[Applause] all right as the assistant principal I'll be honest this is my favorite day of the school year are we still handing out referrals and today I get to do promotion certificates so thank you guys I think that was a great honor that I get to do this uh today I also don't take it for granted because these are the last words that you're gonna hear is the junior high students when you walk out of here you'll no longer be a Junior High student so I just want to leave you with a really simple message um and I'm going to call you my friends because I'm no longer your assistant principal you guys are my friends okay Amigos make every moment count all right time flies my friends if you ask your parents your Guardians your family members sitting up there they can probably remember their eighth grade promotion I know I do I was sitting in the bullet City Junior High Gym for the my eighth grade promotion 20 something years ago and they can probably tell you how it felt like just you had all this time and how you had so much time and you had high school coming up and you had so much time for that but time flies my friends those are now just memories for us what's exciting is that you get to live those moments now you get to live here and then go to high school and live those moments so with that I'll tell you don't wait okay don't wait too long to apply yourself because you're going to lose valuable time don't wait too long to get involved um that all starts the first day of your freshman year again don't wait to apply yourself don't wait to find something that you love don't wait to find friends that also have the same vision as you do that as soon as you step foot on any high school campus and you'll see amazing things happen my friends with that make every moment count you may now call yourself the graduating class of 2027.
she is a first generation Glendale High School and Phoenix college graduate who earned an associate's degree in global business Miss arita and her husband are proud parents of two Elementary age children and a Glendale High School graduate she's an employee for the Glendale Elementary School District and has served as an active volunteer for the Glendale and Phoenix communities since the mid-1990s thank you both for being here with us this afternoon one of the most important responsibilities of a school is to promote academic education and to insist upon excellence Washington High School confers its highest academic honors by designating the top one percent of the graduating class I am pleased to present four students who have earned the highest academic ranking in the class of 2023.
she is a first generation Glendale High School and Phoenix college graduate who earned an associate degree in global business Miss arita is and her husband are proud parents of two Elementary age children and a Glendale High School senior she is an employee for the Glendale Elementary School District and has served as an active volunteer for the Glendale and Phoenix communities since the mid-1990s the second guests of honor I'm happy to introduce is the superintendent of the Glendale Union High School District Mr Brian capistran now I would like to introduce the Independence High School vocal Ensemble and concert choir led by Mrs Sweeney Mrs Sweeney will you please bring in your singers the vocal Ensemble and concert choir will be singing oceans and stars [Music] foreign [Music] I miss you always [Music] crazy [Music] we will love you [Music] friends friends [Music] stories of oceans [Music] [Applause] thank you vocal Ensemble and thank you concert choir seniors tonight today I want you to take a look take a moment and look around you everybody here your family your friends teachers staff counselors administrators all of us are here because we're proud of you we want to share this amazing memory with you there may be times when you feel like you are stepping out into the unknown and you're alone but look around you're surrounded by people who want greatness for you we love you guys congratulations and good luck seniors it's my honor to bring up the students who have earned the opportunity to speak to the graduating class of 2023.
tonight we have the opportunity to hear from very four very talented members of the senior class our first Speaker this evening is our student body president Logan hermanstoffer [Applause] thank you Miss mccrayley good evening my name is Logan hermanusoffer and it and I have been this year's student body president and it is my honor to speak to you all tonight thank you friends family faculty and the future alumni of Mountain View High School for being here tonight we always love the last day of school the final Bell Rings we watch Friends run out the door but this year has been different we've been enjoying senior sunsets and prom watching events we have waited our whole life for to only exist as memories I used to love the last days because I knew we'd all see each other again same time same place same people but now it's our last day and this time we won't be coming back these past four years have been an adventure to say the least after facing challenges that nobody could prepare us for we are here tonight to celebrate a great achievement each and every one of us has grown and changed so much if you don't think you've changed just remember back when we are all making wishes at 11 11 and thought we were like smoking hot with a dog filter on yeah we've changed a lot but we've made it here and we will all be crossing the stage and entering the next chapter of Our Lives this past year I took economics just like many of you here and one of the first things I learned was that time like everything else is scarce there are only so many hours in a day days in a week and weeks in a year you have to decide at every moment how are you going to best utilize your limited time live every moment to the fullest plans change friends change family changes I want each and every one of you to leave the stage tonight with the goal to enjoy every experience that comes your way and to not be afraid of anything live your life to the fullest enjoy even the small and normal moments because sometimes you'll know when it's the last time and sometimes you won't thank you [Applause] and now I'd like to introduce Riley Knutson the 2023 salutatorian [Applause] okay so I would like to start by saying thank you to some sorry I would like to start by saying thank you to some people so thanks my parents my teachers Richard russick cell Khan Neil Campbell for writing Campbell's biology um and also web gen thank you web gen and just a disclaimer also the people in my language already know how bad I am at giving speeches so my apologies in advance here we go when I was writing this speech I thought I knew exactly what I was going to say I was going to start with the remark that despite the fact that I really am 18 I'm pretty sure I still look like I'm 16.
in fact that is known in our circles as the most successful Tiff in Illinois if not one of the most successful in the country so with that backdrop we wanted to come tonight to update you on the relocation of the Hollywood Casino from downtown Aurora to property immediately west of the Chicago Premium Outlet Mall on Farnsworth so tonight I in addition to myself um pleased to have with us Chris Minnick our Chief Financial Officer and City Treasurer Trevor dick assistant director of the mayor's office of Economic Development and also join not speaking but here is aldermen at large Ron Warman who also has children in the Batavia school district and lives in the vicinity off of Builder so really wanted to update you comprehensively about the new casino especially with a focus on financial impact because I'm sure that would be will be of keen interest to all of you so with that I want to turn it over to Chris and Trevor and I may be back up and we're happy to answer any questions you may have thank you excuse me thank you Alex uh Chris Minnick as CR as Alex indicated I'm the Chief Financial Officer and City Treasurer for the city of Aurora and it's been widely reported and Alex mentioned it tonight that the Aurora Hollywood Casino is moving from its current location uh in the downtown out to an area out just north of I-88 approximate to belter and Farnsworth and while there are many factors that have contributed to the decision to move there are a couple of major factors that I'd like to talk to you about now the primary factor is a decline in attendance at the existing Casino facility as well as the resultant decline in Revenue as a result of the decline that hap has happened in the attendance figures additionally oh thank you additionally over the past 30 years there have been some significant changes in the gaming industry and particularly as it applies in Illinois the relocation of the casino to the site at Bilter and Farnsworth will allow uh the developer to take advantage of many of those changes that have occurred over the last 30 years and the new location at builter and Farnsworth will allow them to have a new modern and expandable facility and as they develop to be able to adjust to Future changes in the gaming industry the development of the new casino site will be um or is actually governed by a Redevelopment agreement that was passed by the city and entered into and executed with the developer in the fall of 2022.
promotion yes I I move that we accept the um policy as submitted and that we include the date of today's date as accepting it so the second discussion all those in favor so um as my goal for school year 2023-24 uh it was to develop a new five-year strategic plan which was due for a vote uh or it was due to you today so you have a copy in front of you in this vanilla folder of the Strategic plan the five-year strategic plan um I will say that this there's a cover letter that I put in there and then there's also our uh our uh what do we call it uh theory of action Our God command this is our theory of action oh yeah theory of action I'm trying to remember what we called it our Theory theory of action that goes with it it kind of outlines uh the plan and then the plan itself this plan was developed uh with uh pretty much input from our total staff uh teachers administrators um Everybody in the facility in the building had an opportunity to weigh in on on this particular plan uh and their recommendations suggestions was uh forwarded to the nine Focus area committee who then uh spent the last couple of months working out and developing the plan uh based on the format that I put together for the Strategic plan itself I think it's a little more comprehensive than we've had in the past yes but IT addresses I think some very critical aspects of where the school needs to address over the next five years to ensure that we meet the needs of our students educationally and our community needs as well moving forward so I did a I have a short PowerPoint I'll give you you can look at this over over the next couple of weeks and then next meeting we can vote on it and any recommendations or thing changes you'd like to add to this feel free to email me forward me any of your thinking or anything that you'd like to see added or changed in the plan but before we meet in the next two weeks and I can look at it review it and then possibly included in the plan if we've missed something or you think something needs to be expanded upon a little bit more in terms of each aspect of it this is this info ambitious well thought out all of those things but as we embark on these steps to make it happen I was wondering what the plan is and how frequently we every three months uh quarterly whatever how often would we hear either how on track we are if there are stumbling blocks what are they what can we do to make it happen um things that have already been done things that are underway so how are you planning to report back that is um something I guess not to be included in the plan but in an overview of how you report back to us and to the community so it's not familiar if you look on the if you look on the very last page of the plan you'll see there's what's called Financial considerations so uh what I'm going to be looking for also is a committee's a vote to approve just have a line item in next year's budget of fifty thousand dollars uh to um ensure the implementation of this particular plan because we know there's a lot of work so Sue and I met today specifically to talk about how do we ensure that this plan is implemented and that we follow through on each and every uh aspect of the plan so uh it will be driven by our administrative team it will be bi-monthly there will be a specific line in our agenda on our operational meetings to review each of the focus areas where we're at on it so the focus areas will also will be having a uh the direct the chair of the focus area committee will be chairing in a committee to implement their aspect of the plan to ensure that it's implemented so we'll be having ongoing meetings and continue our committees to uh to meet on an ongoing basis the report will then be reported out at the uh by by monthly meeting and after that report is completed I will do a report to the committee uh on a byway by monthly uh uh time frame as well so every two months I will give you an update report on how the Strategic plan is working I'll outline that I'll put an outline on how we're going to implement that in the uh in the Strategic plan as well the financial consideration um I just thought to put in at the end of the day today I haven't even spoken to Melissa about putting that in the budget oh when she heard she ran out but actually uh it's just an estimate we're not sure like I I we started to look at all the different Focus areas and committees and work that needs to be done so um uh that's why I put 50 000 as a starting point I believe that for this first year that will get us off the ground and then uh if for some reason we find that there's some kind of aspect of the plan that needs to be funded uh that's not funded and we can come back to the committee and ask for an increase in that line item but um that's the intent of how we're going to ensure that this plan is implemented and followed through is that close to its stipends materials what is that and it could be any one of those things it could be stipends materials Consultants um we're not we haven't uh broken that down yet that's the next step that I have to take some time with the plan and put a uh just determine you know what are our next steps in terms of implementation we haven't really sat down to develop an implementation plan yet so that's the next step of the plan so how do you know the fifty thousand dollars of covering well that's an estimate that's just an estimate it may not be I'm I'm estimating that it should be enough considering some of the Committees and uh some of what we looked at quickly a lot of some of the funding is already built into the budget so if you look at some of what's in there uh uh like the mtss work to curriculum work we already have money in the budget to the for curriculum development which is in this plan so a lot of the funding needed to implement this is already built into our next year's budget yeah sure yeah I can do it now just so people can yeah in case there are questions [Music] so I might have given you some of this information in the past but I thought it was important to kind of highlight what the process was for this particular development of the Strategic plan first uh Focus areas were identified and utilized uh they aligned to the dse's district standards and indicators for uh uh perform High performing School stakeholder feedback collected from students from families from Community from staff Focus areas identified for the glts Strategic plan was the next order of business uh superintendent Lavoy presented each identified Focus area to the stakeholders nine strategic plan committees consisting of administrative and teacheth co-chairs as well as various stakeholders the Strategic plan committee conducted research with available data held planning meetings identified goals identified outcomes held open meetings and presented a draft to superintendent boy the final five-year strategic plan within all the data and information presented was then developed into the document that you have in front of you um focus here committee process step one was the multo multiple data source analysis condition of school Effectiveness survey Panorama survey glts Equity audit and the current educational research and Etc that we in other uh data points that we utilize in collecting data step two was overarching goal statements created based on the available data step three was the core strategies created based on available data step four where objectives outputs outcomes created step five was Garner staff feedback and step six was based on feedback and further data analysis final finalizing all Focus areas of the Strategic plan identified Focus areas for the Strategic plan one was leadership in governance two curriculum instruction and assessment three teacher recruitment four teacher retention five Workforce Development six student support seven School culture and climate eight finance and asset management and nine increasing access the first one was leadership and governance the goal statement was to establish and maintain procedures that strive to increase transparency and communication regarding decisions and the implementation of policies for all stakeholders including students families staff elected officials support organization and business and the business community core strategies increase for this particular Focus area was to increase transparency and communication to families regarding decision policies affecting students increased transparency and communication regarding decisions affecting staff three increased transparency and communication to all stakeholders regarding decision policies made by elected officials and for increased Communications too and supportive Community organizations and the business Community we serve so just with this in mind we had four strategic uh core numbers there or plans in the plan if in going through this strategic plan if there's something that you find would be uh important or advantageous for another Court strategy just feel free to email me and we'll we'll take a look at it curriculum instruction and assessment a goal statement to develop and Implement a vision for curriculum instruction and assessment at greater Lawrence technical school in order to provide students with high quality instructional materials rigorous standard aligned instruction in a variety of methods to assess their Knowledge and Skills the core strategies one design and or Implement high quality curricular and instructional materials that are fully aligned to the Massachusetts DSE framework and include relevant diverse bias-free resources develop an instructional toolbox of evidence-based priority instructional practices for implementation of all grade levels and content areas three expand current assessment methods to include universal screen diagnostic progress monitoring common and performance-based assessment methods Etc to provide a more comprehensive view of student achievement teacher recruitment goal statement to increase the amount of qualified applicants to a variety of methods one increase the number of applicants of diverse backgrounds in faculty and staff over the next five years develop part two develop Partnerships to increase the number of Staff applicants for vacant and or new positions three Provide support for applicants in determine what their needs are in order to be able to be employed at glts for develop a recommendation for glts Norm for applicant selection and interview process that REM into viewing process that removes biases teacher retention goal statement in the next five years glts will put in place systematic structures that assist in their retention of academic and CTE teachers one expand the support provided to newly hired Educators to attain professional status to expand the support provided to teachers with four or more years of service three build and sustain an environment that supports and acts on the voices ideas and opinions of its teachers of color four Workforce Development a goal statement build jlts to be a recognized Workforce Development Hub in the community one increased connections with employers two provide students with additional supports to successfully access access Co-op positions or employment three all Industries are pivoting towards eco-friendly low carbon strategies to be more resource efficient glts needs to integrate will integrate advancements in each shop to in the relations to the resources of efficiency four recruit more industry professionals to teach after dark and adult Workforce Development and use this as a pathway to a licensed teaching career four continue to build post-secondary opportunities at glts to reach goal and being a Workforce hub for the community building upon after dark and entry-level technical skill training and provide more advanced training in post-secondary options student support six goal statement glts recognizing the importance of taking a holistic approach to supporting educating students will address the academic social emotional and health needs of all students through Equitable and targeted action that are integrated in all aspects of the educational environment and programming core strategies develop and Implement a comprehensive career planning model that addresses the unique needs of all students and is integrated throughout the CTE and academic curriculum with support from guidance special education and multo multilingual Learners departments two provide the necessary support that all students need to achieve success by systematically addressing academic emotional and Behavioral concerns fostering increased student access and a safe and supportive School climate three provide more opportunities for students to become involved in the extracurricular activities and connected with the school community seven social culture and climate I mean School a goal statement to transfer the school culture at greater Lawrence technical school to Foster an environment where diversity belonging equity and inclusion are at the Forefront of the district develop and share vision for d e d b e i at glts create clear expectations and standards for communication and behavior for staff and for students promote diversity blowing equity and inclusion three provide professional development to support staff in fostering a learning environment that is culturally responsive and rooted in diversity belonging equity and inclusion for research and Implement student support team models inclusive of restitative restorative practices and conflict resolution strategies to promote positive relationships five incorporate student voice and student leadership in the decision making and school governance uh a it's Finance Finance uh Go finance and asset management management prioritizing budget allocations to ensure student learning and health needs are met one we do student teacher ratios and maintain smaller class sizes to expand involvement in the budget development process three develop comprehensive inventory systems for expand involvement in obtaining grants and five improve energy conservation practices uh nine increasing access one goal statement to increase Community Access to Greater Lawrence technical school in order to provide opportunities for our sending districts core strategies expand our current CTE courses for after dark and adult learning as well as the allotted slots per school year to create Pathways provide the community with educational programs English language Learners U.S citizenships financial literacy technology literacy college process driver's ed and other soft skills to increase access to CTE programs create creating early experience opportunities for middle school students to explore shops and four expand CTE Pathways for current C grade Lawrence technical school students Financial considerations and that's as I said an estimated budget line item requesting a new budget line item for the Strategic plan looking for fifty thousand dollars as an estimate and the primary identified costs research and development of focus areas and their strategies uh strategic plan coordination strategic plan oversight as needed development of subcommittees has outlined its strategic plans additional details will be provided after strategic plan workshops with the administrative leadership team in the summer of 2023.
and Friday May 19th is the high school elementary school tour all right yeah okay so for ongoing events uh students experience uh 12 through 11 to 12 um have begun to take their finals most of our elections right now and the seniors will begin tomorrow in about two weeks from now and then other other customers follow them was it goes across have begun there and Triple C permanent runs a Singapore had had their last meeting of the year and during that they came in for us to spread positivity on school canvas so for upcoming returning fourth CHS band is going to be March into the senior center tomorrow as well it'll also be the CIS grade in addition to that it's also going to be the CIS art show on Thursday May 25th is going to be the CHS honors celebration a senior picnic's gonna be Friday May 26th at five Meadow day camp in grenadine that's also going to be our release for all schools Monday the 29th there's not going to be any school for Memorial Day Tuesday the 30th is going to be the event celebrating the superintendent case uh Wednesday May 31st there's the CMS moving up day CIS volunteer luncheon and the CHS Coral concert uh Thursday June 1st is going to be Cultural Arts day where some high school music ensembles are coming down to CIS and Performing some things for kids um as well as CMS we speak as from social justice event is going to be on that day as well as the senior scholarship celebration that evening uh Friday June 2nd is going to be the CMS 7th grade field trip as well as cbps children's Fair Saturday June 3rd is going to be the Canton Public Schools just Driftwood chamber Dave uh Tuesday June 6 is going to be the CHS end of year sports award tonight and then graduation for the class of 2023 is on June 9th and then following that is going to be the substance free celebration as well I'm not sure on the date but the art Society is hosting graduation cap decorations I believe that's from the fourth week that's good yeah okay so uh what's the mood in the high school as we start coming down to the end of the line here all seniors technology we are definitely um ready to be done a lot of you I mean the end of the year for every move uh sort of you know contacting everything that you've learned in here and trying to get into those finals and I mean not everyone's taking them but um it's definitely a lot of information this teachers are trying to get as much out of students as they can but I'm sure we'll miss it when it's over so I'm I'm not I'm not rushing it I don't think anyone's really rushing and I just but again I leave here and then there's a lot of fun I said he's coming up like that and then our stuff is free on the United States so so some advice from an old man with gray hair for white hair actually um these are the best days these these days will stay with you forever so enjoy them don't get too uh too stressed out uh not too much anxiety and just enjoy your friends some you won't see again and some you will and and the ones that maybe you don't see and 20 30 years later it's like you pick up like you haven't ever left each other so really have uh enjoy it and I'm glad we have all these activities planned for you guys so you can enjoy it absolutely um Bella what are you doing this summer uh Khalil shared with us a little earlier with me anyway in Mr Case are you working or uh what's your plan yeah I'm gonna be doing some work at um playables and Avon but I don't know if I have any like concrete uh plans so far for the summer I'll probably have a little bit somewhere I'm going to England but I definitely gotta do some of that uh summer work for college and did you pick your couch last time I spoke to you a while ago yes I've been committed to Marist College excellent beautiful on the river beautiful School so on the sixth on the sixth we will meet our new uh Representatives uh and we'll save that uh for that announcement for uh for the six but we'll be saying goodbye to our student reps and we hope that you'll be able to make it on the six so we can all um say farewell and um enjoy you for one more meeting okay um Eric is there anything you want to add to any of that or no no just make sure you come on Eric was uh Erica was wonderful um going through this with Dr Kidwell and making the selection of our our new reps and uh more to come on that and I want to see over Thunder but thank you for taking the time in those early morning meetings to getting that done so great any other questions for our student reps okay all right moving on I think we have one PTO report which is in our in our kit and um I'll just let you read that uh and kind of go over it and see that once again our ptos are so active this is the uh middle school PTO cable report we'll probably have another report in our next meeting on the 6th but um sometimes I wonder how the school would operate without our ptos and so so dedicated so selfless and the things that they do and the activities they do and they supplement and complement uh the district so well especially in areas financially where we certain things that we can't do the parents step up and we're that's what makes Canton a great Community I think that's why people move here is uh a our schools will be the sense of community the parents form and the PTO so take a moment they took the time to put together um this report just take a look at it and we can uh we'll put that as part of the minutes going forward okay uh now we're going to move right into Mr case's report um and hear what he has to say just in case thank you chair Daniels good evening everybody it's great to see all of you um tonight I have a couple of things to share the first is that last night we had a diversity equity and inclusion Community Gathering this is a follow-up to the community Gathering that we held on January 18th and again this Gathering was facilitated by Dr Shannon holder and Trida Collier dickenman um our crack um resource Specialists Focus you know experts in diversity equity and inclusion and we talked about three things number one Dr holder reviewed at a high level the focus group results from January 18th and we'll be um will be taking a deeper dive into what folks had to say on that evening as we form our action plan for next year we're calling it an equity action plan we took a look at our Equity statement that the Board of Education adapted in June of 2021 to see how we are doing in each of those areas and we learned about the cycle of socialization in What's called the cycle of liberation and if anyone is interested in knowing more about about that we certainly can send you some information and those of you who are at home if you'd like to know more just send me an email kks at cantonschools.org and we'll make sure we get you that information so we're going to be busy um over the summer I say we I will be busy through June helping our administrative team plan for next year and we've already been in conversation with your next superintendent Dr Grossman who will continue to carry on this work here in Canton so it was a great evening last night and I thank Shannon and treated for facilitating and for our board members who are able to be there as you can imagine this is not only a very busy time with all of the exciting end of the year events but administratively we're already busy recruiting and hiring our staff for next year because as we know we can never start early enough so as a matter of fact today we did hire we did hire a World Language teacher for the high school so um interviews are set up for tomorrow for our special education teacher vacancies specifically our Thrive program now that the budget has passed we're able now to fill the special ed teacher vacancies and the para educator vacancies so we are moving along quickly to do that so we can we can find the most highly qualified individuals for those positions we're also looking for a school counselor here at Canton Intermediate School as you know last time you approved Lynn Kaufman's resignation we'll be looking for our math interventionist at the high school level which was approved through this budget we'll also be looking for our literacy Innovation specialist also known as our library media um library media drawing a blank now specialist at the high school as Katie mattioli has resigned we've posted that position and there was some question as to how that position would be posted I know one of our staff members emailed a couple members of the board wondering whether certification in library library media science would be required and after quite a bit of discussion we are requiring that for the position so if anyone else if anyone reaches out to you we are requiring it we were going to say preferred but we really believe as Mr Bishop and I talked that it's important that our staff have those qualifications the difficulty there are challenges that it is a shortage area so there may not be a large pool of candidates to choose from who have that certification so so I guess the question would be and I understand why you won't be required and I think that's great but I also understand why it might be preferable because of that and we've heard through the input that we've received drop year about Staffing shortages and what that does I would hate to see that position go unfilled just because of the requirement I would almost you know look for a short term I don't know if we can do a short-term film but I'd hate to leave that position open if we didn't get somebody with the exact qualifications that we're looking for I don't know if anybody else wants to know Lou you're exactly right um that position is too important to go unfilled so if we did not find anyone with that certification we could ask the state for What's called the dsap dsap a durational shortage well I don't know what AP stands for area provision right so there is there is a process with the state that if we find a highly qualified individual but they don't need all of the requirements of the certification we can still hire them because it is a shortage area there are certain certain Staffing areas that are designated shortage areas by the state special education is one of them mathematics library media so we'll definitely fill the position with the most highly qualified person so your confidence will fill in position we are going to fill the position okay absolutely it's two two important a position at the high school and then of course search process and the recruiting process is underway for the Cherry Brook Primary School on principleship Dr Grossman is working with um Rebecca Corto our principal here at Canton intermediate school and with Mr Bishop our assistant superintendent we're very fortunate that both Rebecca and John have agreed to co-chair the initial search code and we now have people coming forward from throughout the community in response to Dr Grossman's letter for people who want to serve on the committee so that's the next step selecting the people who will serve on the committee we have dates already set up for the application screening process in the interview process so that is well underway and applications are being received on a daily basis so we're busy with the recruiting and hiring process for next year does anyone have any questions here all right thank you we had some great meetings with with our Paris tutors Subs uh there were minutes taken from that I wonder if we could Supply the board window with those minutes buddy when you get a second just so they can see some of the areas that we're going to be working on going forward would that be all right absolutely okay okay thank you Mr Case excellent report so now we move on uh to Mr Bishop you have a guest you're going to introduce us here too I do and I'm to be able to introduce this guest here tonight after a long period of time searching for the right person to be able to join the Canton Public Schools and be able to support us on a work in partnering with students and families to be able to continue to promote successful Pathways for all and in partnership with our open Choice program we feel thrilled to be able to welcome Miss Sarah Jones Miss Jones has been with us for about five weeks six six this is the sixth week so far and it has already made a tremendous impact within our community providing support for our Administration for our staff and most importantly for our students and families too so Sarah we're thrilled to be able to have you here tonight and uh would love for you to be able to just have an opportunity to be able to greet the board and be able to share a little bit about yourself [Laughter] John didn't tell you that you have to assume your college fight song before you begin you didn't all right well all right so [Laughter] um I just wanted to thank you all for the opportunity to come tonight and to be well um in person I have gotten some Zoom squares of a few of you so it's nice to see you all in person um want to share a little bit about my background although I know many of you saw uh Mr Bishop's gracious uh introduction to me when I first joined several weeks ago um so I Canton has you know a couple people have asked me along the way sort of why Canton or what made you figure out the internet I will admit up front that Kim has been on my radar for a really long time um I was as a baby baby um a colleague of Dr Grossman a thousand years ago when we were both at Manchester High School and as he went he went out to pursue his administrative dreams as an assistant principal again High School um farewell as colleagues but we've remained a touch over those years and so it's so it was known a little bit about Canton as I've started to follow his career um so when he left me alone at Manchester High I was the activities director there and I spent 14 years there um I know that Dr Grossman's one of his mentors uh Joe already also served in that roles I feel like I come from a very nice lineage of um of people who kind of spent a little bit of time doing that with students and the Student Activities program at Manchester High School was very large at the time that I was serving at one point I think we were up over 2400 students so you know that's in one school but you know almost twice as many students as there are again completely so I've been playing over and over my head something I learned from um a person who's not a superintendent and it can be written but who also was a colleague some years ago in Manchester um that you know don't apply big school or big District Solutions the middle school or little District problems so I've been trying to keep that in mind as I'm sort of learning and listening to everyone who's been sharing um very graciously since I arrived um after I left Manchester High School I um decided that I wanted to kind of spread my wings a little bit I'd been in Manchester basically since I graduated college Uconn and um I took an opportunity to go work for a traveling boarding school and so it's a chance to live in Buenos Aires Argentina and then also in Boston it was an international school service students from all over the world so Boston was an international City even though you know feels a little bit like home for us um and then also in Hyderabad India which is sort of the tech capital of India and it's a spot that I think the most Microsoft employees um live and work than anywhere else in the world aside from Washington um staying so it's a very interesting and exciting time to go around and travel and uh then I decided I wanted to come back home and see what what music there was to do and so I joined the governor's prevention partnership which is an agency that does some safe School climate and some anti-bullying work and some um some substance misuse prevention work with you so I was lucky enough to to try my hand at that and then that led me to the State education Resource Center which really I think set the stage for sort of a match here with the camp because combining all of those experiences and being able to have gone out and do some training in positive behavioral interventions and supports restorative practices racial Equity working on a federal school climate and transformation Grant across the state they're just excellent opportunities to cut big systems but also help um and so after just over eight years at Circ I decided to start thinking about what my next thing might be and one of the things that I loved about Consulting was getting out and being able to work with lots of different people in lots of different communities something I really missed about being in a school was like what happens so you see like you go you meet with administrators you go you meet the teachers and you have all these great conversations and there's lots of intention and interest in what you're talking about but then you leave and you're not entirely sure if it really happens and so I um really wanted to get back into a place where you can kind of see it play out day to day and so that's sort of what led me to applying and I really appreciated the very thoughtful and um process that we went through um you know with the interviews I got to learn a lot about the community and a lot about the school system from the members who sat on the panel and I really appreciate that and so as as was mentioned I started about six six weeks ago um on the 17th and since then I've been um really trying to just get around and meet students and meet staff and I've been kind of meeting kids off the bus in the morning just sort of saying hello and getting to know them I visited um here almost every day at the intermediate school and over at Cherry Brook as well and then my in the high school so I'm at the high school kind of by the after Bus arrival most days um we've been trying to sort of establish uh for those of you who knew Mr Campbell um when he retired last year there was a little bit of a just just communication gap I think that we were trying to sort of reestablish and so I've been trying to reach out to our families who reside in Harvard and just let them know that the position had been filled within that there's someone that they can contact I've been working with our prep Partners to kind of understand like what supports and what Partnerships we can do to ensure that students are as successful as they they can be here in Canton and excess as successful as we would like them today um and then sort of that sort of run the more personal side and then on the uh sort of more systems side looking at school climate information looking at sort of our attendance policies and practices and thinking about what that might look forward Behavioral systems um an initial meeting with Dr Grossman and Mr Bishop about some programmatic ideas so with all that I sort of expect back in front of you all in the fall with some more formal plans and information we look forward to that so questions for Sarah any questions so uh being here six weeks I'm not going to ask you about the challenges you'll let us know about that in September but so do we have any bright spots what would you say is you know as you start to look around over the six weeks what have you looked at and said wow it's pretty good I mean I think people right people have been beyond I mean from students to to staff to families that I'm still going to everyone's been very positive very um welcoming very very gracious what I ask like questions over and over again about sort of how does that work or what does that mean um and so I think the people for sure kind and respectful all right Sarah welcome good luck and uh when you're in the fall we look forward to getting those reports and anything else that you may need be interested in hearing thank you so much thank you and I know you have quite a drive so feel free to um sneak out okay uh so my report so uh I have a few things to go over um I want I wanted to revisit uh Michelle trobbs uh uh sabbatical I've talked to a few of you and um as you recall she made a presentation about her sabbatical and the issue was uh contractually um it's in the contract for a teacher to request a sabbatical it's a discussion of the board the problem is we don't have any criteria on what how to measure a sabbatical and how how it should what the expectations are and what the return on investment might be Michelle came back to me and said listen I I really think that this could be good for camping she said but I understand that we don't have a criteria in place to really judge the sabbaticals she said but I'm I'm willing to raise my own support I think I can raise minimally 80 and potentially greater she said but before I go through that work I'd like to know from the board if I can raise the support would the board be willing to um to support me in the sabbatical you might remember now have the exact figures about eleven five or so eleven thousand five hundred dollars was the was the bogey uh as far as what it was gonna cost the Board of Education uh for the sabbatical and that covers her and um and some time so eighty percent of that would be ninety two hundred dollars so the thought is uh Michelle's looking for if she can raise minimally ninety two hundred dollars or maybe the whole thing and it has to be done institutionally it can be done through family friends teachers or others because that would that would kind of skew that puts her in a position what was these if you will so um it would have to be institutional and there are there are places if she's discussed there's a couple grants that are available to her for that type of thing and I know rotary would consider Canton Education Foundation and so on and so forth so I'm not asking for a motion I'm just asking for a kind of a soft opinion on this and I think that's what Michelle is looking for she puts the effort in just want to raise the money and then come back and we say well we're not going to be able to do it she's looking to know that if if she can raise the money would we be willing to support her in sabbatical so thoughts my question is if the reason one of the reasons why we were hesitant about it was that we need the criteria we have no criteria right how does the money answer that question that we don't we still have the criteria we don't have the criteria to judge a sabbatical but the thought is if if one of the big concerns of this award was the financial obligation if she could meet the financial obligation and as you all know we're going to be going through teacher negotiations next year and it's one of my areas to one of the things that I've checked we'll discuss so it really is until we do that if you met the financial obligation would that or for the board we will be setting the president's number there's some problems down the road so in checking again a little bit with um board attorneys told me about the institutional side of things we wouldn't be setting impressive because we would then be putting it into the criteria will be established within the teacher's contract next time around and that would be done for the 24 25 school year so I don't think we're setting anything out setting up a precedent in any way I think it's better than the financial concern with my concerns you know right here well yeah because um by the way I told her if the board does decide to move this way we would need to know by September 30th whether she has the point or not she plans to leave Ward I believe it's the 24th January through June of 2024.
this award as voted by our head coaches is presented to one male and one female from the senior class who has excelled within the Cheshire High School athletic program these athletes are representing Cheshire in the highest regard with sportsmanship character leadership academics and teamwork and also demonstrated excellence in their sport in league and state competition our female outstanding athlete was a two-sport athlete in the sports of soccer and basketball a natural athlete she can play any sport and have success a season-ending injury Sidelines her during her entire junior year but her tireless work ethic and competitive Spirit brought her back this year she returned to basketball but excelled in the sports soccer she received a large number of soccer accolades including being named League Player of the Year Allstate all New England and also named to the female high school all academic an All-American soccer team she was always a team player in display for contagious enthusiasm at every practice and contest a highly respected athlete throughout the state she always plays for the betterment of the team and her success is not as important she is very involved in peer health class and has always reached out to give back to the school and Community she helped her soccer team to read School record season competing in the state finals this year all this while maintaining a grade point average of 4.0 she will look to expand her college options and will attend choke Rosemary from post-grant year congratulations to Gabriella Gabby Perez [Applause] our outstanding male athlete was a three-season athlete all four years competing in soccer indoor track outdoor track and was named captain for all three teams he earned all SEC honors in all three Sports and was an eighth of the All-State and all New England teams in the sport of track and field a varsity player in soccer all four years he leaves with two appearances in the State final and this year was part of the state championship boys soccer team he also released with two additional personal state championship titles and track both in the 100 meters as well as a first place finish in the New England championship he was invited to and competed at the Scholastic National track championships he leaves treasure High studying four new high school records in track and would continue his track career competing for the pioneers of Sacred Heart University a humble athlete he always contributed his success to his teammates and coaches congratulations to Colin Brown [Applause] I would not like to introduce Mr Dan Lee to present the Excellence in leadership scholarship [Applause] the excess leadership scholarship is sponsored by the Orion TV Memorial Foundation is awarded annuity to a senior captain of the Cheshire High School sports team the recipient is chosen by a committee comprised of teachers coaches and administrators based on the following criteria the individual Embraces the challenges of interscholastic Athletics and Leadership responsibilities associated with being a captain the individual understands the importance of taking interest in others and Exhibits the quality of a great teammate the individual demonstrates our team exportsmanship it takes pride in representing Cheshire High School the individual activity seeks opportunities to make a difference in the lives of others and is dedicated to making our school our school Community a better place this year's recipient is not only a multi-sport athlete but he's also a multi-sport captain who's embraced the variety of leadership opportunities within our school Community taking time out of his already busy schedule to make a positive difference in the lives of others but the combination of hard work empathy and resiliency this year's recipient truly goes above and beyond the call in order to help people throughout our community from planning large-scale student leadership at events to organize their food drives through daily random acts of kindness the student athlete embodies what it means to lead in service of others so on behalf of the writing kiwi Memorial Foundation it's my pleasure to present the 2023 Excellence leadership scholarship to Michael the Joseph foreign [Applause] high school students may earn honorable status through their coursework tonight we recognize those students who have been on the honor roll for at least three marketing periods and an academic year for three or four years joining us tonight are the senior class advisors this is Rebecca Daddio and this is Teresa LeBrun to read the names of the recipients of The Honorable Meadows PTO Representatives Don Cronin Betsy depaolo Kathy carlucci Lisa Palma and our state counseling department leader Michelle katusi will present the medals thank you Alana akbas [Applause] Isabel Azula [Applause] foreign Bailey [Applause] Luke Edward Bannock [Applause] Alejandro Barbo [Applause] Hayden Bennett Krishna benzi Tamia Blaze Zoe Bob ruff [Applause] William Borland [Applause] Luca boers Baba Michael Bowman Elizabeth Brown are you late Bronson [Applause] Amber Kessler [Applause] Danielle because um development Cerrito Chong Ryan Harris Jason [Applause] Jonathan Chen [Applause] Zachariah Chen [Applause] Claudia Rebecca Chong [Applause] awesome Jordan chipper Ella Lyndon Cohen [Applause] Timothy considine [Applause] Courtney Cronin Clyde Noel D'Souza Caitlyn Courtney daily [Applause] Michael Joseph Dempsey Anthony thank you Stephanie Dickinson Mac demick Anthony Joseph distante [Applause] Sarah Dwyer foreign [Applause] according or celius [Applause] Graham Fowler Ellie Foxx Joseph Quando William gaudette [Applause] Columbia Maureen Gentile [Applause] Andrew [Applause] [Music] Julian Rose Giordano Rachel Goldstein [Music] [Applause] Sam gravel Caitlyn Gray Colin Rebellion thank you amazing Rhonda Emma Kathleen Grove Sonia velotti Abram Raven Harris foreign [Applause] Noah Jamie Evan Isaacson [Applause] Matthew Johnson foreign [Applause] Charles Edward perch III [Applause] Audrey Butler [Applause] Vincent Lynn Vicky Lou [Applause] Helene Lopez William Douglas [Applause] Tai Lopez Alexandra Lucas thank you I'm Bob Lucina Anish mendaba [Applause] molokin David Marshawn [Applause] Marissa Marie markowski Alexis Martin [Applause] Hannah Mayer [Applause] miles mayor [Applause] Catherine Rose nicardo Jaden McAuley Andrea Milano [Applause] Elizabeth Ann Miller [Applause] Aaron Miller Kayla MinGa [Applause] Haley hola [Applause] Jordy Monroe [Applause] Julia murko [Applause] Brian Murphy [Applause] Trevor Nielsen Andrews [Applause] Rocco Anthony [Applause] we went open ski [Applause] Alexandra Nicole Palladino [Applause] thank you Catherine Eileen Paula Charlotte Irene Tomlin [Applause] Daniel Herron I'm John Park [Applause] Colby Paul [Applause] Lauren paranace [Applause] Anna pochu [Applause] Avery petralla foreign [Applause] Richard [Applause] Emily Rivera [Applause] Marissa Leia Rivera [Applause] Caitlyn Rivera [Applause] Martin rubber Patrick roberg [Applause] Noah foreign ER [Applause] Megan Rebecca Rossi [Applause] Justin Rua [Applause] Mariana [Applause] Lauren shamella [Applause] Zachary schneitzer [Applause] Kaylie Shaw Madison Shaw [Applause] Audrey Ray Sheehan [Applause] Valerie Ashley [Applause] Ava Marie Simeone Elizabeth choice Lillian Marie saluzzi [Applause] Kayla zotero Vanessa scalenti [Applause] Santa Rica srinivasan [Applause] Sandra San Diego Benjamin Miller stroke thank you [Applause] Sophia Serrano [Applause] Julia Schwartz [Applause] IMA telepan Veneto hand in town [Applause] Asia terabar [Applause] John Robert Tarka [Applause] Luca tamale [Applause] Benjamin Thompson [Applause] Gabriella tirado [Applause] Lake tribodina [Applause] foreign ER [Applause] Catherine Elise ulicki [Applause] Andrew Bruce Bass [Applause] Andrew Vale [Applause] Kylie Juliana Vasquez [Applause] Caroline valiver [Applause] Anthony David bottom Samantha Wang [Applause] Silas Wayne [Applause] Hannah warzica [Applause] Lila and watkinson [Applause] Gavin Alexander Werner [Applause] Riley villain [Applause] Kaylee Shia Andrew Shoop [Applause] Sophia Hannah Young [Applause] Catherine Palace Zara foreign [Applause] thank you okay oh um for those of you who are not familiar with the scouting program and the eagle scout rank it is a um it's a seven year Journey for those that only about five percent of the youth who participate in scouting achieve Nationwide it involves not only learning a number of skills but also teaching those skills to younger Scouts it involves demonstrated leadership and demonstrated both through their example through the way they lived and through their various leadership positions in the troop it involves developing a lifestyle of community service represented by countless service hours a major project that they have to to plan and Implement in the community Eagle Scout is unique in the in that it is an achievement that employers will recognize and value throughout the the young man's career so it's something that will be on their resume at 18 at 25 at 55.
join me in thanking and showing our appreciation to all the dignitaries and guests for participating in the 2023 Magnolia High School graduation ceremony [Applause] at this time please stand for the presentation of Colors by Magnolias JROTC hello guys oh let's face at this time please rise and join me for the Pledge of Allegiance after the Pledge of Allegiance please remain standing for our national anthem that will be performed by our very own Magnolia High School concert band so please place your right hand over your heart ready begin I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all please remain standing for the national anthem [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] thank you you may be seated it is my pleasure to introduce the senior class president montadar al-jadid or Monty an incoming ASB president Sylvia Marquina for the presentation of the senior gift thank you I am Mantra al-juddin and I am proud to have served as your 2023 senior class president it is my pleasure to present our class gift of funds to be used for future activities and events for the students of Magnolia High School we hope that your future events are amazing and bring joy to the campus [Applause] thank you Monty on behalf of the students at Magnolia High School I gratefully accept this gift today as I stand before before you as a class president of 2023 I am fulfilled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude and reflection these past few years have been an incredible journey and they have taught me invaluable lessons that extend far beyond the walls of our classrooms first and foremost I have learned about the immeasurable value of our class we are not just a group of individuals who happen to attend the same school um sorry but we are a community United by shared experiences dreams and aspirations together we have laughed cried and possibly celebrated callus of achievements but our diversity has been our strength and our Unity has propelled us forward being your class president has taught me the importance of leadership responsibility and teamwork it has been an honor to represent you my classmates and advocate for your Collective voice through countless meetings planning events and addressing concerns I have witnessed the power of collaboration and the impacts we can make when we work together towards a common goal as we embark on the next chapter of Our Lives Let Us carry these lessons with us let us remember the strength of our class and the incredible things we have achieved let us continue to embrace leadership responsibility and teamwork as we Mark our as we make our mark on the world and to the Future classes I wish you the best of luck in your future years as well life is like a million pictures in a photo album you can remember it but you can never recapture it and it would be a shame if I don't capture this memory with my class a class that I will truly never forget call this you guys um class of 2023 the future holds endless possibilities for each and every one of us together we can create a brighter tomorrow congratulations and thank you for the privilege of being your class president for the past four years thank you [Applause] thank you Monty and Zoe our first Speaker today is Musa maseda Musa will be attending the University of Cal State Fullerton and plans to major in business law in the future Musa plans to be a lawyer and continuous entrepreneurial Ventures let's give it up for Musa [Applause] you know as I Was preparing for this moment and practicing my speech I use pillows and stuffed animals as a reference to all of you and let's just say it does not make this any easier ladies and gentlemen today without a doubt is one of the greatest days of our lives today you're also going to hear one of the best speeches you heard in a while for those who don't know me hi I'm Musa and we went to high school together and to begin with I would like to congratulate everyone including myself on making it this far and being here today the world as we all know it is plagued with dangers you've got politics covid-19 teachers calling your parents for not showing up to class capstone's future preparations and the list just goes on yet in spite of all of that we managed to overcome everything and be present here today so I think we deserve to give ourselves a quick Round of Applause no where'd all the time go it's been a while since we got ourselves into the hallways of Magnolia High School plenty of homework assignments later and we're still here with plenty of more homework assignments to go except we're on a more exciting and scary route now as the great Abraham Lincoln put it if I had six hours to chop down a tree I would spend my first four sharpening my ax and ladies and gentlemen it is safe to say that we have taken the time to sharpen our axes for the past 13 years we've been going through the awkward phases of showing up to elementary school then Junior High and now High School all that's left is for us to go drop down that tree to go out into the world and take on things that'll get us further than we already are to rep to represent the colors black and gold with passion and take pride in how far we've come ladies and gentlemen in times of Deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act and when I look into this crowd I see the truth in myself and and you guys I see the truth in all you guys I see endless potential held in each and every single one of you the sky's the limit and we didn't come this far just to come this far I believe that all of us will go on and accomplish things God will get us further than we already are so to every person listening to me speak up here today I say these words to you everything you have ever desired is on the other side of fear anxiety and discipline we have proved to ourselves that we are Limitless and that we can reach New Heights so I ask you to not be doubtful of yourselves do not be anxious about what you can achieve and do not be fearful of what the future holds for all I know is that we are a group of extraordinary people who fulfill ourselves with what is coming to us ladies and gentlemen I would like to take some time to take my wonderful parents my brothers my sisters and my cousins and a long list of people who I owe thank yous to thank you I want to be up here without you guys and I'd also like to take some time to thank our wonderful group of Staff members teachers and administrators who played a huge role in making this possible here today thank you guys as well and last but definitely not least I would like to thank each and every single one of you guys for coming out here today and supporting us on the end of our high school Journeys ladies and gentlemen I'm Musa maceda this is class of 2023 and it's been one beautiful ride [Applause] thank you Musa at this time I would like to introduce our very own Magnolia High School Choir performing You'll Be in my Heart with choir director Alan Garcia foreign [Music] just taking my hand s [Music] so strong [Music] broken I believe [Music] always [Music] [Applause] [Music] understand [Applause] [Music] we're not that different at all [Music] [Applause] [Music] right now [Music] [Applause] [Music] I know you must be strong I may not be with you [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] call me with you [Music] always [Music] [Applause] yeah Thank You choir our next speaker today is Sun Mai Johnson soon mine soon Mai will be attending UC Irvine where she will major and math and finance soon Mai plans to work in the field of technology in the future specifically Tesla let's give it up for soon mime [Applause] good afternoon graduates families and guests to the Board of Trustees thank you for being here to witness this important event my name is sungmai Johnson and it's my greatest honor to be a product of Magnolia High School right now I'd like to take this moment to reflect on how far we've all come since entering High School four years ago High School broaden our Horizons it gave us beautiful memories and friendships that we will cherish for the rest of our lives for me the coaches at Magnolia High School for cross-country soccer and track and field as well as the teachers and staff have always believed in me they've mentored me through life challenges and impacted me in a way that I am forever grateful so I would not be the person I am today without them to coach Ireland coach Alyssa coach Willie coach Penn Mr ache and Mr groover and to the rest of my teachers thank you for everything one valuable lesson my high school experience taught me is to make character your identity I repeat I said character not Sports not academics or extracurriculars ultimately what matters most is what's in the inside how much heart you have and that you are willing to give life everything you have even through failure every day we are defined not by adversity but how we choose to rise up in the face of difficulty I tell myself just try one more time in October I embarked on the Journey of running to Riverside a route that is 40 miles long I remember being at Mile 35 close to finishing and wondering why I even decided to start running for eight hours in the first place however I kept telling myself you just keep going keep going one more mile just take one more step I share this story in hopes that this experience will inspire you to keep going and to keep trying Life After High School will bring new challenges with more responsibilities for all of us in the mo in moments where we are overwhelmed with navigating life just remember that the act of simply trying is powerful you have to decide that you will not quit you will not give up auhsd has provided that learning environment for me to understand that persevering inside and outside of the classroom transfers over into every other aspect of life lastly I'd like to reflect on the Legacy we have built as a class of 2023.
now please welcome our first senior class speaker Lexi Rocha [Applause] good afternoon fellow graduates my name is Lexi Rocha I am Gilbert High School's Poet Laureate this year as well as president of both GSA and Poetry Club today is a Bittersweet experience we receive freedom from an institution that has bound us for our entire lives we will say goodbye to many hopefully not forever and finally be faced with the reality that we are truly on our own Independence can be scary especially at first I have faith in you all though I have witnessed firsthand the incredible things that Gilbert students can do from rallies for social justice in the quad to organizing volunteer events for local charities this year has been a very unique experience for us all I would say that my high school career in its entirety has been pretty unique for me quarantine started about two months early I used to be a student at Oxford Academy and I did not like it there I decided to switch to homeschooling from there and my education remained that way for the first three years of high school I felt secluded coming from this complete isolation to Gilbert this year was jarring sure but I would not have had it any other way I would like to express extreme gratitude to the students and staff that have made my Gilbert experience so very positive Miss freeze Miss Hawley Mr Callan and Mr Dawson to name a few I made connections here that I will remember and forever and learned more here than my other three years of high school combined even if there was conflict one thing that I can be completely sure of is that we have all bonded as a senior class this group of people will never be together again some of you may be grateful for that but even still I urge you all to take in this moment you are all taking a great step forward as our very own Miss Bucher once said don't be afraid of change life can take you in New Directions that will surprise you and make you a better person if you're open to it be proud Gladiators thank you class of 2023 I wish you all the best thank you now please welcome Ashley Solis [Applause] good afternoon Gilbert and independent studies class of 2023 my name is Ashley Solis and I am a student representing independent studies I have been in independent studies throughout my high school career and I can say unequivocally that without independent studies I would not be where I am today as alternative education graduates I'm sure that many of you can relate to that end I would like to thank my teachers members of The Faculty the board of directors and this great graduating class of 2023 for the opportunity to speak to everyone and tell my story when I was younger I was a very social kid who took the opportunity to talk to anyone around me I was always called the social butterfly by my parents because I always wanted to be in a conversation whether it be with a kid my age or an adult who didn't even know me however when I was around four years old my mom got sick and my parents now would go to the hospital every few days and although not as frequent now we are still making regular visits to the hospital this constant travel to the hospital changed me throughout the years as I got older my social side slowly faded away as I got anxious to talk to people including teachers I struggled to ask for help even when I noticed my grades were slipping and while I was in Middle School my grades weren't the best and I rarely asked for help due to my constant anxiety and fear of teachers not wanting to help me I felt like a burden to them I left middle school with bad grades and the mindset of continuing to get bad grades in high school my parents noticed my struggles and wanted to help me overcome any problems to help me succeed in the future and when it was time to start high school my parents brought up the option of independent studies and encouraged me to join the program I immediately felt welcomed by the teachers and instantly knew they were going to try their best to make sure I succeed my teacher Mr okula who actually asked did I not mention him has been a major part of my educational success and he made me feel like I could succeed even through life struggles and even encouraged me to take breaks to make sure I had time to focus on my mental health so I didn't overwork myself instead of feeling like a burden to my teachers like I had in the past I suddenly felt like a contributing partner in my academic success the longer I stayed in independent studies the more comfortable I felt with the process which led me to have even more say in my educational and life goals I felt empowered to give my all and I knew that I had a willing and supportive teacher who would always have my back because of the flexible schedule and the encouragement to take extra opportunities I felt comfortable enough to take dual enrollment courses which means I was simultaneously taking my High School courses while taking and earning credits at a local community college this was an opportunity that I am grateful for being nudged towards in addition I was also provided the opportunity to attend multiple field trips in college campus tours which ultimately played a direct role in deciding where I will be going to college next year thanks to the help and encouragement from my teachers counselors and family I am graduating high school one year early with college credits and I feel Beyond prepared to continue my education in college to one day pursue my dream career all of us whether you attend Gilbert or independent studies have been through our own struggles and everyone here was able to continue their journey and overcome obstacles that life has thrown in our path congratulations to the class of 2023 I'm excited to see where our future brings us thank you and now I would like to introduce April matamortos [Applause] good afternoon parents families friends teachers and District board members we are gathered here on this special day today to celebrate this big accomplishment of the class of 2023.
good job [Applause] parents Please be aware that students will be exiting all together all the way off the field and into the foyer where you can congratulate and pick up your now high school students thank you all again and congratulations [Applause] [Music] thank you
besides graduating with highest distinction they will be speaking on behalf of the senior class I have asked them to stand now to be recognized for their accomplishments Jessica Delgado Brian gramajo Avila Mohammed hit and Christopher Perez Castillo [Music] students we as a community acknowledge and respect your remarkable achievements thank you for the hard work and dedication you have given to Washington High School over these past four years I now present to you Brian gramajo Avila thank you good afternoon my name is Brian gramajo Avila I would like to begin by congratulating the class of 2023 for sitting at these seats and thanking all those parents and families who came to support these graduates today thank you to all the teachers and staff for making our four years here at Washington as best as possible and a special thank you to Mr Roberts my soccer coach teacher and someone who has pushed me to become better both on and off the field since the first day I met him I'll never forget all those jumbos he made us run lastly since [Applause] Today We Gather to acknowledge the accomplishments of our class and although it is a Bittersweet moment for most of us it is nice together as a class one last time our class will forever be remembered as one that has overcome adversity Time After Time walking into my freshman year I could never have imagined being away from our campus for almost a year and a half because of this we miss many moments together as a class moments that could have brought us even more High School memories we could look back on but those were the cards were dealt overcoming these adversary speaks volumes and the kind of class we have become it will undoubtedly help us in our futures because we're Bound To Face many hardships with that being said we are the ones who get to decide how to overcome these obstacles we shouldn't let our failures Define us nor should we be afraid to face them either because without failures there will be no successes I'm not one to say how to handle your own trials and tribulations because we will all face different challenges in our lifetime however I will say this overcoming these challenges will lead to more moments like today remember we are at the start of something special and let this accomplishment build on to better things in life thank you [Applause] I would not like to introduce Christopher Perez Castillo thank you Brian grimajo dear fellow graduates my name is Christopher Perez and I will be attending Brown University in the fall as we gathered to celebrate an honorable transition to the greater opportunities of Life today is the day to reflect on our experiences and reinforce our Pathways to success many of us have been told that there will be a defining moment in our lives that will change everything we have been told that we should wait for that moment that we should be patient and that we should be ready to seize it once it arrives however life is not a series of defining moments life is a journey that we are responsible for navigating through our different experiences we cannot wait for one defining moment to change our lives it is important to acknowledge the steps that we take every day in every moment to execute the Visions in our minds into a reality that we could be proud of we must become resistant to the fear of failure and be willing to take risks because regret is the greatest failure of them all though easier said than done we should always introduce constant change throughout our lives there should never be a dull moment because we must not rest on unproductive habits change is not easy change is intentionally difficult to accept because it is incredibly rewarding people prefer Comfort overgrowth because it simplifies one's life yeah life is not meant to be simple when we Embrace change and use it as a catalyst for growth and transformation we are on track for reaching goals that we once viewed as unattainable so my fellow graduates seize this moment of graduation and continue to celebrate all your successes whether it be big or small create your own defining moments every day to establish a life of success because one moment will not change everything thank you I would now like to introduce Muhammad hit thank you Christopher Perez dear fellow graduates my name is Muhammad hit and I have the privilege of standing here today to give this speech to such an admirable group of people let us first congratulate ourselves on reaching this Milestone it was definitely not the most Sublime four years with this Milestone however we Face a daunting reality of navigating the real world as we go into college or the job market we're going to be given a great deal of Independence and quite frankly it can be overwhelming Within These last four years we enjoy the guidance and structure that came with being a high school student for five days a week 36 weeks a year we are nearly every hour of our life scheduled however now that we're graduating we Face the challenge of creating that structure and creating our own path and again although it may be daunting I implore you to find that structure I believe that ultimately the most important way to find structure is to actively pursue a long-term goal we should wake up every morning in pursuit of that goal idealizing it as to what we want to be or what we want to accomplish additionally we cannot merely wait for our aspirations to be presented to us we should continuously engage in our Pursuits and take experiences and opportunities granted if you want to work in civil engineering try taking on an internship if you want to become a software developer try try coding your free time even if you're a undergrad looking for a research position talk to professors create opportunities for yourself don't let a degree in the future Define what you can do in the present additionally don't let yourself get imposter syndrome or be intimidated in any way by the field you're looking to get into you are good enough when we actively reach for our Ambitions we should consider each day a small step towards that eventual goal and those days may turn into months years even but fellow graduates when we keep the same momentum and every day continuously engage in our Pursuits we will no doubt maintain discipline in pursuit of such Ambitions it's been an honor being in this class of 2023 thank you and good luck [Applause] I would now like to introduce Jessica Delgado [Applause] throughout these four years of high school I can't lie and say that I did not wish I was back in kindergarten where nap time playing with friends on the rainbow carpet and binge watching Curious George was an everyday activity but as we progress through the years and reach closer and closer to graduation I knew I couldn't wait to graduate we have made countless memories with our friends teachers coaches and staff that will forever be ingrained within us whether it be procrastinating on Mr Daryl's annotations asking teachers about their life to avoid starting a new unit or being or being proven by a teacher that you can't dunk it's memories like these that made our high school experience truly remarkable as for my memories I would like to thank a few people for being a part of them is I would also like to thank Mr Rivers for believing in me and teaching me that I am more than capable of achieving whatever I put my mind to I am forever grateful to you on another note I know that many of us have reached the end of these four years having no idea what to do with our lives some of us knew what we wanted to do as soon as we left the womb but if you haven't figured out what you want to do yet don't be discouraged it is crucial to realize that everyone is going down a different path choose the path that you want to take and don't compare yourself to others instead be the change you wish to see be the first to take action and be you and do not be afraid about what others will think because there is always someone who will have an opinion it seems like it was just yesterday when we were being dropped off at school by our parents crying because being away from them from too long made us fear being alone it made us fear Independence yet graduating with something we always look forward to now that we are finally at this moment looking back on all of our memories we realized that we're about to embark on a New Journey of Independence filled with obstacles opportunity and opportunities our education experiences and the people we meet will provide us with the knowledge and values that will prepare us for the real world but it is our responsibility to continue to persevere and maintain the strength to choose our own path now it is my honor to finally say congratulations class of 2023 we made it [Applause] students who are academically ranked in the next two to three percent are honored today as graduates of high distinction please acknowledge the Scholastic achievements of the following students as they stand in our top two percent Yesenia Delgado Manuel C.S Marquez Jacob Ryden in our top three percent Maritza Ibarra Herrera Gael Barba and Kelly Wynn congratulations you may be seated finally I wish to acknowledge those students who are ranked academically in the top 10 percent of this class while I will not present them to you individually let me draw your attention to their names in the in your commencement program top 10 percent would you please stand as we applaud your accomplishments thank you may be seated also besides honoring those students within the top 10 percent I would also like to draw everyone's attention to the many students who have dedicated hours of service through their work within our National Honor Society French Honor Society Spanish Honor Society Japanese Honor Society dance Honor Society and Educators Rising Honor Society students please rise to be recognized you may be seated furthermore we have 172 students who have taken and successfully passed at least one advanced placement course in their High School career these courses are the most challenging courses that we offer I ask that each group stand as I announce the levels of achievement the 44 students who successfully passed one advanced placement course are wearing a bronze medal please rise and remain standing [Applause] the 27 students who successfully passed two advanced placement are wearing a silver medal please rise and remain standing and the 101 students who successfully passed three or more are wearing a gold medal please rise [Applause] congratulations to each one of you on going beyond the minimal level and challenging yourselves you may be seated and now please turn your focus to the attention of the talents of the Washington High School band under the direction of Mr Jason landash [Music] all right [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] thank you [Applause] clerkarita Mr Tarver parents honored guests and the class of 2023 I am excited to announce that each of you sitting before me have met the requirements to graduate here together more importantly each of you have brought a great deal of Pride and honor to Washington you have earned an array of awards and honors for your academic and extracurricular activities you collectively have earned over nine million dollars in scholarships and grants towards your future plans along with volunteering many hours of time to your community these accomplishments will ensure you are successful in life you have invested in your future your four years of high school have been in no way normal you have been faced with many challenges and obstacles however Like the quote from the American Author Andy Andrews States adversity is preparation for greatness you are all sitting here today you all sitting here today have overcome so much to be here you have shown perseverance and grit through these challenging years we are proud of you and we are excited to see what greatness The Future Has for you seniors I congratulate you on your accomplishments and once again you have brought a great deal of Pride and honor to Washington congratulations [Applause] it is now my pleasure as principal of Washington High School to certify that these students have met the requirements for graduation as set forth by the Glendale Union High School District governing board accordingly I present this class to governing board clerk arita Ms arita I respectfully request that you accept these graduates and that you and Mr Tarver confer diplomas upon them now please welcome governing board clerk Laura arita good afternoon everyone we Buenas Tardes my name is Laura arita as Clerk of the governing board of Glendale Union High School District I feel fortunate for the opportunity to address our guest of honors you the 2023 graduates of Washington High School seniors this is it you've made it this ceremony is designed to end one phase of your lives and the beginning of the next there are those who believe that today is a day you start your journey but if you think about it the journey began a long time ago looking back has anyone realized that you are the Freshman Class whose school year was cut short thanks to the unannounced Global pandemic I'm starting I'm certain that that's not what you envisioned your first high school year to be like you were forced at a young age to be mentally strong and to face challenges out of your control such as figuring out how to succeed academically behind that Chromebooks screen or learning how to socially adapt as we all transition back to the in-person setting many of us dreamed about before you get ready to Pivot one more time be proud of what you have accomplished in the last 40 four years and treasure the memories and friendships you have gained along the way have pride but be humble with humility give thanks to those who have walked beside you whether physically on Earth or looking at you from up above and closing no matter how your journey started you have made it here today where your path you have traveled splits into 362 unique roads as tomorrow awaits to unfold in front of each each and one of every one of you making your goal to master life's biggest transitions while being the best version of yourself graduates on behalf of the entire governing board allow me to say congratulations class of 2023 [Applause] as the member of the governing board of the Glendale Union High School District and by the authority vested by the Constitution and laws of the eras of the State of Arizona I accept and confirm that the Washington High School class of 2023 has met the graduation requirements established by the Glendale Union High School District governing board Mrs Anderson please present the graduates to receive their diplomas [Applause] in order for this ceremony to belong to each graduate it must belong to them all therefore we request that guests act with restraint when names are called so each graduate's name can be clearly heard by everyone please remain in your seats until all students have been recognized will the first row of the class of 2023 please rise and prepare to receive your diplomas okay you ready Mohammed SWA hit Juan Adrian Franco Campana Brian gramajo Avila Javon Quintel Terrell Evan Michael hakala Dakota Danette Alcott Bianca argumento Emmanuel Santiago Vasquez Kendall Lewis Nathan Samantha Janine Christopher baudillio Perez Castillo Jacqueline lucinde Maritza Ibarra Herrera [Music] Nathan Israel Palacios Emiliano Alonso Carrasco Helen Huang Huen Kevin Giovanni jimenezero Caitlin Nguyen Haley Elizabeth Danielson Moreno Cali when Jesse Skye Elliott [Music] Sunday Nguyen [Applause] Mia Jacqueline Avila De La Cruz Manuel Alejandro C.S Marquez Daphne Giselle Medina Jessica Delgado Maritza Indiana Lopez [Music] same Brian Smith tall Maria Elena Reyes Garcia Segundo [Music] zanaya Kimora nellian Williams Israel Rivera Fernandez hell Kelvin sikaku David Brzezinski Ian Rodolfo iniguez Sarah Yvette Garcia Jacob William Ryden Yasmin Susana Gonzalez Robert Anthony Conrad Nicole Amber banali Charlotte Stockard Aubrey charay wood Frank Alexander Mario Valencia Michaela Elise Daniel Blevins Sydney rain cherry pesus Alexis narelli bayana Alvarez Andrew Jose Marroquin Yesenia Delgado James Jackson Sadler Johanna vernice Hernandez Antoinette Taisha Griffith Jose Benjamin Castaneda Silvestre Grace Jane harp Gael Barba sin raldel Perez Jeremiah Javier Luna Jose De Jesus Brian Jimenez Gamez tutak Liana Brianna Isabella Jimenez Romero Jacques mapenda makengo mardoque La combo Meredith Solis avitia Cassandra Jean alcarwai floor Dayanara Gonzalez carbajal marnas altaj U Wendy Gonzalez AI Aidan enzer Aisha Lee Brown Amelia Jamie cowitz Iola Jonas Patrick Brock Gonzalez Caitlyn Kim fan Vienna Hernandez Kelly Kim fan Weston Bryant Garcia Camden Elias love Joseph Austin Anthony Ray Felix Ramos Brianna Nicole Vega Esperanza Franco Trujillo Aaron Alejandro Alexis Manuel esquer casa rubias La pint Hector Garduno Aiden Luis Miranda Leah Amy Cortez Valdez Isaiah Christian Rogers Cassandra Janelle Gastelum Aguilar Cassandra zoy Lara Ruiz William Castillo Frankie Rico galavis Tiara Aguilar Shank Destiny Paola Cordova Jamia Lynn Savon White aini Italy Flores Chacon Victoria and Minnick Alan Ballesteros Alexander Scott reeksicker Eduardo Ernesto granados Rojas Adriana Lois Yates Robert Lee jonio Reina pachicano Martinez miles Leandro Hidalgo Alma Jeanette rubikova Vasquez while k Khan Maria Jose Gomez [Music] Josue Chavez Duran Diego Ortiz Montano Oscar Barrera Angelica penelosa Padilla Anthony Daniel Contreras Perez claw May Juliana monse Vargas Zaragoza Cairo Cairo Franco Munoz Denise Pacheco Arcee Antonio Michael Alvarez zaynab vesalova Morgan Page Connell [Music] Aliana Raquel to ver Ry Jane Lopez Leslie Roa Bravo Adriana Claire Gainer faith nambatia Kylie Sierra Blakely Nadia Daniela Munoz Naomi Evelyn Costa Alyssa Renee Parra Jasmine Faith Airman Brittany pasos Martinez Aaliyah Nicole Brainerd Anna Elizabeth Leila Marin Gaitan Quinn Michael McLaughlin Amaya Isabelle Bauer Marianne Zavala Cecilia Estrada Malia Renee Wesley Mathers Ivan Joshua De Jesus Martinez restaurant Andrew duen yes Ashley Perez Flores Julio Alejandro Baez [Applause] Natalie Silva Botello Diego Cruz Natalia Martinez Daniel Kyle Gomez Sanchez Jabari hashani Lankford Jr Holly Ann hope Miranda Delaney Renee South Kevin quijan Trinity Lynn spraguecraft Vanessa Alvarado Mesa Vanessa Marquez Ayanna Dominique Alexandra Jody little nolia thing Penelope Monique Cruz Sofia Ramos Monique capitena Soraya sharate Marisol Guzman Shay Ray Timaya Jackson long Francisco Antonio Orozco Perez Nicholas James Henry casimore Brian Daniel Martinez Rojas Jacob Michael Cruz Alan Hernandez Ugarte angel Raphael Garcia Liam Robert Ostrom Dominic Reese Joe Jose Victor Glenn Osborne Denali essayer Bermudez Diana Rodriguez Lopez Andy Alonso Alondra Mora Monte Rosso Renee Castaneda Gomez Ramos Saul Acosta mosso Cynthia event Martinez Nava Emmanuel Galvan Mariana Perez salvidar Arturo Cruz Mendes Ruby Mendoza escandon Alexis Gonzalez hiron Daisy Torres Morales Denise Mary Jane Herrera Sanchez Amir Alvaro Ramirez Araya akamini Carla and Haley caronelles roles Daniel Alexander Baez Maya Emily osoy Angel araujo Ramirez Alonso James Randall so Ariana Lopez Maya Reyna Hernandez Monica Helene Juarez Michaela Anita Shields Miranda Alvarez Talavera George mapinda Jose Julian esporo Vargas Abraham Juan razola Kari naron Kaaba Dylan Dwayne Tower Brianna Isabel Lopez Jody Jamelle Wright Mia Guerrero alcacer Solomon Obadiah rigel Elizabeth Alvarez Alejandra Martinez Alonso Delphine eyelid via Corey James Cole Aaliyah Victoria Pena [Music] stefanet Marcia Anderson Rivera Sanchez Sanaya Latrice Allen Mallory Celine Morales [Music] Anthony DeWitt Irving Jr Maya Galilea Munoz Janaya Lynette Estes Maria is Ventura Atiana Marie arrives Brianna Quinones Kayla Baio Josue Pacheco Rivera Anaya Monique Jackson Macy Torres Navi erlin David Aguilar razum Alex Julian Morales guardado Campos Brandon tostadovia jadrian Jose Anton Angel Noel Morales Lopez Alejandro Vela Gilberto Esparza Baron Oscar astorga paita Gabriel gaona al-amir Salah Ricardo covarrubias Sienna Lisette Manos Christopher Aquino barboa Antonio Rosas Montano Odessa Lee Flores Javier Vazquez Isaiah Alberto Dominguez El Perdomo Ariana Laney Alanis Melanie Guadalupe Sanchez Garcia sherlin carbajal Ramon Enrique Ramirez Nederland Galilea Castro Beltran Diego Giovanni riojas Calvin Emrick bonzal es Medina Kenya Gonzalez Saldana Marquez Solis bandana darji Ali Raisa and Muhammad ullah Elizabeth Gonzalez Esparza Jacob Pardo Vargas Nicholas Parker Boyd bundes Alexis Michelle agama Eleanor Elizabeth Maciel Carolina Jose Ferrer Bautista Eugene to singe Shabani Paige Marie Dickey mubarak's Yasin Jose Aguirre Simon menges I Leon Muhammad Abdullah Abbasi Mark Christopher Sutton Garcia Jimmy Woods Gage King Ryan Lane McGrew Emma Therese Lavelle Thompson Issa kakozi Chloe elysiana Schaefer Elijah kagayo Olivia Nicole Beach Tara Nicole Schaefer Valeria is Alva Felix Armando Jorge panelosa Jasmine Aguilar Gutierrez Felix David Moreno Luna Jesus Alexis Hernandez Gonzalez Angel Adrian Ruiz Guzman Natalie Jacqueline Fuentes cadenas Kaylee Ann Perkins lizeth Nayeli Cardenas Giovanni polini Zaragoza Ayala Suzette Alma Dorado Medina Joshua Isaiah Rodriguez Mia Rose carry on Angel Javier roles Patrick Lanford Lohman Angelica Paola Ramos caseres Joseph Cuellar Leon Miley Mendoza Jocelyn Alicia Duran Soriano Adriana Elizabeth Madrid Carrasco Joan Genevieve Hoisington Ruth is sengal Alicia Gabriella Lopez Andrea Kosovo Crystal Elena Treviso Naya Alicia Hall foreign Delgado Salas Abraham Isaac ortero Maria Guadalupe Canada Valenzuela pray Ray Anna Francisco pascaccio Jay Ray Emily Clarissa Flores Evan Rome says Ramirez Sierra Louise Carson Christina taita Gage Keaton Hoffman dark Andrea saw Kali Kira chistilli Andrew Pacheco Joshua Zatarain Stephanie Zuniga Marquez Daniel Santiago Cruz hello class of 2023 friends family and loved ones my name is Marita Lopez and I had the honor of being your student body vice president this year to paraphrase one of my favorite quotes from Pulitzer Prize winner Kendrick Lamar if all else fails I was myself even your strong points couldn't survive if you do not Learn To Love Yourself forgive yourself a hundred times moving forward we will be exposed to a new world of challenges and expectations and your journey to face these challenges and expectations you will face even more difficult choices I urge you to choose the option that allows you to stay true to yourself despite what others may want from you your characteristics morals and beliefs are your most valuable possessions because without them you would not be the individuals that people that the people you love know and love furthermore it is crucial to remember that failure will be inevitable but overcoming failure is not impossible learning to love and forgive yourself through each mistake will assist you in persevering through each drawback and you will find yourself closer to your goal each time my hope is that many years from now when you're reflecting on each failure and success you are able to see that you stay true to yourself through it all be unapologetically yourself and you will find the people who not only love but respect you for it as this ceremony ends I ask each of you to think about the ones who taught you to love forgive and stay true to yourself and thank them for helping you hold on to your most valuable asset thank you class of 2023 it has been an honor [Applause] thank you seniors please rise [Applause] [Music] [Applause] as the seniors exit we ask that all guests and parents meet your senior out in front of the Arena seniors you may now move your tassel from the right to the left [Applause] parents and guests may I present to you the graduated class of 2023. congratulations [Applause] graduates you may now exit the arena [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] thank you [Music] thank you [Music] you do [Music]
we will now hear from the top one percent of this year's graduating class and our student body president first please welcome from our top one percent of the graduating class Mr Alberto Mora Trinidad [Applause] good morning everyone I would like to start by thanking all who supported me in my Endeavors know these brief words cannot encapsulate my gratitude for what you have given me thank you to Mr Blankenship Mr Gaspar and my counselor Miss cool thank you to Miss Munoz and Mr Tracy who have given me so many opportunities to explore my skills and the world and develop as a person and finally a special thank you to my mother whose sacrifices are what made it possible for me to be standing here today to all of us now graduating as part of the class of 2023 you are often told that we ought to be the change you wish to see in the world but at this point in history whole Generations have been told that you look at the world we're going into shows that things aren't as optimistic as they seem we've been through a lot together and now those things are getting better a big part of life is always staying Vigilant and prepared for the worst when it comes to being vigilant I'd argue that a great part of that is being ready to fight against Injustice no matter the resistance we may encounter the Declaration of Independence itself says that it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish as to themselves team most likely to affect their safety and happiness I believe such change is going to happen in our lifetimes and we must Envision ourselves being ready to take that change and use it to create a more equal and just Society I believe that it is easy to believe that in this world things like child hunger for example are simply constants we must live with without considering the fact that we have long been producing enough for everyone all eight billion and that perhaps it is the structures we have simply accepted that causes a clear inefficiency and a Justice in resource use if we are to create lasting betterment structural change is going to be needed the word for such lasting change is Revolution what the one true constant through history from civil rights to American democracy I would like to leave you with a quote from Hui P Newton one such revolutionary from the Civil Rights Movement helped pressure the government to help to fund the national school lunch program and help organize and Aid his community in a time when things weren't were against African-Americans the revolution has always been in the hands of the Young The Young always inherit the revolution may we have the strength to revolutionize our society may we have the strength to create prosperity for ourselves and our posterity thank you [Applause] thank you Alberto speaking next for our top one percent of the graduating classes Miss Phoebe sikhavan [Applause] hello I know this phrase is overused but good morning class of 2023 [Applause] it's been a long four years but we finally made it I'd like to begin by thanking my family and friends who have prayed for me and supported me throughout High School above all I think the only one who has been my greatest advocate anger best friend and healer Jesus Christ the son of God my Lord and Savior [Applause] his name is above all names and he has delivered me from all my fears and anxieties all glory belongs to him for without him I would have given up a long time ago he saw my weaknesses and burdens and carried them for me made me a new creation through his sacrificial death redeeming blood and Resurrection he is the number one reason I am able to boldly overcome and persevere through life's raging tumultuous storms I remember freshman year I fear the future the future essays exams everything I never thought I'd withstand but I had a commitment to keep when I was 12 I watched my mother pass away due to cancer seconds before I whispered in her ear that I would not give up although she is not physically present her prayers Legacy and advice remain she persevered and had Joy despite the pain she suffered from cancer I strive to endure as well with the same joy and peace she had these past couple of years were not easy many of us struggled immensely each a different struggle some from keeping up from school work others from rejection loss of family members depression suicidal thoughts or mental illnesses most if not all of us have been put down by others or had at least one other person tell us that will never amount to anything don't let the negative comments dictate your life they are lies that must be thrown out of your mind you're not a lost cause you were born for a purpose surround yourself with people who care for you and don't belittle you a wise proverb says Bad Company perhaps good habits and character I learned this the hard way my mental state sophomore year almost deteriorated completely because I surrounded myself with the wrong people truth is the wrong crowd will bring you down be selective with those you surround yourself with be with people who genuinely care for you people who do not let you continue in a downtrodden state but rather lift you up if you don't have those types of friends they're not real friends I'd like to end with this short poem I recently wrote one day it goes like this you were given life for a reason you were not an accident don't listen to the lies that tell you opposite you are worthy you are loved your name is precious to God who Reigns above you have a purpose in life you have the means to fulfill it always have hope and never ever quit class of 2023 remember you survive this far you can definitely keep going congratulations and God bless [Applause] thank you Phoebe I'm happy to introduce our next speaker from the top one percent tonight Mr Diego Botello [Applause] give another round of applause for Phoebe a kid walks into high school coming from a district that wasn't even relevant to his new school at all he knew nobody except for his sister and two cousins his best friend was shyness and his enemy was boldness just when he thought I couldn't get any worse he meant pain he thought of he was done for pain had destroyed his work ethic and even his desires to be successful as he once was his only remedy was to blame everything on kovid but Junior came junior year came around and this company mechanism just wouldn't fly anymore the boy would meet a particular teacher that would change his path the boy and the teacher argued a lot at first but the teacher's Immortal faith in his student even when that same student didn't believe in himself was a miracle that he needed to say the least the boy changed completely his work ethic improved he became a social animal and most important he believed in himself again I know many of you might have similar stories because this was mine the person you see today is a matured version of that boy that is why I want to send a special thank you to Mr Blankenship for being the teacher who changed my story and thank you to everyone who supported me and believed in me I promise to keep growing and continues to strive for the best version of myself as should all of you here today foreign special is hermanosas [Applause] shout out to all my friends in the audience we had a lot of very funny moments to say the least I'm proud of all of you and hope to continue achieving great things [Applause] thank you Diego now the final student from our top one percent is Mr August 2.
which is actually not false although it pretty I'm pretty sure oh wait sorry although it certainly is an improvement for looking like I was 14 as my friends assured me junior year um then I was going to read off one of Paul Graham's speech is titled what you wish you'd known which I thought since junior encapsulated the full high school picture and was the best advice for this graduating class it was this idyllic speech advice that I thought I'd give cemented my mind to be the perfect farewell and it starts like this when I said I was speaking of high school my friends were curious what would you say to high school students so I asked them what do you wish someone had told you in high school and their answer is remarkably similar so I'm going to tell you what we always someone had told us I'll start by telling you something you don't have to know in high school what you want to do with your life people always ask you this so you think you're supposed to have an answer but I know assassin's mainly is a conversation starter they want to know what sort of person you are and this question is just to get you talking they ask out the way you might poke a hermit crab in a tide pool to see what it does if I were back in high school and someone asked me about my plans I said that my first party Whistler with the options were you don't need to be in a rush to choose your life's work what you need to do is discover what you like because you have to work on stuff you like if you want to be good that way you do but that was the point when I stopped reading and I realized I was never going to give that speech verbatim I was only going to give a fifth of it verbatim because while I think this advice is valuable I can't say it's Timeless the thing I realized was that looking back on high school the only thing I'm truly certain on in this life besides death is uncertain change and I wonder this might be a little bit overly dramatic but for death to quote Steve Jobs death is life's change agent it clears out the old to make way for the new remembering that it'll be dead soon is the single most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices life um because almost everything all external expectations all Pride all fear cement or failure these things just fall away in the face of death leaving only what is truly important to us remembering that you were going to die is the best way I know to avoid the Trap of thinking of something to lose and changes what makes us for New identities life passions excitements new hopes new friends and dream new dreams change is the reason I stand here right now and the reason you're here ties the person you become the thing I realized when I was trying to write this ultimate farewell is that there really isn't one I'm pretty sure we all had some concrete idea this world one or two years ago we'll look back on that now think of that person you were in the store sorry think of that person you were um yeah think of the world you saw in the Stars kind of idea like I know but think that person you were two years ago two months ago even two weeks before this have you changed because I know I have and I'm guessing you up too I think the truth as all of you already know is that all of us are going to change probably in a ways we never thought we would but by all means we are leaving behind a chapter of Our Lives it also means we're getting a new one and I think whenever changes is the joy of Life the thorough of chasing your dreams and a funny purpose the Stars themselves will always be there so of all the advice I thought I'd give of all the things I want to tell you what I wish for myself and of our class of 2023 is to never lose those Joys those Thrills and to ever stop dreaming thank you [Applause] thank you Riley good evening class of 2023 families the excitement of meeting new people making new friends having relationships and most importantly learning who we want to become now after tonight we all go our separate ways take New Paths and follow our dreams this year has been mentally challenging for me I'm not going to lie the best way to degrass scribe it is a roller coaster it's constantly going up and down you start to recognize that all your Furs become your last that there is this stress of where to go after this special night whether it is college or not also knowing that the people we've grown up with and see every day turn into seeing them every few years but we made it through this crazy roller coaster as we leave here tonight I hope that you take that chance that you may be afraid of Doom I hope that you take pride in what you will accomplish in life I hope that you lead with love I hope your kindness makes a mark on this world because it can be so cruel sometimes I hope that no matter how challenging it may get for you you never give up you matter always remember that I am so proud to be your senior class president the memories that this year this class has made is truly something to cherish from winning the spirit stick all year long having our senior prom at the zoo lastly coming together at senior sunset with the crazy weather thank you so much for a lifelong memories I hope you cherish them as much as I will thank you I would now like to introduce our 2023 valedictorian Rachel Pixley [Applause] thank you during our time here we've had the opportunity to live unique stories and learn from them in my first year at Mountain View I had a sports accident I was on the tennis team at the time and one fateful day at practice I was watching a match and I walked into a pole I don't remember hitting the pole or the ground but I do remember waking up on the floor in front of the principal what did I learn from this experience wow to make me feel better Mr Relic told me a very embarrassing story from when he was in high school unfortunately I had a concussion so I don't remember any of it anyway what I took away was that it's important to look where you're going seriously if you don't pay attention you might not end up where you want to be take a look at the people in your life whom you consider wise or successful As Americans the people we most respect and admire are the ones who under all kinds of circumstances Orient themselves towards their goals and work hard to see what they can do and learn Helen Keller Albert Einstein the Wright brothers each one made history because they concentrated on their dreams throughout constant setbacks everyone graduating today knows from experience how crucial that commitment can be a covid pandemic was like a Soup Sandwich messy and confusing the nature of school changed completely we lost our support network nothing felt real and suddenly it was all up to us in order to make it through our class had to keep our goals in mind we are here today because we chose to take responsibility for our future our class knows how to overcome adversity in order to learn all we need to go far after today is to take that mindful perseverance to school work our relationships to make intentional choices keep looking where you're going and you'll get there sometimes life hits us like a pole in the face then in the words of Theodore Roosevelt we have to do what we can with what we have Where We Are the class of 2023 has already shown the world we can do that going forward we will continue to set goals stay focused and succeed let's knock ourselves out [Applause] thank you speakers I would now like to address the class of 2023 As We Gather here tonight to celebrate you and your graduation I want us to consider the Scrapbook theme of our 2023 yearbook along with the title Deja Vue it's a play on words of the well-known Deja Vu meaning seen before Deja Vu or in your case deja vu is typically described as an overwhelming Sensation that you have been here before and that you are exactly where you're supposed to be graduates in this moment you are exactly where you're supposed to be and while no student sitting before me on this field has lived the same experience we are all connected through a combination of memories which have been made over our time together you will be surprised how often you will look back on all your experiences from high school with pride maybe relief but most certainly sack of satisfaction and my hope for you is that those memories bring you confidence and Assurance when facing new situations Deja Vu is the promise that you will always have a home here at Mountain View and the belief that you are fully capable of climbing any mountain [Applause] on behalf of the staff and administration of Mountain View High School I would like to congratulate the graduates of the class of 2023.
and um my goal tonight is to outline the financial impacts of of some of the more significant provisions of that Redevelopment agreement and specifically how they impact Batavia School District 101 but before I get into those factors I'd like to go through a little bit of the background related to the site itself the site consists of nine Parcels three of those Parcels are developed six of them are vacant and five of the nine are actually already owned by the city of Aurora they were Acquisitions in Prior years currently those nine properties generate a little over forty eight thousand dollars in total property taxes and of that forty eight thousand about twenty nine thousand eight hundred and fifty comes to school district 101. the uh the predominant number of sites that of parcels excuse me that make up the casino site are in the city's existing Tiff District number seven TIF district number seven goes back to approximately 2010 2011 and we expect that it will expire at the end of calendar year 2034.
and I think that's it uh in addressing some of the concerns with um well first of all I want I want to say a sincere thanks sincere thanks to the entire uh uh School uh Community for all the effort and work that went into this and a very special thanks to all our our uh committee uh leaders the chairs and the co-chairs for the work that they did the enormous amount of time and work went into this uh hundreds of hours were spent developing and put in putting this together and um and I think I think the a positive aspect of putting this plan together is I think we have our entire staff invested in its success because our entire staff had a part of developing this and I've had many comments from staff that felt that the process was one of of uh equity in itself and they felt good about being part of the process so I look forward to uh putting this in place over the next five years and uh finding a great launch Tech uh being in a better place in five years than we are today and our students finding more success than we've ever had uh any welcome to answer any questions or concerns at this point how many members are going to take that document anyway we're going to vote on it at the next meeting yes any questions or comments um so I'm missing some of those documents that you just had on the screen I'm expecting yeah well I can send you this one as well or I see the comprehensive and that's great but that needs to go along with the core statements that you had there to be able to you know follow along what needs to be done in this one okay um yes we will get a copy of this slide to you peace to the second to last slide thank you yes so um item number two is that U.S citizenship and so forth is that going to be for the uh adult program yeah this slides is just doing an adult program it's a taxi it should be the total school so uh this particular slide I would say uh we may add more strategies course strategies to it um you will see this one was one of the very last ones that I worked on but um I will that I met with with the team on so um as I read through here I I could see a few other points I'd like to put in there so I'll I'm going to add a couple of bullet points and send them to you okay so I I just want to add a few more uh regarding uh how we plan on providing more access to the day program so the day program would be adult Day program um what about the adult program we're going to have XML access so looking at citizenship in particular because I know that there's a big push right now for citizenship for adult Learners um are we putting a program together for um citizenship and immigration for that well but yeah I can't hear what you're saying Frank but we are the one thing I will say that this particular plan doesn't get to the specifics of what kind of programs what that we will be adding but we'll be looking at all our Workforce Development programs and looking how they can be expanded uh as part of this work and what we found success and what we haven't found successful in the past uh and where we have to expand in building also on building more relationships with the uh organizations that we work with for Workforce Development that'll all be part of the work that we do so my my comment question was U.S citizenship and I know we're especially Lawrence in other communities we're looking to expand um citizenship access for immigration so my my question is are we gonna either partner with an organization that does U.S citizenship for adult Learners yeah yeah attend the plan it's in the full plan but what you're what you're speaking to okay yeah yeah Frank uh you made a request that you wanted a copy of the PowerPoint uh yes okay yeah there may be there's additional um there's more that's just a highly this is this slide was just a highlight of the plan itself there's a lot more detail and information in the plan that's more specific yes but you put that in the form of emotion that every member gets a copy of the PowerPoint please yes and I make that in the form of motion you have a second second discussion all those in favor sure thank you very much thank you okay moving right along superintendent uh once you get back to your seat the superintendent evaluation it was great you're right all the might sound we um so we put it um I asked Sue to put in the packet uh the uh superintendent's annual evaluation form it's the same form we used last year so that's the form that you see in there that you can um utilize this particular form we can send it to you electronically if if it's easier for you I'll I'll uh I'll well Sue's not in this rest of this week but I'll get it I'll email it to you tomorrow a copy of this electronically to make it easier for you and if you have any questions or concerns regarding and we could send you last what you uh put in last year's if it makes it easier for you if you want to see what you put in last year I could send that to you as well if that's helpful to you when there's that feedback uh we were going if you could uh submit it well we have to just to decide who you want to submit the your uh when you've completed the form who you'd like to submit it to committee last year I think went did it go to you Leo so whoever the committee would prefer to if you wanted to go to the director or if you wanted to go to sleep alley show me the keeper of whoever the committee would like to be the keeper Nation so I will that we submit the forms to Sue so that the chairman and can then compile them with Sue I do have a question and maybe it was already said will sue be sending this to us electronically so we can write on it and then submit it yes along with last year's thank you yes in the form of emotion Al I suppose yes um so moved second discussion um yes two things the first one is just under the hotel um I believe that's not two thousand dollars a night for four nights it's a total of five hundred dollars a night for four nights equaling 2 000 but it reads differently on here so would I be correct in that okay and the second thing is um this certainly is a wonderful opportunity that the committee is giving you but I wouldn't want it to become this is almost like a once in a lifetime thing when you're at your level of position to go to these national conventions um just as I said about the trainer who is going to a um I wouldn't want it to be an every year request but this is a wonderful opportunity of the uh hotel or whatever you want to call it survival yeah out of state travel Mr police office and constructive and head coach of football and drafted to be traveling to Exeter High School next to New Hampshire on July 15th February 7th 87th tournament total cost of 500 this is a 500 registration fees almost a recommendations second discussion all over the table all right uh policies this will require with both pressing a motion on Section B eec executive sessions so I'll move the recommendation [Music] knowing that it has been reviewed by our two-person committee for a second second second discussion uh can excuse me new business then cable matters is uh no just the thought under new business um I am not even sure if this where it would come but I I know we're struggling in this room and people struggle to hear us at home until we can totally resolve the problem could we kind of maybe end the year where we were meeting before where there wasn't the feedback I know that a superintendent has brought in sound people to remedy this problem but when um Frank was speaking earlier I couldn't hear what he was saying so I think one of the problems is Right within this room we can't hear each other so that helped so cool he took care of your request um big difference big difference okay I'll withdraw what I said if we can keep the fan off hang on uh cables big monkey Distributing to off the tables there is any emotion to discuss the move to take it off the table second second I was opposed Kate wants to discuss it I do yeah I think we should try it and if we see after two or at the most three months that this just isn't working work is piling up and there's too much all in one meeting then we go back to the twice a month meeting but I I think it's worth trying starting in our um September I know we meet in August but September would be the first time where we'd have two meetings but in this case we'd have one um I'm willing to try that Facebook I would just uh I would say that um giving it a try for a couple months uh would be a good idea I do believe um we're able we would be able to um get what we need to get done within the time of month one month frame once we have a routine and a process in place that we know we're meeting once a month we'll schedule around knowing that in terms of what goes on the agenda and what needs to happen on a monthly basis and then we can do the um the warrant uh on online anybody else yes and I'm gonna propose it because we have especially coming up within the next couple of months we have a lot of heavy stuff that we have to move um we mean it once a month a lot of that's going to fold within the between the cracks so and a lot of them could actually week with me on the time that that's past the time getting stuff done so I agree with shot but I do think like in September May and September June um you know after school um a move that we um give a trial basis to one meeting a month starting in October that we meet in August two meetings in September and then starting in October go to one meeting a month for a trial of say three months and uh review it come December the motion level Center second second any further discussion right there yes I'd like to see a schedule John if you make a schedule on Maryland's suggestion two hours and months in the 201 meetings yes thank you Google schedule um I know habits so that's a good idea of this schedule that means we're going to review by what you just said at the end with him and then we're going to make a note of this okay no yes Sharon yes yes yes personal considerations with the Nations League of actors and finance job postings uh this is our information local ladies and gentlemen uh summer position one painter four electricians two quarters four characters two landscapers to give a lot of communication CDA annual positions he held some of our programs up to four teachers and four professionals to support an email summer program is our annual position for both of them okay enough for these following need to be voted on Johnson looking to have two individuals who will take guidance records and scan them and this and then destroy the records that are no longer needed foreign so moved okay second discussion yes I I thought there were other times when we have had these same things the person that destroyed the records that um so why is it a new position or are we having more people do it uh we've never done it with guidance records before that that we've scanned them and uh we've done other records but not guidance okay thank you all right um but ratings they even work in collaborations remembered from the end of school years in engines of the month of August to develop to plan for the implementation or grading practices so the 2023-24 school year the committee members will provide staff input and prospectus perspective for child care center oh wait that's wrong development of an implementation plan so moved for a second second discussion all those in favor all right okay we're opposed three assistant teaches John so we're looking for three assistant teachers for child care center Monday through Friday 7 to 3 30 p.m at the 10-month position is twenty two dollars an hour starting September 2023 and uh the cost of this will be covered by the uh revenue of the staff who utilize the uh Child Care Center promotion please so moved second discussion yes Mr show are we posting these because our um free registration indicates that they're going to be needed or is this anticipation um I think it's it's it looks like we're going to pretty much fill this each level at the way it's looking right now it's some uh anticipation but we're seeing a lot of Staff registering already we feel like if for some reason we don't need a third one or uh a second one then we'll only go with the one so we'll wait towards a little longer before we post it to see what the final outcome will be thank you anything further aye um one custodian maintenance custodian contract new position the need for this is roping up the new cafeteria and we have a custodian that works a cafeteria so the funding for this will come out of the cafeteria account should be able to come out of the cafeteria account from the revenue we we uh obtain a little motion please so moved second from where second second discussion I proposed uh one school counselor for CBA this is a new position due to the increase in student population will be at 1800 um we're looking to uh put on one more uh school counselor we've added more academic teachers but we haven't added support staff so we have a request from director of of Admissions and guidance in order to maintain the same student teacher ratio I mean same student guidance Ratio or close to what we have this year moves of recommendation second second discussion okay future gender items and ladies and gentlemen okay this kind of shows something more than go to the executive session for the purpose of collecting body so moved second close the table all right hey bro same rule foreign yes hey I understand you know hello if we were to stand here yes corner go back support [Applause] oh yeah foreign all back on right everybody has to put that thing back on put it back in a regular session she'll accept the motion uh concerning the map I moved to approve the memoranda of understanding with the administrators Union second discussion okay all those in favor aye opposed no no you call the rule would you have a moment please all right yes no Mr Hayden yes no emotions fails uh this time the chair accept the motion to adjourn so move sex all those in favor thank you very much ladies and gentlemen you know hmm okay when's the work night 15.
so she would need to start her fundraising and earn this right away so she was looking for some type of thought from the board if she's able to come up with with the dollar she'll present that to the board at that point we would accept it as important we would vote then September if she doesn't make it she knows what the what the line is and if she's going to fall short she'll know that then she'll have to make her own decision foreign [Music] so but she has to come to us to show that she raised it she can't just say it because that money has to come to us okay yeah it has to be made out to the board it has to be institutional institutional ization yeah parent can't say you know here's here's the dollars that would obligate so you would feel an obligation so that's why it has to be institutional like organizations like rotary and she has some Grand foundations that she's still here can't use their own money that's a great question John could you remember and at this point because we Master yeah we've said Daniel's disaster yeah any questions Kim I'll go to this side while you guys think of it okay that's what I was going to ask was she able to use your own money and then if it if we do end up going this route so we we would be paying two thousand dollars minimally and then they have during that time I've heard that you may have lost the sub that she had she had talked to Kevin I don't know if you know any of this so we would work hard to find the substitute Felicia so [Music] um just generally a feeling what's your general feeling if she's going to go to work on this so I'm going to go around again Erica um I'm just I'm a little conflicted I mean generally I would support continuing education for a teacher always but I Cindy and I were just trying to recall I think there were other concerns [Music] you know multiple concerns there was the money but then there was also there continuity of students yeah would it be helpful if you're moving this to the sixth which is only you know could have a refresh everybody maybe we can send out her presentation again would that be helpful yeah maybe that would be maybe give us a little bit of time okay all right um that'd be great so see if we can cover that is that okay Kim Alicia I believe in concern was before what um educational benefits was bringing back to the students like right like what was the lesson she was learning that she was actually going to apply within the district of for our students investment basically yes certainly okay so why don't we do that for the six so we'll table that action to the six uh I did want to mention Memorial Day parade is this uh Monday and when we have everybody all right uh and uh of course our superintendent is invited and I invited Mr Bishop also if you would like to march with us so these the uh the um organizational time is at 9 30.
it is it is well recognized throughout because these individuals are loyal honorable courageous individuals who are Leaders with vision and who recognize and act on the needs of the community there is a standing once in Eagle Scout always an eagle scout and that Rings true because these young men have pledged their lives to follow the principles they've learned through scouting so I'd like to recognize the the four Eagles in the class of 2023 Cesar Barbeau Claudius [Applause] thank you before we recognize our local scholarship winners we would like to recognize the recipients from the National Merit Scholarship program and the 2023 semi-finalists of the U.S presidential Scholars competition Dr Gad will make the presentations [Applause] I love looking out at the Sea of awards and your smiling faces so congratulations to everyone so far and we have a few more Awards to announce this evening so out of the 1.5 million students who enter the National Merit Scholarship 7 600 students qualify as finalists Nationwide finalists are chosen based on their abilities skills and accomplishments the National Merit Scholarship Corporation evaluates the finalists academic record information about the school's curricula and grading system two sets of test scores recommendations the students activities and Leadership and the finalists on essay the finalists for the Cheshire High School class of 2023 are and as I say your name please come on all the way up Jonathan Ty Jenny [Applause] Matthew Joplin [Applause] segregation [Applause] and Andrew Zoo [Applause] winners of special scholarships awarded this year were chosen on the basis of their skills and accomplishments from a pool of candidates who fulfilled the sponsor's criteria and scored high on the PSAT the National Merit two thousand five hundred dollar scholarship which is underwritten by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation with its own funds is awarded to segurika [Applause] and the 2023 semi-finalist of the U.S presidential Scholars competition recognizes students who demonstrate the ability and accomplishment in Career and Technical education notes each year up to 161 students are named as presidential Scholars one of the nation's highest honors for high school students the scholars represent excellence in education and the promise of greatness in young people and honoring the US Presidential Scholars the president of the United States symbolically honors all graduating high school seniors of high potential this has been awarded to Andrew [Applause] thank you foreign there are some other individuals who deserve recognition for all the behind the scenes work they do to make tonight possible this is Lindsey D'Angelo in the school counseling career center works very hard organizing all the donors and materials for the scholarships because of her dedication we as a school and Community are able to offer many scholarships the next time you're in the school counseling office please take the time to offer her your kind words of appreciation I would also like to recognize my assistant Mrs Michelle Shannon for all she did to make tonight's event special it is through her hard work and diligence that the many many many details of its nice events are double and triple check to ensure everything is as accurate as possible thank you Mrs Channel [Applause] lastly thank you to Dawn Cronin Betsy depaolo Kathy carlucci and Lisa Palma for being here tonight and thank you to the PTO for their generous donations for tonight's program [Applause] year members of the senior class apply for scholarships offered by our business Community the scholarships being presented tonight represent the generosity of our community and businesses for our students the total amount for the scholarships for the class of 2023 is 120 143 dollars [Applause] I would like to now introduce Rebecca Mayer president of the CHS band parents Association to the podium to present for the first time the John Kinder scholarship [Applause] hello thank you everyone my name is Rebecca Mayer I'm the current president of the marching band parent Association former member as well and tonight's my honor to get out for the first time at the John L cuter award to Julie Fielding foreign [Applause] next I would like to introduce Tim Gallivan who will be presenting also for the first time the Lori's truth Memorial Scholarship [Applause] Laurie's truth was founded in 2019 to honor the legacy of my Mom Lori Galvin who passed away in 2016 at the age of 59.
ten years ago 10 years from now people will remember how hard we fought to become the best versions of ourselves at our high school Union 20 years from now people will remember that we kept going after our dreams even when times got tough people will remember that this was the year the girls soccer team brought home Magnolia's very first CIF title as the goalkeeper I have to shout out my seniors today here today my Defender bestie Desiree Ponce sweeper Kenya Valle and forward Brianna Sanchez so as we are about to say our goodbyes recognize that every day we have a chance to cement our Legacy we might be embarking on our own individual Journeys but we will always carry that pride of being a sentinel thank you thank you sunma Johnson I would now like to introduce our principal Mr Aaron Chao good afternoon families friends faculty dignitaries and of course our graduating class of 2023.
I am April Matt Immortals and I'm honored to be standing here with you with all of you today I wouldn't want to share this moment with anyone else just like Howard Schultz once said success is best when it's shared I am so proud of each and every one of us in all honesty I wasn't sure how to prepare graduation speech yeah here I am today sharing a bit of my high school Journey with you guys like most of you I experienced many setbacks that led me to sit in the classrooms of Gilbert High School before that I was nearly ready to give up on school I felt so excluded Walking The Halls of my home school I just wasn't able to thrive there I got lost in a stack of papers and books my mental health began to worsen and so did my grades and my Chrysler help were swimming in the sea with another 2 933 students then I was faced with the opportunity of attending Gilbert High School this was a big blessing in disguise for me walking through the gates of Gilbert felt like walking into Open Arms it took some time to get familiar with all the new faces But as time passed I discovered these were the people I needed to be surrounded with we shared similar stories and life circumstances that led us here for once I wasn't alone I was slowly restoring faith in myself again I am proud to say I'm in my graduation requirements five months earlier I climbed my way up with the help of the amazing staff of Gilbert so thank you to all my amazing teachers and staff for making me see the potential I have I thank God for all of you and I thank God for getting me through I especially want to thank Miss freeze you are truly the best and you have changed my life in ways I wouldn't have been able to do myself you're the best laughs last but not least I want to thank my parents who no matter how many times I let them down they never gave up on me and let me know that giving up wasn't going to be an option I love the community we've built within the borders of Gilbert High School this school has helped us all develop far more than just as students Gilbert has taught us the characteristics of Being Human I wish I wasn't in such a rush to grow up because because I wasted so much time worrying about when that time would come this school stopped that timer and let me and many of us enjoy each and every day now we will start a new beginning I hope you all find your hidden talent and make it shine Wayne Gretzky once said you missed a hundred percent of the shots you never take so don't be afraid to take the risk in life that will lead you to your full potential you all have what it takes to be someone amazing in this world and I can't wait to see what the future has in store for us all we all deserve to be here congratulations class of 2023 thank you okay now please welcome Bianca thank you good afternoon families and friends who knew I would be standing here in front of all of you today reflecting on my first semester of high school I am at a very different stage than what I would have expected and as a completely different person over the course of four years through numerous friendships enrolling at various schools I have undergone several phages phases of self-discovery continuing every single day on finding who I am in the world at 18 I barely have any answers to life but I have learned that I will continue to discover them as I continue to grow older and wiser of the very few answers I have garnered in the past four years two of the most important ones are self-reliance and self-love you must do things for you you must be happy with yourself you must love yourself Embrace who you are regardless of what other individuals will think or say because in the end you are not living with those individuals you are going to be living with yourself your own individual do not let them restrict you from being yourself well loving yourself is only half the equation relying on yourself is a missing variable there's no one who will push you to strive towards your goals besides you through my integral final semesters in independent studies I was able to ascertain this crucial lesson I had the aid of my amazing teacher Miss Ariano but I also had to Aid myself in completing my own work there is no set lesson plan similar to life I had to work towards my own goals and rely on myself to complete them at the beginning of senior year I not I did not believe I was going to finish my required credits and the time to graduate with the class of 2023 and frankly the lack of work great greatly concerned my administrators with their assistance I was able to begin to complete my work in person starting to see that if I do not do it no one will there were no outside forces besides me and my education in fighting that it was up to me I began to diligently complete my assignments in my tenacious pursuit to graduate my goals were accomplished and all necessary work was done in March almost two whole months before standing on the stage today my high school experience is very different from most beginning at a private Catholic School transferring to a public school and integrating into independent studies and ultimately reaching the stage of graduation though my secondary education was unconventional I have gained insight into seeing that doing the unconventional is how to be different the ability to stand out the quality of being remembered with this final sentence I say goodbye to my unconventional experience don't forget me [Applause] and last but not least please welcome Emily Martinez to recite her graduation poem hello I'm Emily Martinez and this is my poem for the class of 2023.