of my kids have graduated from high school, and usually the speeches fall into the “carry the torch into the future and pursue your dreams” category. Yawn.</p>
<p>The absolutely best speech that I heard was from a young man who said (paraphrasing) …</p>
<p>"I’m not the smartest student graduating today. I’m not the most talented. I’m your Valedictorian graduation speaker because I’m the best game player. I took classes that I didn’t care about, got As, and immediately forgot everything I learned. I took easy classes that would not challenge me, to earn As to help my GPA. I raised my hand when it would give me credit, and I kept my hand down when the teacher didn’t want to be bothered. I have been rewarded academically and financially with scholarships for playing this game.</p>
<p>"I think the education system fails us. Why should a musically brilliant student be forced to take calculus and World History, if that student has no interest in those classes? A low GPA from taking calculus and World History is going to keep that brilliant student out of a great college’s music program. Why should someone who wants to be a mathematician be forced to take phys ed, damaging his or her GPA because of a lack of athletic ability or interest? Why should an A in Home Ec count the same as an A in English?</p>
<p>“If I have anything to say to you today, it is to reexamine our educational system to reward those who actually have earned honors, and to stop making students waste their time and talents. Let them pursue their real interests, and be rewarded accordingly.”</p>
<p>Wow. He received very little applause – but about 2/3 of the graduating class gave him a standing ovation. The other 1/3 did not applaud at all. Everyone was whispering about whether or not the Principal had approved his speech, or if he had switched it. The Salutorian who followed him gave the traditional speech, for which she was rewarded with loud applause from the parents and teachers (but not from the 2/3 of the graduating class that applauded the first speaker). </p>
<p>I have explained to my kids some of the mistakes that I believe Speaker #1 made in his speech. The value of a well-rounded education should not be dismissed so readily, especially in view of the fact that an 18-yr old may change majors, interests and careers many times in the coming years. I also speculate that this was an extreme position for purposes of discussion, and that the student was not actually claiming to have become Valedectorian of a class of 300 through gamesmanship alone. Still, it was extraordinarily memorable and certainly not boring!!!</p>
<p>I guess I paraphrased the m.s. principal unfairly-- (its been 2 years and )-- it may have been 250 kids on academic probation. The message was merely you can choose to challenge yourself in high school and take advantage of the education provided, or you can skate through without putting in much effort. Obviously you don’t have to take calculus in high school to be a success!
I do think many middle school kids are at a crossroads, and are struggling to figure out where they fit in socially and academically. He was just trying to nudge them to head in the right direction.</p>
<p>The only speakers who took themselves and their speeches seriously (and no one listened) were the principal and the Superintendent of Schools. All of the student speeches were humorous, and much appreciated by graduates and families alike.</p>
<p>At my high school graduation, we had a local political cartoonist (who is delightfully wry and extremely political, just like most of our seniors), who was memorable for one line in particular: “It must be nice to be sleeping with a teacher, since they always demand you repeat the exercise until perfect.” Totally out-of-the-blue, woke up the audience after an incomprehensible speech by the principle, and it was worth it to see every teacher turn bright red.</p>
<p>Oh, sorry, were we talking about serious speeches?</p>