Jennifer Barry of the Harlem Valley Times wrote up another great article pertaining to my high school graduation. I encourage everyone to give it a read.As always, for archival purposes, I quote the article below.
DOVER – It was standing room only at the graduation ceremony for the Dover High School Class of 2008 on June 28.
Proud friends and family of the graduates gathered under the celebration tent to watch the commencement of 117 students, with the crowd overflowing into the aisles and even outside the tent.
As the graduates made their way in the processional across the grounds and into the tent, excited friends and parents jockeyed for room to take photos and offer their congratulations.
The Dover School Band welcomed the graduates and began the official ceremony with the traditional playing of “Pomp and Circumstance,” while High School Principal Donna Bastings took the podium, ready to officiate.
She welcomed all attendees to the ceremony to a round of applause from both the audience and the seniors.
Senior Class President Kelsey Ellingsen welcomed her fellow classmates and also offered her congratulations as she gave her welcome address.
Parents of Salutatorian Maia Nguyen were invited up to the front and were offered a photograph of their daughter in honor of her academic achievement at Dover High School.
Nguyen then stepped to the front to give her salutatory address in which she recounted days of middle school and the inherent desire to fit in and follow the crowd.
“Remember when it was the cool thing to be mean to everyone – except the cool kids?” she asked, garnering laughter from the crowd.
Nguyen reminded her fellow seniors of middle school days when clothing from the store Limited Too was the ultimate expression of one’s fashion forwardness.
She reminisced about the important lessons that her mother taught her in finally breaking away from the desire to fit into the preconceived conception of “cool,” helping her become her own person.
“In middle school my mother used to take me clothes shopping for school and used to tell me, ‘You can get a few outfits from JC Penney or Sears, or you can get one thing from Limited Too,’” said Nguyen. “Guess what I chose? Of course, I always chose to get that one thing from the Limited Too and never ended up wearing it.”
She offered the memory as an allegory, and as a final pearl of wisdom to the Class of 2008, Nguyen urged her classmates to be true to themselves, never minding if it fit the current concept of cool.
Seniors were then invited to join the Dover Band in a rendition of “Novo Lenio” – two Latin words that mean a new and better change.
Before the beginning of the valedictory address, parents of Valedictorian Richard Mondello were also offered a photo of their son as a memento of his time at Dover.
Mondello began his speech by referencing Issac Newton in saying “We stand on the shoulders of giants.”
He then thanked all of the “giants” in his life that had guided him through the years and had provided inspiration to him.
He thanked his father for teaching him to “work smarter, not harder” and his mother for inspiring him to rise above any obstacle that faced him – lessons, he assured them, that he would take with him as he began the next stage of his life.
Mondello closed by urging his fellow graduates to be the giant in someone else’s life.
“It doesn’t take drastically changing your life,” he said.
It did, however, take living with integrity as one’s internal compass, he said.
Superintendent Craig Onofry then took the stage to present an extensive array of scholarships and awards.
Over 60 scholarships were presented from various school and community organizations to aid the graduates in their pursuit of higher education.
Board of Education President Samuel Shufelt offered congratulatory remarks before the Dover High School Chorus presented its musical selection of the popular graduation song “Friends, Always in my Heart.”
Bastings then introduced a favorite teacher, Richard Esposito, as the commencement speaker.
The graduates welcomed him with cheers and applause and instead of addressing the crowd, Esposito directed his speech directly to the students and recounted his years with them.
Esposito and students alike were moved to both laughter and tears as he bid them farewell and good luck.
Then one by one the students were invited up to receive their diplomas, presented by members of the board of education.
Tyler and Ryan Bastings both received their diplomas and took a quick detour to offer their mother, Principal Bastings, a quick hug before returning to their seats.
Once again family and friends gathered, this time in the aisle, to photograph the decisive moment in the seniors’ careers at Dover all while offering their cheers of support and congratulations.
Onofry presided over the conferral of the graduates, and when the students walked in their recessional back across the grounds, they walked as Dover alumni.
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