Lee 2011 Graduates Ready to Climb More Mountains
 Lee High graduates search for their caps at Tanglewood on Saturday after the traditional toss. See more photos here. Scholarships and awards were presented at the ceremony and will be posted as soon as the list is available. |
But you can't stay on top forever, Superintendent Jason P. McCandless told the 83 graduates in the Shed on Saturday afternoon. "Mountaintops are really nice place to visit but you wouldn't want to live there."
It was a lesson his own family had learned on a trip to Whiteface Mountain in New York; the view was fabulous but getting to the top was costly and cold.
Some of that chill seeped into Lee's rainy 134th commencement ceremonies as well, underscoring McCandless' message that few find it comfortable living on a higher plain.
"You can't stay here on top of this mountain," he said. "You should enjoy your time here, you should enjoy your parties this afternoon, open your cards, have fun ... But tomorrow you're back to being nervous new freshman, homesick recruits on military bases or the new kid on the job; when you start seeing what it means to be a grownup."
With every peak (weddings and baby showers and promotions) come the the valleys (marriage and children and responsiblities) that require hard work.
"Don't ever sell yourself short on your ability to climb a mountain; enjoy the views, cherish the memories, take a few snapshots and lock them away," said McCandless. "It's vital that you're always enjoying your mountaintop moments and it's vital that you're always setting your sights on where the next mountain is."
Valedictorian Alexandra Young spoke of how the small class had bonded over the years, and how her schoolmates and the community had supported her after she was injured at the beginning of basketball season, destroying her hopes to aid the team in winning another Western Massachsusetts championship.
"We have been there for each other through the wins and the losses, joys and setbacks; we need to continue to be there for each other in any way possible," she said. "While we will make many new friends in years to come do not forget those you sit side by side with today."
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Tara Dooley, the salutatorian, thanked the faculty for preparing them for what may come.
"You gave us a solid foundation to build from and the world has much to offer for us to continue to putting the pieces of our life puzzle together," she said. "Because that's truly what it is, a puzzle. ... Finding what fits us best by trying new things, discovering and rediscovering and ultimately making the decision what is for our own personal lives, to create a masterpiece to share with others."
Principal Kerry A. Burke read a long list of scholarships and awards totaling more than $89,000 for the class of 2011 before awarding the diplomas.
"With global positioning systems built into your smartphones, your cars, you are too accustomed to recalculating your course, seniors, from a wired digitial voice," she said. "My advice to you is to turn off your GPS and follow your own innate compass."
To keep help keep their bearings she offered four pieces of advice: Find people to love, who love your in return; always have something meaningful to do; always have something for which to be grateful; and always have something to look forward to.
This generation is the most technologically connected and also the most racially tolerant, School Committee Chairman Michael Bullock said. He'd discovered that on this day in 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested in Florida for trying to integrate restaurants and Alabama Gov. George Wallace had allowed the first two black students to enroll in the University of Alabama. Yet the millenniels, or Generation Ys, had elected the first black president and were erasing social barriers in existence just decades ago.
"This inspires me, it gives me hope that amid all the current focus on global conflict and economic struggles some important things can change and change for the better," he said. "Keep focused on those core human values that transcend changes and technology and pop culture – among them are compassion, social justice and tolerance."
While the class of 2011 was ready to climb the mountains of life, it was a bittersweet goodbye this year.
"We are very sad. I can't say this every year," said McCandless. "There are some years we wish we had graduation in December. Your class ... we wish we could keep for another year."
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