“We may be a small school district, but we have talent bursting at the seams,” Broadalbin-Perth High School Principal Mark Brooks told those gathered at the commencement exercises honoring the 146 members of the Class of 2016.
The ceremony was the first for Brooks, who told the graduating seniors they seamlessly carried on the positive school culture their former Principal Margaret Robin Blowers established in her nearly 20 years as BPHS principal. Blowers passed away last summer after a long battle with cancer. During the commencement, the students donned pink ribbons in memory of Blowers.
In his remarks, Brooks rattled off a long list of class members’ accomplishments and pointed out that together the Class of 2016 had earned 1,426 college credits and more than $1 million in scholarships.
But, he emphasized, high school shouldn’t be the best years of your life. “I hope the foundation we have laid for you has set you up for your best years to be ahead of you,” Brooks said.
In her speech, Valedictorian Lakshmi Kesari talked about the struggles she has faced in her life thus far as the only Indian student at BPHS. Pointing to the fact that everyone has their own set of obstacles to overcome, she compared the high school experience to a puzzle. “They require lots of time and effort, and undoubtedly you face error and complications. However, the one thing that makes them worth the effort is the end result, when you are left with a beautiful creation and a proud sense of accomplishment,” she said.
We don’t, however, face our struggles alone, she said. At the end of her speech, Kesari told her classmates they would each find a puzzle piece under their seat. “This token, simple as it is, reminds us that we are a part of a bigger picture and that we are not alone,” she said.
Salutatorian Zoe Simonson shared some of her experiences from over the years that shaped her as a person. “I used to think growing up was scary, but I’ve realized growing up doesn’t mean changing who you are, it means becoming the best version of yourself,” she said. “Growing up is learning how to make your worst traits your best ones.”
Callie Jennings, who ranked third in the class, told her classmates that up until this point in their lives, they have not yet been truly tested on being prepared. “Being prepared for most people in high school means picking up a pencil off the floor before you go into class, so you have one to use for the period,” she said, adding that all the elements of high school put she and her classmates on a path to being more prepared throughout life.
Board of Education President Robert Becker had some advice for the members of the Class of 2016, but he was quick to point out that they probably wouldn’t abide by it. “It’s easy to give advice, but it’s hard to follow it,” he said. Still he encouraged the parents in the audience to keep trying to give advice, and the graduates to do their best to apply it.
Superintendent of Schools Stephen Tomlinson encouraged the graduates to be bold in their approach to the challenges they will face in their lives, referencing the lyrics of the One Republic song “I Lived.”
Giving his take on the line in the song, “Hope when you take that jump, you don’t fear the fall,” Tomlinson told the graduates to live life to the fullest without fear of failure. “It’s failure and how you deal with it that will define who you are,” he said.