Rain failed to dampen the spirits of Onteora High School graduates as a June 23 ceremony sent them off to their new chapter in life and honored a beloved retiring band director.
“The class of 2023 has been through a lot, from the initial district reconfiguration of 2012 to the perils of online schooling, and none of us would be graduating without the constant love and support we have been shown by every teacher here and every staff member,” salutatorian Maeve Turck said, to her classmates gathered in the high school gym. The ceremony had been moved indoors because of the weather.
“From the bottom of my heart, thank you all very, very much.” Turck acknowledged the tough decisions facing the district as it addresses declining enrollment and deals with yet another restructuring.
“This is a time of a lot of change and movement within our district. And while these discussions can get pretty heated, I would like to encourage all of you to remember the impacts that your decisions have on the current and future students and to remember that the children you affect today will in some odd number of years, be sitting here before you on these folding chairs, walking up these stairs and speaking to you from this very podium on their own graduation days,” she said.
“We endured a year and a half of school over Google Meet unable to interact with our friends, classmates and teachers and regular comfortable circumstances. If we were able to survive that, we can take on anything,” said valedictorian Takemi Sono-Knowles.
“Our school, teachers, classmates, friends and families are what creates the people we are today. But I also wouldn’t be standing here as valedictorian, or even Takemi Sono-Knowles, if it weren’t for my culture,” he said.
“Growing up in a Japanese household has not only given me the best cuisine in the world, but it has also taught me some valuable lessons. For one, it has taught me the benefits of respect. Respect is recognizing the good in everyone. By respecting those around us, young or old, wise or witty, we’re able to gain invaluable insight and meaningful support. Respect is earned not by trying to win everything we can, but by accepting our shortcomings.”
Class president Noelle Crandell dedicated her speech to her grandmother, who passed away a few months ago.
“She valued education above all, and she never gave me any idea that I couldn’t be whomever I wanted to be, and do whatever I wanted to do. She inspired me to be the leader that I am today,” Crandell said.
“Celebrate your journey today and take in every moment because you have worked so hard for this, and I for one cannot wait to see what you all do with your futures, as I have no doubt that each of you will be excellent wherever the road takes you,” she said.
“Regardless of what capacity I know you, we have shared many things together here at Onteora. We have shared fire drills, lockdown drills, snow days, ice days, flood days, high wind days, no power days, two-hour delays, three-hour delays, remote days, hybrid days and early dismissals,” said honorary guest speaker and retiring band teacher Steven Murphy, who worked in the district for 29 years.
Murphy conducted the middle and high school wind ensembles, led the marching band and directed the jazz ensemble as well as coached some sports.
“We’ve also shared school during the Covid years. I don’t want to dwell on that too much, as both you and I want nothing more than to put that in our rearview mirrors. But it will say in a lot of ways we came out of it stronger and more appreciative of what we had when we were all back in school together.”
Superintendent Victoria McLaren extended a gracious thank-you to the Onteora community.
“The support of our community is extraordinary and greatly appreciated. I need to thank our parents, guardians and extended families for partnering with us to support our amazing students so that we can all provide the best opportunities and experiences,” she said.
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