I know I will miss my kids when I leave, but I cannot wait to see all of you grow into the people you are meant to become. I cannot wait to see the people we become because I know every graduate sitting here has a dream. A dream to succeed and a dream to live life to the fullest. To quote Isaia Costa, "These the last time, the last time we will all sit in one room together as classmates. the last time we walked these halls as students, the last time we experienced this moment together. But while But while this may be the last time for us as students, it is also the first time for everything else. The first day of our future. Class of 2026, we made it. Thank you. Thank you. Our solo has earned the second highest graded GPA of the graduating class.
Marie Hillman, and Brian Newton. I like to also give a shout out to St. John Paul II High School volunteer athletes, Achilles International, and Dave, as well as Lemuel, for being willing to provide guide runners for me to make this cross country season possible. >> I would also like to thank those who have partnered with ASDB to provide students with opportunities like summer camps and house events, school year excursions, and so much more. I would also additionally like to thank those who have spent countless hours planning and participating in the logistics of transporting us to and from school and field trips. Last but certainly not least, I want to thank my parents and family for helping me through these past 11 years. From the struggles to the triumphs, providing support in the long days and short days, I would never have written the speech back in eighth grade, nor would I be here this evening in this moment with your without your support.
This is not okay. All should be able to learn without fear. Education is essential to developing and bettering society. Even if we had to be afraid along the way, we made it to the top of the mountain, fortunate to never have met this terrible fate. Remember this fear, so that we can be a part of the solution. Create a world where kids don't have to worry about not coming home from school, where their classes don't go silent for a second after a loud noise in the hallway, where they don't have to think about where their classroom is relative to the exits or where their seats in a classroom are relative to the doors and windows. We need to create a world where high school graduates can look back without memories of hiding under desks, anxious and terrified, waiting to know if they walk away. We did walk away.
If you don't know the story behind NASA's Apollo 13 space flight, it goes a little something like this. Launching on April 11th, 1970, Apollo 13 was intended to be NASA's third lunar landing. But two days into the mission, an oxygen tank exploded. The astronauts were forced to pile into a small lunar module, which was not made for the threeman crew. Using a little creativity and a whole lot of duct tape, the astronauts created a homemade lithium hydroxide filter, which sucked away excess carbon dioxide and kept the crew alive until they landed back on Earth. In the end, countless people worked together to turn Apollo 13 from a tragedy to a triumph. ground control on the Earth and the astronauts up in space communicated together and turned the mission into what today is considered a success, paving the way for future missions, including the record-breaking Artemis 2.
On the front page of the district's website, there is a sentence that reads, "The community of Columbia truly bleeds blue and has always fully supported the district in its pursuit for excellence and continual improvement." And I would like to amend uh the the ask in my original petition and say that what I am really asking for is that the board and the administration focus on bringing excellence to our music program here in Columbia. I think it's noteworthy that on social media when I posted this originally, we had a I had a number of people message me and say things like, you know, Columbia is known for sports. You have really amazing athletics programs. I didn't even know that Columbia had a music program. I think that that's something that can change. We have fabulous talent here in the kids in this district. We have some really great teachers, and I think with some, you know, clever allocation of resources and supporting the program a little bit more, I think that we could see some, you know, kids going to state, marching band winning some awards, like and so this is me asking you, along with 282 other folks who care, to please consider that.
We couldn't be more excited to to join the community. Uh really thankful for Mr. Joe Bronella, Katie Fischer, Tracy McMahon, all the administrative team that has made me feel really welcome. Dr. Long as well, just making this a really smooth transition this spring. So blessed and fortunate and excited to be coming to Center Grove and excited to build high quality, high character young men in the basketball program uh that can represent Grove with pride on the basketball floor as well. So thank you for tonight and we're super excited. >> Thank you, Tracy and Joe. Tracy and Joe send their apologies. They're at B baseball senior night. You know how the end of the year is and so they couldn't tear themselves in half and split themselves, but they of course welcome you as well. So, >> were you going to say welcome? >> Is he teaching math, too?
Um we've added sixth grade and fifth grade band and orchestra. You saw when they were playing for us and the teacher talked about what a difference it makes getting that early start. Um we've been able to offer other um programs and opportunities for our kids here locally. Um so, we may be a small town, we may be rural, but we are very competitive in what innovative opportunities we offer for our kids. So, that was just a quick highlight, but I wanted to kind of summarize the last um strategic plan and then we are using all of that data that we talked about in our work session and we have our action areas developed for Blueprint 2030 and we're rolling forward to our new plan. We have some teacher leaders and administrators that will meet on June 10th and define smart goals and get all of those action pieces put together and I'll share those with you at a later date.
As she'll swing and foul that one back, so the count has gone full as Ava Welch brings it from 3-0 to 3-2. I've said this before about Ruby, when she shortens up that swing, she That's the best she hits, and and she tends to do that with two strikes. So, I'm smelling a hit right now for her. Colette at second and that is a swing and a miss. Dropped by Oh, actually a foul ball. Home plate umpire said she fouled it. Martinez could not hold on. So, Casadian will get a second chance here. >> Yeah, new life for Ruby back there. So, let's see what she can do. So, another 3-2 pitch from Welch and that is a swing and a miss as Welch comes back from 3-0 to strike out Casadian but the Clockers scored two in the first and they lead it 2-0.
And I'm here as the immediate past president of CAPE to recognize the efforts of the Cheshire Public Schools and to present you with an award. In order to receive a Bonnie B. Carney Award of excellence for educational communications, all entries must meet the following criteria. First is the general criteria which includes the clarity of the message, image, and consistency. Second the specific guidelines of readability, editing, graphics, type, format, presentation, design, and equally important, the value of the expenditure. I'm happy to present to Cheshire Public Schools with the award for excellence for educational communication and under the heading of special project um you have recently with your high school principal recruitment. And with that, it was an email sent out to all of the 092 certified administrators throughout the state and they were encouraged to apply and to serve your school district as the principal of your high school.
We didn't want to ask any leading type of questions or have any kind of preconceived notion of um what they might say. So we really spent a lot of that time really thinking about themes and questions and um coming up with a bank that we thought would be appropriate to to ask them. Um so we came up with these questions. Um of the questions um some of them lean towards more the academics of what goes on in the classroom. So in terms of what kinds of activities motivate you to learn um what would your perfect class look like from beginning to end? Um, does homework help you understand the class? And what's the purpose of homework? What connections do you see between what you are doing in class and to everyday life or to your other classes? Um, and then other questions that we came up with lent itself towards the social emotional learning piece, which was um, what makes you feel seen and understood or not by adults in the classroom?
So, that got approved. But, the storage shed is still in progress and I think that it's going to get through, but I just wanted to keep it in here until it was final final. If it comes off, it comes off. I don't think anyone's going to Yeah. feel upset about um No, because I feel like they have a contingency budget and that could come from the contingency budget if need be. Mhm. Why stack the deck here when you have that budget to work with already? Yeah. So. You good? Yeah. Oh. With the storage, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. >> Yeah. And then, like I said, if it comes off, you know, I just it's holding the place, but that would that would free us 250. >> yeah, 250 for us. Uh the other thing to note is where it says plan year one proposed, um you all had asked some questions about like what's the total project outlay?
You may be seated. Seal of biliteracy and seal of tri-literacy. You may be seated. State seal of civic engagement. You may be seated. Golden State Seal recipients. You may be seated. A through G. You may be seated. Academic honors. Seniors who earned a 3.5 or above grade point average. You may be seated. And it's part of Savannah's identity. Capstone completers, please rise. You can stay on Mr. Parmenter, it's okay. You may be seated. Let's give it one more time for a round of applause for all these awesome accomplishments. Class of 2026, this year has been memorialized by many firsts. My first year serving you as your principal, first season of stunt, first time competing at the FBLA State Leadership Conference, and lastly, the first ever CIF Women's Team Championship in Savannah High School's history. >> [cheering] >> And the most recent CIF Championship since 1993.
Our roots are the anchor that keep us steady when the world gets loud. And the world is really loud right now. The world is seeing so much chaos, but it is in this very chaos that your class holds a powerful metaphor, the butterfly. As freshmen, you entered a complex and changing world. You have navigated uncertainty, transforming yourselves through effort and grace, much like the butterfly emerging from its chrysalis. Like that butterfly, you are a symbol of beautiful, resilient transformation amidst the storm. Your time is here. Your time in the chrysalis of Western High School has been the source of your values, the internal compass that tells you right from wrong when there's no one around you. The four-year preparation has given you the beautiful, hard-earned wings that are now ready for flight. As we step into 2026 and beyond, where you are going is that part and it's entirely up to you.
It felt great being able to enjoy my senior night with all my friends and people that felt like family. This will always be a night to remember. We're looking forward to a graduation and summer break. Everything's around the corner and it couldn't be more exciting. As we wrap up our final board meeting, we just want to thank the board, executive cabinet, and everyone at HGPA for giving us the opportunity to represent for our school. This experience has helped us grow in leadership, confidence, and public speaking, and it's something we'll always be grateful for. Thank you for your continued support and making sure our voices matter. We look forward to see to seeing you all all at our graduation. We'd like to introduce you to Michaela Coron Corona. Corona Corona will be our newest student representative for HTPA. >> Good evening. Good evening every I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you next school year and being able to share all the amazing things HDPA is doing on our campus.
On behalf of Sierra Pacific Foundation and the Sierra Pacific Industries and also personally myself because I work with his dad every day and he's wonderful. Um, we'd like to present the award to Jaden Garmin. Hello, my name is Angela Landry and I'm uh presenting this award on behalf of Caitlyn Brennan, the adviser for the Be Forever Strong Club. Uh I have the privilege of awarding our Be Forever Strong scholarship tonight to Katherine Black. He is receiving a scholarship of $1,000 thanks to a grant from Hignel company. The Bever Strong scholarship awards students for their commitment to the growth in areas of academics, integrity inside and outside of the classroom, growth in caring about and helping and strengthen our community, and willingness to be held accountable by our team and their mentors. I am so proud of Cat for her ef for the effort and work she has put in in the last four years.
Good evening everyone. I'm Kim Castellano from Power of One. >> [clears throat] >> Okay. Yes. Uh good evening everyone. I'm Kim Castellano from Power of One. I'm actually excited to be here tonight uh to announce uh our back-to-school outreach program. But before that, I'd just like to say thank you to the entire Clifton uh school community for supporting our programs through uh this past year. It's been a wonderful year, and it's a great partnership that we have. But tonight, I really want to talk to to you tonight about the back-to-school outreach, and it is our flagship program that is actually a partnership with the Clifton schools for the past 15 years. It's I can't believe it's been 15 years. Um it started back in uh school 12, and that was our first school under Mrs. Tally and uh Nurse Wendy. So, I'm super thankful for their partnership and the help.
>> [applause] [applause] >> And he's got his MMS shirt on, very nice. Next up, highest sixth grade score, MMS Blue House, Gianna Norcia. >> [applause] >> Then, highest sixth highest eighth grade score in ETSD, Ashvik Gupta. >> [applause] >> Highest sixth grade score, DeMasi Middle Now, Red House, Ethan Zeng. >> [applause] [applause] >> Highest sixth grade score, DMS Green House, Arnav Sahoo. >> [applause] >> Next up, highest seventh grade score in ETSD, and fourth highest seventh grade score in the region, Terrence Lim. >> [applause] >> Highest seventh grade score in Demarest Middle Green House, Cameron Modishig. >> [applause] >> Next up, highest eighth grade score in Red House, Luca Colangelo. >> [applause] >> Highest eighth grade score, Green House, Lucas Reed. >> [applause] >> And that brings us to Is there anyone out there whose name I didn't call? That might have missed or missed me?
This student's record speaks to years of focus and responsibility. Please help me welcome and congratulate our salvator Morgan God. Hello parents, teachers, staff, family, and friends. My name is Mora Cuadres, and I'll be speaking from the heart. So bear with me in my voice starts to crack or if you see me getting tear yet. I've been able to get up on the stage since I was in kindergarten and I still get shy. I'm especially tense right now because I'm Saladictorian. It's hard to describe in words what I'm feeling right now. It's surreal to me that we are graduating. We will all start new friendships, new routines, new lives. I've been here since kindergarten and I've grown up with my class. So, even though I may have not been everyone's friend, it feels strange that after graduating, most of us may only hear from each other on social media.
Thank you. Again, I just want to say a huge thank you to all of you here. From parents to fellow students to teachers and all weaves together as my village. To all the students that will not be graduating from ASDB in the future, since ASDB will not exist, I leave these words with you. We will not be broken by some bad decision. And And our community will still be strong and exist. Remember to keep standing up for the ASDB community and what you believe in. And also, remember to keep fighting for a united deaf and blind school. So, the class of 2026, my message to you is this. May your future be uh filled with opportunities to do great things. And may the Lord bless you and all those who come after you. Thank you. All right now, before you all get tired of me, I would like to introduce our song.
Thus, it is us to make the path greener, provide shelter from the rain, and remove the sharp rocks where we can, so that after this, they have a better, safer, and easier experience. My favorite hikes were with other people. I'd like to thank everyone who walked this trail with me. My family who supported me, especially my parents and those who can make it here today. My friends who always helped who were always there for me, like Daphne, Rebecca, and Sophia who helped me write this speech. And Sam, my competition for salutatorian. And my teachers who never gave up hope for their students' success, like Holly and Longo. So, think of the people who walked with you. Please take a moment to thank them. Remember, keep moving forward on your path, even if the road gets bumpy. Even if you're hiking solo, others have traveled this path before you, and you will not be the last.