001foreign thank you foreign [Music] foreign [Applause] [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] good evening all of that preparation all of that practice how many presentations have you given a lot of them but we can we can roll with it so good evening it's a lively group here we're going to enjoy ourselves it's my great pleasure to welcome you all to the Columbus signature Academy new Tech graduation ceremony foreign we are here to acknowledge the accomplishments of the members of the class of 2023 and to celebrate your success seniors in the last four years you've completed hundreds of projects and you've delivered just as many presentations you've made contact with countless community members along the way you've learned to navigate diverse personalities as you have honed your collaboration skills in addition to content standards project-based learning
002required you to master school-wide learning outcomes you are now equipped with the 21st century skills that are necessary for your journey into the adult world you are proficient in oral and written communication you've learned to solve real-world authentic projects in a collaborative and technology-rich environment you've developed a strong work ethic and a sense of civic responsibility I am proud to announce that this group of seniors completed over 4 000 hours of community service along the way they've earned over 550 college credits valued at nearly a hundred thousand dollars all tuition free [Applause] this group of seniors qualified for over a quarter million dollars of scholarship money a third of you earned an honors academic honors diploma and nearly 20 percent of you earned the new tech seal so members of the class of 2023 were
003proud of who you've become all of you have demonstrated great perseverance through and especially challenging senior year this diploma represents your determination your work ethic your drive to your desire and now finally you have crossed the finish line you've represented yourselves your school and your family with pride I congratulate all of you for your accomplishments and I look forward to learning of your future successes it is my pleasure to introduce who will share his thoughts with the senior class Ethan [Applause] good evening family friends facilitators and fellow graduates I am honored to be speaking in front of you today being able to share this moment with you all means so much to me the class of 2023 has finally reached the finish line of high school but we didn't achieve this alone if it wasn't
004for the support from our parents and facils this journey would have been an even bigger challenge than it already was to our friends for going along this journey with us and making each day better and more memorable as the class of 2023 we are approaching the end but that only Sparks another beginning today is the first glance at that new beginning and I'm so glad we got to share this final moment together this year specifically we have shared and experienced so many lasts ranging from the last day of school the last time seeing our favorite basil our last performance our last game our last time seeing Mr Reed stand on the table and many more amazing memories all these lasts can be bittersweet but we can't forget all the hard work and dedication that we
005put forth to reach these last these experiences should not be something we try to forget or regret but something we cherish and remember instead we should look ahead to all the firsts we will experience although things have come to a close this year we still have so much more to explore and discover in terms of high school we've reached the top and the thought of starting fresh can be scary our first time living alone or with someone who isn't family our first day of college or at a career our first time paying bills celebrating our first promotion and many more we must realize and acknowledge that all people have a different path and future we are sharing this moment today and what we do after this is what gives us our individuality these things should
006not be should these things should be looked forward to and will shape Us in the next chapter of our life looking towards that next chapter can be daunting but I truly believe the past four years of being at new tech have prepared us all for the real world in terms of providing with providing us with skills that are applicable to our futures looking back to our freshman year with the genius Hour project we all took a deep dive into our passion or something we were interested in little did my freshman self know that my presentation about piano would translate to my intended career as a music educator we are prepared for the future and have been provided with the resources to find our passion that could ultimately influence our career choice CSA projects have also
007prepared us to end a significant part a significant significant part of our lives in a healthy way and then reset for what is to come next we have completed so many projects in the last four years and are accustomed to launching a project then when working through and setting benchmarks for ourselves only when the final product is complete we can celebrate our hard work this is an important tradition that we can continue to celebrate today we launched the four-year project of high school after eighth grade and now we have finished up that project we're gathered here to celebrate and end this project in a CSA fashion during this project that we call high school we developed our collaborative oral communication and written communication skills these are things that we practice every day whether it's a
008group project public speaking or an essay we can use these skills for the rest of our lives like practicing my public speaking right now this shift of last into first can be scary but is something we have all prepared for the last four years looking back at all the memories achievements and events that we have experienced in the last four years we can truly say that we have reached the end and that we are ready to spark our next beginning congratulations to the class of 2023 we made it thank you Ethan it's my pleasure to introduce to you well not to you but to introduce to everyone else CSA facilitator Pete Warren [Applause] graduates faculty staff of CSA new Tech High School administrators of bcsc family and friends of the graduates is my honor to
009speak to you this evening I've been at CSA new tech as a facilitator since 2019. I've been teaching for 17 years I've been part of the lives of thousands of students and it's been my joy and privilege to be part of their lives I'll remember you guys as I begin my new adventure I wasn't going to do this it's your fault really which begins at the close of this address and that Adventures retirement six years ago I felt a restlessness in my life but couldn't quite put my finger on why I needed to shake my life up a little bit and think through some things and set some new goals I've always been a fan of the actor Martin Sheen and saw that he was in a kind of an obscure movie called The Way
010my wife Carla and I decided to watch it and I knew when the movie ended that my adventure was calling me I was going to hike the Camino de Santiago the following summer in fact five years to the day from today I did that and after much planning my dream became a reality the word Camino is Spanish for path Journey or way the Camino de Santiago would take me on a journey from Pamplona Spain to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia Spain it was going to be a difficult 35-day hike over more than 500 miles of terrain I'd be joining more than 325 000 people that summer who made the same pilgrimage I'd never done anything like that before so I was apprehensive and excited all at the same time just like you as graduates are
011apprehensive and excited countless others have done this before and we we are here to help you on your journey your years here at CSA new tech were a very important part of your life's path so far the pillars of trust respect and responsibility you've learned here are the same values that sustain me on my journey on the first day when I was walking out of Pamplona it was raining it was 45 degrees and it was just absolutely miserable I'd gone about seven miles halfway up a mountain in the Pyrenees and when I stopped I had to change my socks they were soaked as I was drying my feet off a couple from England stopped and I looked really pitiful at the time just check and see if I was okay I told them what I
012was doing the man took pity on me and gave me his trekking poles I was going to buy some in Pamplona but there were no stores open at 6 30 A.M he knew that I would need them especially on the way down the mountain because the trail for about a mile and a half was nothing but mud and softball sized rocks I learned that day how the motto the Camino provides was true that I could trust that on my journey there would be support and help for me in my time of need as I hiked I met 30 or people from 31 Nations spanning the six continents around the world I found that the pilgrims the pilgrims approached each other with mutual respect we found ways to connect though we were coming from many different
013perspectives and backgrounds oftentimes we spoke different languages but we learn to Value each individual sometimes walking together when we were lonely sometimes letting each other have space when we needed to Journey alone for a little while and as much as possible we tried not to storm not to snore and disturb each other at night in the large sleeping rooms that we shared I had to take a lot of responsibility in other ways that I wasn't accustomed to as I made my pilgrimage no matter how I tried and how blistered I was I was responsible for getting myself back on the trail every morning it was up to me to find meals and a place to sleep each night to keep my valuables secure I learned a lot about agency and found ways to meet every
014challenge along the way in the end I found great personal satisfaction in getting to my goal I got to visit a magnificent cathedral in my final day words cannot describe the the awe in that place it was worth all the days of just putting one front one foot in front of the other making progress slowly but surely my journey across Spain was later in life but your journey is just now beginning you will have hard times when you get blisters and it will be hard to walk you'll have days like the day when I walk no almost crawled up a hill that was a 30 incline thinking I was about to die and there was a cafe at the top of that Hill where I got the best tasting Coca-Cola I've ever had in my
015life you're starting a Camino a path a journey an adventure here's what I hope for you I hope you will be inspired that a passion and a goal will light you up on the inside and you'll be excited to wake up in the morning and pursue that path with all your heart I hope that you will be bold you won't see the entire path laid out before you there will be some sharp turns and some steep hills to climb but you guys are ready be bold enough to take that first step I hope that other pilgrims are there to walk alongside you on your journey they'll be there to pick you up when you fall hold your hands when you're scared and give you what you need to make it to your destination your facilitators
016your parents your friends and all who love you wish you well we hope you'll send us a postcard along the way in Camino [Applause] [Music] [Applause] CSA senior Abby shoot would like to share a farewell message with her class [Applause] do you remember right before graduating eighth grade wondering what even high school was like well I can tell you my four years here were not a little eighth grade Abby had in mind I can remember waking up on my first day of school at CSA on the first morning to a week spending extra time on my outfit it was a blast for my first fika it's my first halftime performance it's my first marching band Invitational to my first band concert and my first house games high school was awesome we were ending the third
017quarter and getting ready to go into the break when we were told we'd have an extra two weeks of online school after the break everyone was so excited to have an extra two weeks of break two weeks turned into one month and then into the fourth quarter being fully online it went from sitting in a classroom to sitting at home on a zoom call this was not what any of us were expecting it was different to say the least online school was new for the most of us including the facils switching teaching styles to recording lessons instead of lecturing them and having to communicate on zoom and other online resources was a challenge in itself facils and students struggled to reach each other and connect when not everyone had a reliable internet to ask access
018even with online school being new and foreign we still pushed through as a CSA family to fight expectations and made it to the end of our first school year summer break felt somewhat normal some of us had socially distant picnics or Gatherings with small groups of friends we wanted to have a normal summer we then reached sophomore year with everyone being able to return to school everyone was glad to be back and learning with everyone else Thanksgiving break rolled around and suddenly we were back to online school although this time we were better prepared we defied expectations last time and we're going to keep on defying them Christmas and New Year's came and went and we moved to a hybrid schedule half of the school was there on Monday and Tuesday everyone was online Wednesday
019and the other half was at school on Thursday and Friday the hybrid schedule was the best and the worst of both kinds of learning during the past two years we finally ended the fourth quarter in person that year and our class was able to have our first end of your house games ever boom We Justified expectations once again junior year was by far our most difficult year most of us were in physics and constructed cardboard boats to test in the north side pool everything is starting to finally feel normal again some of us were in advanced biology and paddled a kayak or canoe around the lagoons doing reports on the properties around the lake junior year was the pre-game to the end of the mountain climb senior year even though we felt up to our
020eyes and homework we still defied expectations and we are more than ready than ever to the last push to the end senior year senior year the final Mountain climb to reach the top of our high school careers all the learning and preparation from the past 13 years of education has prepared us for this semester one consisted of applications to multiple colleges sending in job applications lining up internships and getting the boxes checked off to cross the finish line many of us applied for multiple scholarships and applications for living learning communities as well as other opportunities at our colleges of choice or future jobs the college credits that we have been earning over the years are being applied to something for our future semester two was completing our classes and checking off the final boxes to
021earn our diplomas this Monumental checkpoint in our lives is just the start of the next chapter we're going to write our class is the definition of defining expectations whether it be College straight into work going into the military joining a trade school or something else we have defied the expectations of high school graduation and life beyond graduation our class is the definition of defining expectations and we don't plan on stopping anytime soon [Applause] at this time is with great pride that I introduce to our superintendent Dr Roberts the CSA new tech class of 2023 Dr Roberts [Applause] thank you Mr Reed before I start I'd be remiss on this Memorial Day weekend if I didn't acknowledge the veterans that we might have in the gymnasium if I could ask our veterans to please stand so
022we could recognize you foreign thank you so much for your service good evening everybody family members friends and staff members thank you for all you have done to support our graduates as they worked through the seemingly endless number of barriers placed in front of them to land in this place tonight as graduates of CSA new Tech High School graduates congratulations to you for the abilities you have displayed during your entire School career but especially during your high school years as you maneuvered past those barriers placed in front of you and demonstrated you have completed the ascent of an important mountain of opportunity the earning of a high school diploma your hard work gives you the title of graduate CSA new Tech High School I referenced your high school years and those years probably deserve an
023extra mention or two your freshman year was blindsided by a global pandemic and you still felt its impact over your next two years it is my hope that this senior year this senior year felt relatively normal to you but I realized that over the course of your four years many typical high school experiences may have been missed or at least were adversely affected but you were resilient you persevered you overcame and you are here tonight you're going to walk up to the stage to arrive at the top of a mountain that represents at least 12 years of school you will then walk off this stage to begin another ascent an Ascent up the mountain of life what is on top of this mountain will be different for each of you the way you measure happiness
024will be different the way you determine success will be different the path you take toward achievement will be different but there are a few things that I ask for all of you keep to keep the same and I will quote from the wonderful philosopher Tim McGraw from his song humble and kind hold the door say please and thank you don't steal don't cheat don't lie I know you've got mountains to climb but always stay humble and kind everybody is climbing a mountain and we can't always be sure what that mountain is my mountain is not your Mountain but you're being nice and polite doing the right things helps both of us with our climbs and contributes to the success of our ascent always stay humble and kind when the dreams you're dreaming come to you
025when the work you put in is realized let yourself feel the pride but always stay humble and kind when you are able to climb your Mountain to get to its peak accomplish your dream do take time to celebrate feel good about yourself you have earned that using tonight as an example you reach the top of this mountain called School celebrate it be proud but not at the expense of others that is detrimental to their client always stay humble and kind don't expect a free ride from no one don't hold a grudge or a chip and here's why bitterness keeps you from flying always stay humble and kind it is much better to earn your way to the top of the mountain versus being given a free pass determine the most appropriate method to get there
026then put your head down and start to climb remembering to always stay humble and kind members of the CSA new class of 2023 by the power of vested made by the state of Indiana and our Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation Board of Trustees I hereby certify you as graduates of our school system congratulations thank you Dr Roberts as we prepare for the distribution of diplomas Please be aware that we have provided a photographer to take a picture of each graduate as they cross the stage also so that every graduate's name can be heard please hold your individual Applause until the last graduate crosses the stage and then we'll celebrate our entire class together Mr Schroeder will now lead us in recognizing each member of the new tech class of 2023. Mr Schroeder Ethan Andrew Burton Abigail
027Lynn shoot Malaya lanique Anderson Christopher Arroyo Grace Catherine barcus Adeline May bush Mercedes Marie Bustos Ariana Elizabeth Cahill ey Renee Kane Larry Lee Carmer III Lenora Grace Carnes Jace William cash Kiera Shea christophel Malachi Xavier Florida [Applause] Holden Michael Connor Jackson Bolger Conrad Brennan Dominic cook Alec Raymond Coomer Thomas Elmo Cox Blaze Daniel Crider Jody Marie Crider Tristan Eric Davis [Applause] Solis Alejandro De Luna [Applause] Liberty and Joyce Doherty [Applause] Daphne de anira Duron [Applause] Brianna faith dwinger [Applause] rhianne Elaine England [Applause] Riley Evan England [Applause] Roslyn England [Music] Lydia Nicole Farrell [Music] Samuel Robert Fishbone Allison Marine Foley [Applause] Ty Luca Garcia Birchfield [Music] [Applause] America Jacqueline govea Emma Renee Gray [Music] Chrissa May Hanley [Applause] Parker McKinnon Harris [Applause] Mary Marley Hyatt Katie Lou Hong Christian Jewell Huddleston Derek Thomas Hunter [Applause] oluwa
028femi Anthony ige Ena Denay Jenkins Sabella Nora Johnson Charles Luke King Asher Edwin lamb Tatum Rose Lawson [Music] Michael Evan Lee Kai Aiden Linda Weber Willie Rashawn Madison [Applause] thank you okay thank you Alyssa Joe Miller Ryan Gregory Moore Alejandro Jose moros olivo [Applause] Thomas Ryan Morrill Brian J Parson [Music] Jesse James Parson [Music] Eric Brian Perry Carson Riley Perry Marie Petro Aiden Allen Reardon [Applause] Nicole Elizabeth Redlin [Applause] ER David Reimer [Music] Gavin James rocker Madison Paige rosengrantz Joseph Stanley Russell [Music] [Applause] Jacqueline Marie Shaw Kailyn Joelle Smith [Applause] Moana Paige toffee Lau Steele [Applause] okay Savannah Jane Steele [Applause] Henry Alexander Tad [Music] Luke Mason Thompson Phoenix Madison Jewel third Kalyn Brooke White Kelsey Renee Wildridge Emma Nicole Williams Frederick Leland whittaken the fifth Alexis Yanez Cisneros [Applause] thank you well all of
029our graduates please rise it's been a long-standing tradition that upon receiving a high school diploma the graduation cap tassel has turned from the right side to the left side of the cap this signifies the completion of a degree graduates please move your tassels ladies and gentlemen family and friends it is my sincere privilege to present to you the CSA new tech graduating class of 2023. thank you [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] foreign