On the occasion of the Kearsarge Regional School District’s 50th anniversary, superintendent Winfried Feneberg told the high school’s graduates to celebrate their success – while also honoring the collective effort it had taken to give them the opportunity for a quality public education.
For five decades, the communities of Bradford, Newbury, New London, Springfield, Sutton, Warner, and Wilmot have pooled their resources to pay for buildings, science labs, teacher salaries, books, and, now, computers, Feneberg told a crowd of several hundred gathered at the high school’s athletic field Saturday.
“I would contend that you are receiving your diplomas today in part because of the 50 years of our communities’ ongoing support for schools,” he said, adding wryly: “Of course, your effort and hard work also had something to do with that.”
Feneberg urged the school’s 122 graduates to “become an advocate and champion for public schools.”
“Oppose the ever louder chorus of critics and do not remain silent when people claim that our schools are failing. Look around. Look at those teachers you had in class. Look at what your parents and your community have provided for you,” he said.
As salutatorian Michael Salo took the podium under a bright blue, cloudless sky, he said he’d struggled to decide what he might say.
“I’m going to take a risk and start by bragging about these incredible people seated to the left and right of me. We’ve won six state championships this year alone,” he said.
But, echoing Feneberg, Salo said those accomplishments hadn’t happened in a vacuum.
“Where would we be without our incredible leaders and role models?” Salo said, giving shoutouts to the district’s teachers, administrators, coaches, musical directors, parents, and bus drivers.
“And let’s not forget our custodians and groundskeepers. Our school is built on a swamp, ladies and gentlemen,” Salo said, to chuckles from the audience. “How they’ve managed to keep our school from completely submerging, I will never know.”
He added: “It is said it takes a village to raise a child. And well, we’ve been fortunate enough to have seven of them.”
Valedictorian Elise Paquette told the crowd that she and her peers had learned countless lessons during their time in high school.
“We did learn that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. That sign of three pi over two equals zero. And that Jay Gatsby’s greenlight is a symbol for, well, something,” she said.
But one lesson had stood out.
“The countless hours you’ve spent coaching, instructing, and supporting us. The years you have spent investing in us, and believing in us have taught us something more. You’ve shown us how to believe in each other. And most importantly, how to believe in ourselves,” Paquette said.
She closed by saying that their lives had so far been about completing a path largely dictated from on high. The future was far more open-ended, she said.
“Some of us may still be figuring out exactly what we want to do – I know I still am. But that’s okay. Because these teachers, administrators, faculty, they’ve given us the tools to explore and make our own futures. We’ve been given everything that we need to succeed,” Paquette said.
Class president Anna Tilley gave the ceremony’s closing remarks.
(Lola Duffort can be reached at 369-3321 or lduffort@cmonitor.com.)