Huntington’s
Class of 2010 Graduates
A standing-room-only crowd of more than 2,000 family and friendsgave Huntington High School’s Class of 2010 a memorable send-off into history at the school’s 149th commencement exercises last Friday night in Blue Devil Stadium.
Seniors and faculty members marched in a procession from the building, across the open grass field and around the running track to an ovation from the capacity crowd while an orchestra comprised of underclassmen played Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance No. 1.
Valedictorian Rebecca Silverman gave an upbeat and well-received address. “I have a mission for each and every one of you,” she told classmates. “We live in a world where success is defined by a dollar sign and we are judged by the labels in our clothing. I implore you to, instead of striving merely to put money in a bank account, use that shining potential for one thing: Make a difference. Change this world, even if it’s in the smallest bit, and make it a better place.”
Bright skies and soaring rhetoric dominated the event. The 256 seniors were an attentive audience as speaker-after-speaker toasted the group’s accomplishments over the past four years.
“From this point onward, our lives will never be the same,” salutatorian Alanna Tieman told classmates during her powerful address. “We have reached a milestone today. For the past thirteen years we have been told where to be five out of the seven days of the week and when to be there. We have been told what to study and how. Our freedom to make our own decisions was limited. We were like ocean liners being pulled and guided by tugboats safely out of the harbor. And we have now reached open water.”
The seniors were a high performing group, with 116 of them taking at least one Advanced Placement exam and 56 students taking three or more. Two of the graduates took six or more AP exams. In all, the seniors sat for 308 AP exams.
Wonderful Chapter Begins
Superintendent John J. Finello implored the teenagers to approach the future with confidence. “Today concludes a significant and wonderful chapter of your life; an equally significant and wonderful chapter is about to begin,” he said. “A chapter replete with the adventures of the adults you are becoming. You are leaving a world where others have made decisions for you; you are about to leave your ‘comfort zone.’ Soon you will be making decisions, solving problems; deciding which road to travel. It sounds exciting, and it will be, but it will also have its challenges. When you are challenged or discouraged I hope you will remember your years in Huntington and the lessons learned at home and in school. They will give you strength and courage. Have faith in yourself and the unique individual you are; be true to yourself. Instead of the world changing you, you can help change the world.”
Huntington’s college counseling center processed 1,407 college applications for the Class of 2010 and 90 percent of the graduates are headed to college with the rest of the group destined for the military, vocational or trade schools and immediate entry into the workforce. Several plan to engage in a so-called “gap year” of traveling to Israel and Greece before hitting college campuses for the fall 2011 semester.
“My wish for all graduates today is that they use their gifts and talents to get ahead in the world and to make it a better place for generations to come,” Principal Carmela Leonardi told the crowd. “It will not always be easy to do the right thing, but remember that doing the right thing is the only choice any of us have if we want to remain true to yourself.”
Accepted by Top Schools
Members of the Class of 2010 have been accepted into many of the most prestigious colleges and universities in the country, including Cornell, Columbia, Dartmouth, MIT, Virginia, Cooper Union and a host of other top tier institutions. The seniors garnered more than $7.7 million in scholarships.
“Your high school graduation is a like a waypoint on a GPS navigation unit plotting your journey through life,” Huntington School Board President Bill Dwyer told the seniors. “It’s a point that marks the divider between the travels you've completed and the miles that lie ahead. Some of you may have your unit already programmed to a specific destination, set with the map display zoomed way out so that you can clearly see where you are now, where your destination is as well as all the roads required to get you there. And some of you may not have any destinations programmed in yet. You have that display zoomed in real tight so that all you see is the road right in front of you and you proceed eagerly forward in life waiting to see what opportunities pop up on the screen next. Either way you’ve reached a waypoint in your life's road trip and it’s good that your take some time to appreciate it.”
Huntington School Board members presented diplomas to the seniors, who were called to the stage one-by-one by teacher Ken Krummenacher and retiring librarian Camille DeCanio.
The perfect weather stood in marked contrast to last year’s commencement when a violent storm ripped through the area and disrupted the ceremony with a deluge of rain and booming thunder and lighting. It was all smooth sailing last Friday night.
“So as we go forth into this crazy world we have to remember all of the valuable lessons we have learned at Huntington, both in and out of the classroom, and we have to remember and appreciate the wonderful people that taught them to us: our parents, our teachers, our family, our friends, the administrators, and the support staff, all of whom allow for learning to take place, and without whom the school could not function,” Ms. Tieman said during her address. “Because of these people we have been given all of the basic information and tools to survive. Now we just have to choose our course and explore it.”
Make a Difference
The graduating seniors are poised to tackle a variety of academic majors in college, including biomedical engineering, film and televisions studies, nursing, information systems, engineering, visual communications, astrophysics, environmental studies, fashion design and merchandizing, 3D graphics and animation, music, business management, sports management, psychology, elementary education, music performance, music, art and dance education, special education, Spanish, human services, social work, business, accounting, marine biology, photography, culinary arts, forensic science and nutrition, to name just a few.
“If each person here made just the smallest bit of difference, you know what?” Ms. Silverman asked during her valedictory address. “Together we would make a pretty big difference. We’ve been told one day we’ll be all grown up and the world will be our responsibility. So let’s make it our mission that when that day comes, we’ll be ready to, bit by bit, make this world a better place.”
As the commencement drew to a close, graduates tossed their caps high into the air and cheered before accepting heartfelt congratulations from parents and other family members, posing for photos on the adjoining fields and heading off into Huntington history.
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