Class of 2010, I'm sorry you have to listen to me talk ...
May 4, 2010 8:46 AM Subscribe
What to say at a graduation speech? Complication: It is the last class to graduate from this institution before it closes.
I have to say a few words at a high school graduation as the school board member who is "accepting" the class and giving out the diplomas. I would like to say a VERY few words, since nobody really cares what the speakers say, but I am obligated to say SOMETHING (traditional graduation speechy something), and it's important to me that I do this well for these kids.
This school has been around for 70+ years and will be closing after this year due to budget cuts and declining district enrollment. It has been a contentious community issue. I would also like to in some way acknowledge that they are the final graduating class.
I have read back through past questions, which put me onto the poem Ithaca, which has some possibilities, but I'm really stumped by this "last class" thing.
I have to say a few words at a high school graduation as the school board member who is "accepting" the class and giving out the diplomas. I would like to say a VERY few words, since nobody really cares what the speakers say, but I am obligated to say SOMETHING (traditional graduation speechy something), and it's important to me that I do this well for these kids.
This school has been around for 70+ years and will be closing after this year due to budget cuts and declining district enrollment. It has been a contentious community issue. I would also like to in some way acknowledge that they are the final graduating class.
I have read back through past questions, which put me onto the poem Ithaca, which has some possibilities, but I'm really stumped by this "last class" thing.
Best answer: Don't dwell on it, but I think you should acknowledge the "last class" aspect. If it was me, I'd mention a few successful alumni from years past and say something like: "... their success reflects the grounding and the education that they received here. And, graduates of the Class of 2010, I know that as you enter the world, you have within you the potential of still greater achievement. The success that you realize and the good that you do in the world will help ensure that the memory of this place will live on, long after its doors are shut."
posted by ewiar at 9:27 AM on May 4, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by ewiar at 9:27 AM on May 4, 2010 [3 favorites]
Include something like
My last words to you, great scholars: Remember that the final dying breath of this institution was to breathe life into you, a new generation of citizens, who will bring pride to its legacy.
posted by Night_owl at 9:33 AM on May 4, 2010 [2 favorites]
My last words to you, great scholars: Remember that the final dying breath of this institution was to breathe life into you, a new generation of citizens, who will bring pride to its legacy.
posted by Night_owl at 9:33 AM on May 4, 2010 [2 favorites]
I like Night_owl's metaphor, but I think you could omit "dying." Final breath gets the idea across and is less morbid.
posted by ocherdraco at 9:54 AM on May 4, 2010
posted by ocherdraco at 9:54 AM on May 4, 2010
Best answer: You could also say something like this:
A school doesn't disappear when it closes its doors. Our school will live on for many generations. Any time one of you uses something you learned here, our school is alive. Any time one of you teaches someone else something you learned here, our school grows. While this may be our school's last year in bricks and mortar, it is the beginning of a legacy in your words and actions. Class of 2010, keep our school alive. Remember what you learned here, whether from your teachers, from other students, or from yourselves, and share that knowledge with friends you'll meet, with partners you'll grow old with, and with children you'll raise. Though its doors may close, in this way, class will always be in session.
posted by ocherdraco at 10:03 AM on May 4, 2010 [3 favorites]
A school doesn't disappear when it closes its doors. Our school will live on for many generations. Any time one of you uses something you learned here, our school is alive. Any time one of you teaches someone else something you learned here, our school grows. While this may be our school's last year in bricks and mortar, it is the beginning of a legacy in your words and actions. Class of 2010, keep our school alive. Remember what you learned here, whether from your teachers, from other students, or from yourselves, and share that knowledge with friends you'll meet, with partners you'll grow old with, and with children you'll raise. Though its doors may close, in this way, class will always be in session.
posted by ocherdraco at 10:03 AM on May 4, 2010 [3 favorites]
I'd focus on the transitions being faced by both the students and the institution, and probably throw in some reference to a door opening while another closes.
posted by runningwithscissors at 12:00 PM on May 4, 2010
posted by runningwithscissors at 12:00 PM on May 4, 2010
Goodness, Eyebrows, I only hope you volunteered for this duty rather than having it thrust upon you.
If you favored the closure as a board member, waxing elegiacal could make you look like a politician trying to have it both ways to your allies and your opponents; if you tried to keep it open, your opponents could take an evocative speech as an unfair attack.
Nevertheless, black-bordered elegy would be the only choice for me, probably informed by buried allusions to Iris DeMent's Our Town:
And you know the sun's settin' fast,
And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye,
...
I'm leaving tomorrow but I don't wanna go.
I love you, my town, you'll always live in my soul
...
Go on now and say goodbye to my town, to my town.
I can see the sun has gone down on my town, on my town,
Goodnight.
Goodnight.
And Good Luck.
posted by jamjam at 2:46 PM on May 4, 2010
If you favored the closure as a board member, waxing elegiacal could make you look like a politician trying to have it both ways to your allies and your opponents; if you tried to keep it open, your opponents could take an evocative speech as an unfair attack.
Nevertheless, black-bordered elegy would be the only choice for me, probably informed by buried allusions to Iris DeMent's Our Town:
And you know the sun's settin' fast,
And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye,
...
I'm leaving tomorrow but I don't wanna go.
I love you, my town, you'll always live in my soul
...
Go on now and say goodbye to my town, to my town.
I can see the sun has gone down on my town, on my town,
Goodnight.
Goodnight.
And Good Luck.
posted by jamjam at 2:46 PM on May 4, 2010
Response by poster: Little from column A, little from column B, jamjam. Everyone on the board voted, of course, and at least one school board member has to attend every graduation, so somebody has to do it, and nobody else was particularly willing. My feelings on it are that, whether I'm in the majority or not, each of us is responsible for the outcomes and policies of our votes. While closure may be necessary, it sucks to be those kids, and they still deserve to have one of us show up and take responsibility for it.
Unsurprisingly, I get a lot of the crap jobs.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:20 PM on May 4, 2010
Unsurprisingly, I get a lot of the crap jobs.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:20 PM on May 4, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
Success
--- probably inaccurately attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson
To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty,
to find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better,
whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier
because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.
posted by BusyBusyBusy at 8:56 AM on May 4, 2010 [1 favorite]