The Greatest Commencement Speech EVER!!!

OK, I was just trying to get your attention. Truth be told, this was only the 2nd one that I have given and in my opinion it was much better than last year's. SO for me, this is the Greatest Commencement Speech ever. This is what I said to our Fifth Graders today at their end of the year ceremony today.

There are 3 groups of people here today that I would like to address and the neat thing for me is that I have either been in or still in each of those 3 groups so I know a thing or two about what it is like to be in your shoes.

The first is the parents.
Parents first I would like to thank you for being here to support and recognize your child. I don’t think that there is anything more important to your child than to have you here today on a very important milestone in their educational journey Dr. Whitman says that children spell love T I M E. So to make the time to come here today to see them say goodbye to elementary school and hello to the big world of Middle School is saying to them just how much you love them. I can only imagine how proud you must be to see your little baby (For some of you it might be your first child, some it might be your youngest baby and for some of you you’ve done this before and still have one or two more to go) but to see your little baby sitting here all dressed up like a little adult ready to move from one level of schooling to another must bring a tear to your eye. That tear is because of how proud you are, but it is probably mixed with some fear of that now they are in middle school they won’t need you or want you around will never listen to you. I can understand that because they are growing up and becoming more independent but don’t do feel that way. Your child IS going to need you and even though they are not going to say it or act like they do, they are going to WANT you. James Baldwin once said that “Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.” They are going to step into that Middle school and be faced with things that are new and exciting, challenging and scary and they need you to model how to handle it and how to attack it in a positive way. It is been noted before by many educators that, “Virtually every issue that we deal with, be it education… be it human services, gang problems or drugs, we find STRONG FAMILIES the ultimate solution.” That is why the need you to be there for them.
So parents, I thank you for being here today on this special day. I know your child appreciates it; the teachers appreciate it; and I do as well because YOU are one of the most important pieces to your child’s success. As Charles Wells put it, “The school will teach children how to read, but the environment of the home must teach them what to read. The school can teach them how to think, but the home must teach them what to believe.”

The second group of people that I would like to thank is the teachers:
I remember how a 5th Grade teacher feels on the day of the end of the year ceremony; you are tired and worn out physically, mentally and emotionally. You are worn out physically for the last few days these wonderful students thought that they were done and did not have to do anything so you were running around with ALL your teaching energy trying to engage them and redirect them. Not to mention the lock-in gave you only a couple hours of sleep over the weekend. You are worn out mentally because you have given all you got over the past few months to fill the achievement gaps when needed and also challenging students to go further than they think that they can go or even want to go. You are worn out emotionally because this has been a year of victories. You have spent the year connecting with these students and creating learning opportunities that have helped them to believe in themselves as much as you believe in them. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “If you want to move people, it has to be toward a vision that’s positive for them, that taps important values, that gets them something they desire and it has to be presented in a compelling way so that they feel inspired to follow.” That is what these wonderful ladies and gentleman have done over the past nine months for these students. They have moved them towards a vision that is positive for them: to be READY, RESPECTFUL, and RESPONSIBLE; that taps the important values of education, hard work, and belief in themselves, and gives them the love and support that they desire and is presented in a way that is fun and engaging. These teachers have done a wonderful job this year and I thank them for their hard work and dedication to move these kids to not only achieve but to overachieve.

The last group of people is the reason we are here and that is the students. You look wonderful and I promise you boys that you will survive having to wear a collared shirt that is tucked in and a belt I promise. You guys have done an amazing job this year. You had the highest reading and math CRCT scores in the county both of them being over 93%, you had the second highest Writing scores in the county, but had the biggest increase in writing scores over the past 2 years increasing scores by 13% in the past 2 years. We had a group of students who placed 1st in the region in the Fall Stock Market game. We had 8 students serve as special friends to our special needs students. Those are all accomplishments that we should be proud of and deserve applause. They are accomplishments that we should be proud of and continue to strive for each year, but what makes me so proud of this group of students is how they took on the challenges that these teachers and this school presented them with and took them on with hard work and belief that they can do it. That is what I have always said: High scores are great, but your high scores are not what make you a success in life. Hard work, dedication, and a belief that they can succeed is what makes you a success in life. These students will be the ones who will be the teachers, lawyers, doctors, and the decision makers in about 15 to 20 years. That hard work, dedication, and belief is what they will need to make them a success in those areas. My favorite quote comes from General Patton who said, “Accept the challenge so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory.” That is what these students did, they accepted the challenge from their teachers and they were able to feel the exhilaration of victory by being the best 5th graders around.

So maybe it wasn't the greatest ever, but it was true and heartfelt. I am very proud of these students, teachers, and parents. This has been a great group of families to work with this year.