Johnny McCabe....another student who's sibling I taught. I had Johnny's brother Kevin a few years ago....Kevin just graduated from Maine Maritime, and Johnny was recruited to play Division 1 football for University of Maine next year. Callum and I will go see some of these games for sure...Johnny will be a sick linebacker or end....
Camille, my French exchange student. I will miss her very much, and I got the opportunity to meet her dad and brother, who were here from France. But Camille and I are not done yet....we still have a half marathon to run in a couple of weeks! She is joining the running club that Lori Loftus and I have....
I love this picture: L to R you have Christine Parilli, me, Mike Thurston, and Conner Bourgoin. Christine is one of our regular babysitters, and she--being a junior--was selected by the seniors to be a class marshall. Same with Conner: He was a flag bearer while the seniors marched in. I had to pleasure of sitting on the stage with Mike Thurston, as he delivered the keynote address while I performed an original song I wrote for the class.
Many people--including myself--have said that this was the finest Winslow graduation in YEARS. The whole ceremony was beautiful and classy and dignified and fresh. Both speakers--Mike and Darren (the class president) were spot on. Folks said my song went very well. The class, as a whole, was made up of remarkable kids.
For those interested, here is the story that ran in the Morning Sentinel the day after graduation...*****
WINSLOW -- You'd be forgiven if you left hungry after Wednesday night's Winslow High School graduation.
Winslow High School graduate Jeff Decker, bottom center, is reflected in the mirror as he prepares for commencement ceremony Wednesday at Wadsworth Gymnasium at Colby College in Waterville.
Staff photo by Michael G. Seamans
Jillian Grant and Sam Lapierre dance in Alfond Arena before Winslow High School's commencement ceremony Wednesday at Wadsorth Gymnasium at Colby College in Waterville.
Staff photo by Michael G. Seamans
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During the school's 109th commencement, class president Darren Veilleux encouraged his fellow graduating seniors to "spice up your life." Veilleux, an 18-year-old who will attending culinary school at Johnson and Wales, compared his love of cooking to how students are prepared for life during high school.
"Just as when you marinade chicken in oils and spices, it develops more flavor and is more pleasing to the senses," Veilleux said. "Without time, the flavors and uniqueness of a dish cannot develop."
Veilleux said high school is the recipe that provides them with the steps necessary to "cook" -- which he defined as to "prepare, make, put together, fix or rustle up" -- their way into the future.
Winslow High School graduated 118 students at the Harold Alfond Athletic Center at Colby College in Waterville. Friends and family packed the Wadsworth Gymnasium on a sultry evening.
Inside the gym was a class chock-full of high-achievers, Veilleux said, including students who qualified as National Merit Finalists, a 1,000-point basketball player, winter carnival champions and dance organizers, and more.
These students have all been well prepared through classes and other school experiences, he said.
"Just like a recipe, every step is as important as the next, even if it seems completely unrelated to the final result," Veilleux said. "In this case, graduation -- our finished product, our delicacy."
Eliciting laughs from the audience, Veilleux likened several teachers to various cooking methods in a recipe. For instance, science teacher Joan Pierce -- "now use a large mallet to pound out the chicken breast" -- is like a butcher, carving individuals out to make sure all is done correctly, Veilleux said.
By contrast, English teacher Jared Goldsmith -- "gently fold the flour into wet ingredients" -- has a more relaxed teaching style and classroom, complete with a couch and piano.
Goldsmith put his piano to use during commencement with a solo performance of a senior song he wrote, "Something funny for a change." Peppered with inside jokes and class observations, Goldsmith sang in the chorus, "It's a long, long way we've come ... together," and he concluded: "Remember wherever you go, you'll always be a Black Raider."
That sense of completion was echoed by Veilleux, who said that Principal Doug Carville is like a timer, which is now buzzing, "announcing that the food is ready."
"Like cookies hot from the oven, we have completed our time and are ready to enter the real world," Veilleux said. "Take your time, don't rush. Just like frosting on a cake, patience is key."
He closed with a farewell, as the French would say of a good meal: "Bon Appetite!"
But the feast wasn't done yet.
Social sciences teacher Michael Thurston delivered the faculty speech, saying the key to a worthwhile existence is caring every day what people will say about us, "right after our funerals, while they're eating pasta salad."
And our decisions, he said, will lead us down two roads: happier people on the "A-plus road" who care about discipline, skill, learning, community and helping others, and others on the "F Road" who care only of themselves, are stressed out and unimaginative.
Thurston said he and other teachers would love to say, 30 years from now, that most of the class of 2011 chose the "A-plus Road."
"I will miss this class very, very much," Thurston said, "and it's my wish for all of you that you lead happy, productive, and fulfilling lives; that you stay on the right path and hopefully, that when the time comes, you've given people nothing but positive things to say as they enjoy their pasta salad."
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