At Voorheesville
Graduates to represent themselves



VOORHEESVILLE – Smiles remained bright, even as a heavy rain fell on the Clayton A. Bouton High School graduation ceremony, sending small streams of water trickling down the aisles under the packed tent behind the school.
The class of 2007 walked with a joyous gait. The 118 graduates wore purple robes and caps with gold tassels, representing the colors of the Voorheesville Blackbirds. On the tent wall behind the chairs of the graduates were banners reading, "Voorheesville Class of 2007" and, "Congratulations Graduates."
The evening began as sunlight sparkled through a few stray clouds, and the Albany Police Pipes and Drums band played a processional. The school wind ensemble, directed by Christopher Jantson, played "Pomp and Circumstance" as school-board members, teachers, and administrators, all wearing black robes and caps, preceded the headliners of the evening – the graduates.

As members of the class of 2007 marched to their seats at the front of the tent, the audience cheered and clapped. The smiles on the faces of the graduates were contagious, and the atmosphere was jovial.
"Not a dumb jock"
Graduate Charles McGrail welcomed everyone and led the Pledge of Allegiance. The band followed with "The Star Spangled Banner."
Graduating seniors Mary Finn and Emily Clark took the podium to reflect on their high-school experience. They began talking about the opposite experiences they had had in their "formative" years and realized one of their classmates was absent.

Timothy Robinson – wearing an open flowing robe under which he wore black basketball shorts, white socks pulled up over his calves, and high-top basketball sneakers – came running down the aisle through the tent, cheering and slapping the hands of those sitting along the edge. Robinson was right on cue, as if his name had just been announced at the start of a big game.
Before joining Finn and Clark at the podium, Robinson slapped the outstretched hands of the board-of-education members who were seated in the front row.
"I am not a dumb jock," Robinson proclaimed with self-assurance to his fellow graduates and the audience. During final exams, he chose to sit next to students he was sure had been up all night studying, while he was watching reruns of Friends, he joked, repeating again that he is "not a dumb jock."
Laura Amato is a prospective photojournalist. In her address, Amato spoke of her distaste with the recent cover of the Times Union features section, in which the women in the all-girl group, The Pussycat Dolls, were hailed as models for today’s woman. The group, Amato said, does not even write its own lyrics, and sings choruses such as, "Don’t you wish your girlfriend was hot like me""
"There can’t be one person to embody all of us," Amato said. "We all represent ourselves."

"Unique group"
The graduating class donated a plasma television to the school for the area known as the commons and donated a megaphone in honor of its "loud, talkative nature" to upcoming generations of Blackbirds.

Allison Belgiovine, Sarah LaFave, Maria Qualtere, and Gail Axelrod, on behalf of their class, formally presented the class gifts at graduation.

At some point amid the words of accomplishment and gratitude, the laughter and the cheers, the clouds overtook the sun, the sky opened up, and the rain started to pour.

Board member Thomas McKenna grabbed an electric keyboard and hauled it to a drier spot further inside the tent. Band members huddled closer together as the rain created fast-moving streams across the tarmac.
Superintendent Linda Langevin encouraged the standing onlookers to move inside and avoid the drenching rain. She then commended the graduates, referring to them as a "wonderfully unique group."
The class of 2007, she said, has three key qualities – "courage, commitment, and class." You "stand up for what is right" and find "truth in difficult circumstances," Langevin addressed them. "I wish you much success and happiness in the future."
School-board President David Gibson told the students that he is currently working in his fourth career. "You will have to face change many more times than you wish," he said.
At work, Gibson and his colleagues put effort into ideas, knowing that they may fail, and, if they do, he said, "We come back and hope we get it right the second time."
Gibson told the graduates to "date lots of people." The students got wide-eyed, and their smiles grew.
He even joked that they could tell their parents that the "crazy guy" at graduation told them to.
"Try things that are out of your comfort zone," Gibson advised. "It’s OK to change your mind."

"You da bomb"

In her presentation of the guest speaker, graduate Sarah LaFave explained that David Teuten has been a substitute teacher at the high school for many years. He often told the students stories of growing up in Venezuela and he speaks Spanish fluently, she said.
"Every day, he makes the people around him feel better about themselves," LaFave said.

She presented Teuten with an award and they embraced warmly.

Teuten questioned how he was supposed to follow such a kind introduction.
He said that, while preparing his address, he had consulted a "being of much higher wisdom" – his wife.

She advised him to be himself, he said.
He then told the students, in hip fashion, "You da bomb."
He told the graduates to enjoy their graduation "soberly." The students seemed to find the thought amusing. "I meant that," he said with a smile.

The students fixed their gazes intently on Teuten as he spoke, their expressions showing their obvious respect for him.
"Don’t forget your failures," Teuten said. "They, too, should be instructive for you."
He went on to talk about attitude. "Life is 10 percent what happens to me, and 90 percent how I react to it," he explained.
"We have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for the day," said Teuten.
Before concluding, Teuten recounted the well-known story "The Little Engine that Could," a story of which both he and his grandchildren are fond.
"I encourage you to always see the glass as half full," he said.
To wrap up his speech, Teuten, in Spanish, said: "Yo pase un tiempo muy agradable y encapato con ustedes y me allegro que han aprobado todos sus examenes.
"Now for the rest of you," Teuten said, before translating his send off to the graduates – "I had an agreeable and enchanting time with you, and I’m glad you passed your exams."