Cabot's 27 grads sent off with speech, song
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Whitney Richardson, center, looks thoughtful at Cabot School’s graduation ceremony Friday evening. |
Toolbox
By ANNE NADEL Correspondent - Published: June 13, 2009
CABOT – Balmy spring air gave rise to an air of optimism that was echoed in the words of the speakers at the Cabot School Friday night as a large crowd watched the class of 27 graduating high school students begin to step into their adult lives. The traditional themes of passing time and new beginnings punctuated the speeches delivered at the lengthy program.
Salutatorian Julia Gulka's speech recalled times past, and looked forward to the next phase in her young life (she will be attending Middlebury College), and those of her classmates. Calling graduation a "bittersweet mixture of opportunity and letting go," Gulka recalled advice and lessons learned from teachers, beyond what one might expect, noting one who "showed us how to care," and another who "taught us how to work hard and always strive for better."
Gulka's classmate and friend Lillian Alexander was class valedictory speaker. Alexander, who will attend Harvard University in the fall, told the assembled crowd how the class of 2009 opened a time capsule they had made just prior to commencing high school. In the box, each student had placed a paper with personal goals and predictions. A great deal of humor was derived from one student who had predicted he would ride a unicycle while whistling the national anthem.
Laughter aside, Alexander encouraged her classmates to remember to continue to chase their dreams, no matter how wild or farfetched. "Finally," she said, "create goals that allow you to be the person you want to be."
The graduation address was delivered by author and poet Geof Hewitt, who echoed ideas the girls had presented, telling the graduates to take advantage of future opportunities – and then to come back to Cabot. "If you go away … bring it home," he said, adding, "share it with the community." Hewitt's words seemed apropos for parents and teachers watching the young people they nurtured preparing to move on to adulthood.
Quoting a poem of his, Hewitt said, "When I say goodbye to someone I love, it feels good … it's a teacher's lot to say goodbye … let them go. They were meant only for the time you were together."
More than one teacher and parent wiped away tears at his words.
Many of the class of 2009 received significant scholarships with more than one getting offers of full scholarship to a four-year college. Johnathan Maxfield will be attending St. Michael's College with a full academic scholarship. Deborah Walnickie has been offered a similar scholarship from University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Walnickie will be deferring college for a year to work in a volunteer program in a school in New York City's Harlem. At the graduation ceremony, she was awarded a scholarship by Roy Somani, in memory of his mother Pearl Somani-Dayer.
Pearl Somani-Dayer was born in Cabot and graduated from the Cabot School in 1946, but spent much of her life living elsewhere, including time in Washington, D.C., when she worked in Sen. Patrick Leahy's office, and later in Kennebunk, Maine, where she worked first for Blue Shield and later, after retiring, as a realtor, which she continued until her death last year. The sale of her home was the source for the scholarship.
In a Cabot tradition, the parents of graduating seniors had prepared a song to sing to their offspring. A box of tissues circulated freely among the class of 2009 as the parents stood and joined voices in a zealous rendition of the Leanne Womack hit "I Hope You Dance." Even some of the boys looked emotional as the parents sang. "I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean. Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens. Promise me that you'll give faith a passing chance, and when you get the choice to sit it out or dance," they sang, "I hope you dance."
After Principal Regina Quinn took the opportunity to speak personally about each of the graduates, diplomas were awarded, tassels moved, "Pomp and Circumstance" played, and the Cabot class of 2009 heeded their parents' song, and accompanied by family and friends, danced out into the night.
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