Roslyn High School graduates awaiting their diplomas Friday on the stage at C.W. Post’s Tilles Center for the Performing Arts were greeted with a surprise speaker during Superintendent Dan Brenner’s address.
Brenner began by asking they think back to Hurricane Sandy, but specifically to the voice that, in the storm’s aftermath, soothed and consoled them each morning over the loudspeaker – the voice of Joseph Dragone.
The district’s superintendent for business, seated at the end of the stage with members of the board of education, then stood and walked to the nearby podium, to give the 278 members of the Class of 2013 his final announcements.
“This is Joseph Dragone and because it’s the last time I get to speak to you I have three messages for you,” he said. “The first from teachers, congratulations on all you’ve accomplished in the past four years and good luck in the next four. The second is from your parents. Remember, four years from now: Get a job.
“And the third, from me,” he concluded. “At the end of this ceremony I declare a permanent snow day from Roslyn High School.”
Though he considered the commencement ceremony to be among his favorite days on the school calendar, Brenner said he was unsure of why the superintendent of schools speaks on graduation day, or even attends the services at all, but added that as the school district’s leader it was his responsibility to be there for those he cares about and wanted to impart that lesson on the graduates.
“I wish for each and every one of the graduates that you will always be the person who shows up with rolled-up sleeves and a moral compass that guides you to be there for those who are meaningful in your life during big events and small moments, today and for all times,” Brenner said.
Salutatorian Jennifer Godman, who said she was proud to attend her father’s alma mater of the University of Pennsylvania, passed along the lessons of the self-help film “The Secret” onto her classmates in her speech.
Godman said she had seen the film, which credits positive thinking as the precursor to good fortune, as part of a 10th grade class, and though she “did not believe that sitting in my room, closing my eyes and praying for success would help me win a debate tournament or ace my next exam,” she did see the value in the film’s advice.
“Maybe the secret to success didn’t lie in positive frequencies or a magical force,” Godman said. “Maybe it was the idea that the more you focus on something, the harder you work to achieve your goals and the more likely you are to succeed as a result.”
Valedictorian Matthew Forrest addressed his classmates about how they’ll have to step out of their respective comfort zones in order to grow as professionals and as people.
“We will all be facing greater challenges than we ever have before,” Forrest said. “I’m not just speaking of college, I’m speaking of life.”
Forrest said technological advancements like the Android mobile phone and Instagram online photography application, which did not exist when the Class of 2013 was in elementary school, were created because people took risks to bring them to fruition and better people’s lives.
Forrest, who plans to attend Columbia University this fall, said his classmates must do the same to compete with others who have the same life goals and career aspirations.
“So if you take one thing from this speech, let it be this,” Forrest said. “The people with the most regrets in life are not the ones who tried and failed, but the ones who failed to try.”
