LINK Graduation 2010.pdf - Portland High School

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Emily Wark P.H.S. Prom ... (May 29, 2010) Mattie Crocket, Marie Genova, Eileen Hanley "Life is about memories and that is what I've gained at PHS." Ted Volger Gordon Parker "Finding the right prom look has been challenging. I really want to standout at prom with my dress. It's the one time we get to dress up together." Emma Wilson Francie Foehrenbach (T.A.) Adam Gould Courtney Connolly Kendra Eggen Larissa Moody “I am struck by how important the PHS traditions around graduation still are and how essential upholding these traditions has been to each graduate and each officiating administrator. They all willingly embrace this legacy. I still live these traditions every year when I help the new graduating class learn the ropes. It is a special time.” --Joe Russo ('75) 6
“Emerging from the Breeze” Salutatorian Speech by Timothy D. Weber Graduation, June 2, 2010 We gather here today to acknowledge the end of a certain part of our lives. High school has been a defining four years, complete with stressful last-minute papers, athletic victories, stupid mistakes, new friends, and many other life-changing moments. Today we face a transition unlike any that we have experienced. We are confronted with the inescapable transformation into official adulthood. We leave behind, but never out of memory a school, “old in story, shrined in glory”. A helpful faculty, full of compassion and understanding. And a community woven tight by pride and respect. Portland High School is truly an extraordinary place. After we receive our diplomas, we will be sent into a world where jobs are scarce, where outsourcing is rampant, and where profits are valued over wellness. The dark sky and chilling winds of a numb economy have descended, but we have not yet been out to feel the storm. We graduate facing a raging gale. I will borrow a term from sailing: tacking is when a sailor directs their vessel up towards the direction of the breeze, continuing the turn until the previously shielded side of the sail is filled with the wind. Tacking is essential to sailing because it allows boats to travel upwind. Rather than idle against an immovable breeze, letting the wind drift us backwards, we should consider graduation as an opportunity to tack. We should consider it not as a finish, but a change in direction, along the zigzagged, complicated path towards personal fulfillment. And in that pivotal moment when we face down the treacherous current, we must carry on boldly, intrepid sailors in uncharted waters. Next year, we will have the ability to change ourselves completely. While there are many poor tacks one could take, there are just as many favorable choices to make. Try something new. Give back to the community. Or perhaps just work harder. The possibility to redefine oneself is there, though only available to those willing to brave the gale to perform a tack. We must not condemn our vessels to inactivity. We cannot close our minds to change. Tack often. Doing unique, different, or unfamiliar things will exercise the mind and promote new ways of thinking about the world. Experiencing new stimuli will make is smarter, more energetic, more versatile, and more sociable. As our fleet of 2010 leaves the safe harbor of high school, and enters the wide ocean, our collective tacks will steer the course of society. We will adjust the bearing from route old and obsolete, to a new path of innovation and creativity. Our imaginations will fill our sail along the journeys. We are a class whose ambitions are unsurpassed, whose energy is surging, and whose sense of pride is unyielding. As graduates, we will contribute to a new generation of American ingenuity. I will conclude with a bit of advice from the celebrated American author and humorist, Mark Twain. In his youth, Twain worked as a printer’s apprentice, steamboat operator, and journalist, all while educating himself in local libraries. He wrote: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Congratulations Class of Two-Thousand Ten! Tim Weber 7
Page 1 and 2: LINK PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL FAMILY NE
Page 3 and 4: Class President’s Welcome Emma Wi
Page 5: “Success” Valedictorian Speech
Page 9 and 10: Meron Admassu Corey Carmichael Soph
Page 11 and 12: Josh Staples Michee Jean, Mary Dona
Page 13 and 14: Mistress of Ceremonies A.P. Kim Wik
Page 15 and 16: “ I will always remember the vibr
Page 17 and 18: HENRY MACVANE volunteers with the L

LINK Graduation 2010.pdf - Portland High School

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?