Amity Regional High School Graduation: The Class President's Address

Good afternoon,

Dr. Brady. Members of the Amity Board of Education. Dr. Britton and distinguished, and most importantly the graduating Class of 2011.

Our journey in the world began in the early 1990ʼs. The world has changed immensely since then. We now send and receive text messages without a second
thought, while our parents can probably remember sending their very first text message.

We now use email regularly and some of us even have it sent to our phones and wireless devices. Our parents probably remember life before email. We use Facebook to stay in touch socially. To our parents, a facebook may have been an actual book they got when they started college. We are a generation in constant digital contact with each other; it is what helped us start our journey together before we even officially knew each other.

Our journey here together, at Amity, started with our freshmen Link Crew Orientation. Many of us were confused, and admittedly, a little intimidated as well.

Since that time, we shared a great many memories together and we have grown from wide-eyed children fresh from middle school to confident young adults ready for the next step. We have forged a tightly knit community as a class and as students of this school.

We have become the class of 2011.

Our class has selflessly responded to the tragedies and misfortunes of others with a sense of dedication and compassion by organizing some of the most successful blood, clothing, and food drives in Amityʼs history. This class, and indeed this whole school, has banded together to help others across the world in times of need. When the earthquakes in Haiti and Japan ravaged those countries and its people, our class joined with international relief groups to ease the burden on the victims in the immediate wake of the disasters. This class has not only seen the chaos caused by nature, but also economics.

The shared experiences of the global recession have been engraved in the memories of this class in ways that have not been felt since the days of our grandparents and their experiences during the Great Depression. It is our duty as we enter the global economy to begin to fix the problems.

The same community spirit that bonded us in our philanthropic efforts continued to grow as we each developed a great appreciation and pride for our school and the passionate community that supports us. Our renowned theater program hosts performances that would rival those seen on Broadway any day.

Our talented Debate team is a force to be reckoned with and is one of the top debate teams in this state.

Our sports programs are filled with vigorous athletes. Some may have won titles but all shared in the ideals of team play and sportsmanship.

Channeling the tight knit community spirit that we developed from our first days here we were able to immerse ourselves in our studies, this schoolʼs unique culture, and its various extracurricular activities. However, I would be remiss if I did not give credit to the people who have helped us on this educational journey. I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to our loving parents and our dedicated teachers. Without their support we would not be here celebrating this success nor would we be as prepared as we are for the challenges that face us tomorrow.

The Amity Class of 2011 has limitless potential. The late Senator Robert Kennedyonce said "Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation."

I know that this talented class will live up to those words with your many contributions. I am confident that sitting among us today are future doctors, scientists, artists, tradesmen, and maybe even a future President of the United States.

When we met four years ago at LINK Crew Orientation, we did not know the people sitting around us. We did not know what the next four years would bring or who we would become. Since that day, we have forged new friendships and grown together as a class through our academics, our extra curricular activities, and our community spirit. As we begin to write the next chapter in our lives, be it through Facebook or text message, we will never forget our time spent at Amity. Thank you, best wishes, and congratulations to the Amity Class of 2011.