VOORHEESVILLE — The swirl of bagpipes; the the familiar strains of “Pomp and Circumstance” played by the school’s wind ensemble; Carl Treiber hitting the high notes in the national anthem; and the seniors, wearing purple gowns and mortarboards, singing a song from “Rent” were all part of the music that serenaded the crowd gathered for Voorheesville graduation at the high school on Friday evening, June 23.

But the song that got the loudest and longest applause was an original by the keynote speaker, science teacher Kenneth Young. He had left the stage after finishing his speech, but then returned with his guitar.

“Surprise!” said Young. “I wrote a little song a few days ago for you guys.”

He sang, “Well, you did it, got all your work done — at least most of it...Take care of yourselves and take care of each other for the rest of your lives.”

Memory Lane

The “glorious and celebratory evening,” as the high school principal, Laura Schmitz, put it, began with a “trip down Memory Lane.”

A current picture of each of the 95 seniors was paired with a baby picture as the lyrics of “Good Riddance” unfolded: “Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road/ Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go/ So make the best of this test, and don’t ask why/ It’s not a question, but a lesson learned in time/ It’s something unpredictable, but in the end it’s right/ I hope you had the time of your life…”

The crowd let out a collective “awwww” on seeing a black-and-white photo of Cameron Crouse balanced as a baby on a loving hand. Laughter erupted when Spencer Conway appeared as a toddler in an inner tube wearing sunglasses. Patrick Foley was captured as a kid using his baby bottle to feed his dog.

After the individual portraits came school pictures, starting with kindergarten — on the playground and in the classroom — with a soundtrack of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me”: “When the road looks rough ahead/ And you're miles and miles/ From your nice warm bed/ You just remember what your old pal said/ Boy, you've got a friend in me….”

 

 

Parents pointed out their own kids in the montage as they grew up before their eyes, into high school sports teams and school plays.

The sound of bagpipes broke the applause as the Capital Region Celtic Pipe Band marched down the auditorium aisle, leading the robed faculty members.

The school’s wind ensemble, directed by Christopher Jantson, played “Pomp and Circumstance” as the  graduates, robed in purple, each carrying flowers in the school colors, purple and gold, entered to applause. After the seniors filled the stage, Emma Collins and Noah Robinson led the Pledge of Allegiance. Then Treiber took center stage to sing the national anthem.

 

A list to live by

Lauren Mackey introduced Young, with a list of her 10 best memories of him, including the statements that he wears cool hats, makes good ice cream, and rides a bike to school, ending with the most important: He is one of the best people she’s ever known.

Young’s speech centered on a list of his own: Eight self-care rules.

He started, though, by saying how excited he was to be chosen class speaker but then found out his daughter was graduating from Bethlehem “right now.” The crowd let out an agonized “awwww” until Young told them that the Voorheesville schedule had been re-arranged so he could speak first and then dash over to the Bethlehem ceremony.

Young then had a riff on the number 23: The years he has taught at Voorheesville; the date of graduation, June 23; his home’s street address; and the number of fingers and toes he had at birth.

He then settled into his main message: “Take care of yourselves and everything else will fall into place.” Young itemized eight self-care rules, which he elucidated with personal experience:

— “For the love of bacon, people, get some sleep,” said Young, citing a medical study that showed, “If you don’t sleep, you got dirty brain”;

— “Control yourself, people; technology can kill you,” he said, urging balance;

— Don’t over-commit or over-book yourself, Young advised. “Pressure to be a superstar is strong, he said, and parents, often with good intentions, push their kids too hard. “Avoid a schedule you can’t mentally handle,” said Young;

— If you have extended periods of stress or depression, see a mental-health professional, Young said, stating the stigma must end. He described going to a university counseling center when he was a master’s student and was thinking about changing his career path from straight science to being a teacher, not wanting to disappoint his friends and mentors. The counseling made him “feel free and confident to become a teacher,” he said;

— “Learn to be present,” he urged. “Be aware of the world around you.” He also advised being “aware of where you hold your stress,” noting he holds his in his lower back. “Put your cell phones down...Get out into the natural world and free your minds,” he said;

— “Set aside time to do things just for you,” said Young, noting he likes to hug his puppy and eat ice cream among other things. “Feed your soul,” he said;

— “Be silly,” Young advised. “Stay in touch with your inner child.” Young said it was OK for a 50-year-old to like SpongeBob;

— “Be unique,” Young concluded. “Don’t worry about what others think...Follow your heart and others will follow you.”

If you take care of yourself, Young told the graduates, you can take care of others better. “We can all learn to be nice to each other,” he said.

 

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“Fare thee well”

Emily Lynn Rose, the vice president of student government and the selected speaker for graduation, told the crowd that the Voorheesville School District provided a stable and supportive foundation to learn and grow.

“You shaped who we are today,” she said of family and faculty.

Rose recalled a song, “For Good,” that was sung at the class’s fifth-grade graduation and recited some of the lyrics: “It well may be/ That we will never meet again/ In this lifetime/ So let me say before we part/ So much of me/ Is made of what I learned from you/ You’ll be with me/ Like a handprint on my heart.”

Rose told her classmates, “I am proud of each and every one of you. High school is not easy...We don’t always go home happy.” Rose said that she and her classmates have faced “a series of questions about ourselves and our lives.”

She said some may feel uncertain about what is to come and urged, “Embrace this uncertainty with open minds and open hearts.”

Rose then quoted from Dr. Seuss’s “Oh, The Places You’ll Go!”: “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And you are the one who’ll decide where to go...”

Rose went on to tell her classmates, “We have conquered many mountains, both alone and together.” She said that school had taught her “you are never alone.”

Rose said her mother made her the person she is. “Always remember you have a purpose and someone loves you,” she said.

“Best of luck to all of you and fare thee well,” said Rose. Those last three words were written on her mortarboard.

Her speech was followed by “Seasons of Love,” a song from the musical, “Rent,” performed by the Class of 2017 chorus members.

Robed in purple, the seniors formed a line across the front of the stage as they sang, “Five hundred twenty-five thousand-six hundred minutes/ How do you measure — measure a year?/ In daylights, in sunsets/ In midnights, in cups of coffee/ In inches, in miles/ In laughter, in strife...How about love?/ Measure in love….”

When the song was over, the conductor, Mary Abba Gleason, stood up from the piano bench, and, as the crowd applauded, quietly blew the seniors a kiss.

 

 

“Why would you re-invent you?”

Olivia Biggé introduced her friend and classmate, salutatorian Madison Canfora. She described Canfora as someone who was “always busy” but still made time to wave and say hello. She named some of Canfora’s activities, ranging from being president of Natural Helpers to competing on the varsity swim team.

Biggé concluded that Canfora was a perfect student and an even better friend.

Canfora started her speech on a humorous note, referencing the tradition of the salutatory address being a greeting, this time delayed because of the need for Young to speak first. “I’m still welcoming you — just a little late,” said Canfora.

She went on to say, “That’s the glorified euphemism.” She said classmate Sarah Alden’s father had told Canfora that he, too, had been a salutatorian, so they started chanting, “We’re Number Two!”

Canfora went on to “thank the people who truly believed in us.” Turning to the high school principal, who sat at the other end of the stage from her, Canfora said, “Thank you, Mrs. Schmitz, for working so hard to come back to us.” Schmitz blew her a kiss in return.

Canfora went on to credit her family, stating a co-worker had asked of her stay-at home mother, “What does your mom actually do?” Canfora thanked her mother, Adrienne Canfora, “for choosing the career of motherhood,” which had led the family.

She said her father, Michael Canfora, was a great cook and thanked him for teaching her to work hard and play hard.

Of her younger brother, Luke, she said, “I’m blessed to call you my friend.”

Canfora then launched into her major theme — serious advice laced with humor — that her classmates should be true to themselves.

“We are all going somewhere different next year,” she noted, and urged against using the new place as a way to invent a new self.

“Why would you re-invent you?” Canfora asked. “You are what you are with each strength and flaw.”

She urged “embracing who you are” and said, “You may thrive in your new environment just the way you are.”

Canfora concluded, “I am certain you will all find your niche.”

As the applause subsided, the class officers presented the class gift. They said the class was “broke” since most of its funds had gone to prom and the class trip.

They decided the “$400-plus” that remained in the class treasury should go to the new community playground to be built at the elementary school. Since the current playground, built a quarter-century ago, had “impacted our childhood,” they said they wanted to help make similar memories for future Voorheesville Elementary students.

 

 

“The importance of hard work”

Valedictorian Abigail Keating Goldfarb was introduced by her friend, Mia Crisafulli, who described their meeting in elementary school. She recalled two kids, a boy and a girl, arguing about how to spell “puppies.” The boy said it was “p-u-p-p-y-s.” The girls aid, “No, p-u-p-p-i-e-s.”

Crisafulli confided that she, herself, had not known how to spell “puppies,” but went on, “Even a 7-year-old could see this girl knew what she was talking about. I said, ‘She’s right.’”

The two were friends ever since.

Crisafulli lauded her friend for her leaderships roles — as captain of the track and cross-country teams; as a Model U.N. delegate; and as co-president, with Crisafulli, of Voorheesville’s chapter of National Honor Society — as well as for having high grades.

Crisafulli concluded, “I know she will do so much good in the world.”

Goldfarb began by expressing her gratitude for a tight-knit school community, which she called “a unique and loving place.”

“I feel so lucky to have grown up in such a supportive and loving place,” said Goldfarb, asking, “How do you capture the essence of a place that means absolutely everything to you?”

She decided of all she’d learned the “most important lesson is about work.” She called out her 87-year-old grandfather, John Keating, who was listening in the audience. Goldfarb termed him “the hardest-working person I know.”

“Seventy years ago, when he was my age, he was preparing to get on a boat,” she said. That boat took him from County Kerry in Ireland to New York City. In America, Keating served his country and worked many jobs. Working hard alongside him was her grandmother, who came to America in 1951.

Their hard work, Goldfarb said, “allows me to be here today.”

Goldfarb went on to say it would be silly, at age 17, to act like she knew life and had sage advice. Instead, she decided to share her dad’s constant advice as she was growing up. “It’s kind of corny because it rhymes,” Goldfarb said before pronouncing, “Do your best, forget the rest.”

“It’s really a message about the importance of hard work,” said Goldfarb. She went on, “I’ve seen what happens when this class does its best.”

She cited examples from the playing field as well as saying of her classmates, “Maybe they made a beautiful work of art or planned a great event….”

Goldfarb went on, “I urge you all not to measure success in dollars or material goods” but rather in the effect on “people around you.”

She concluded with thanks to faculty, friends, and family, and said it was an “absolute pleasure growing up with the 94 students with whom I share this stage...Congratulations, Class of 2017 — we made it!”

“Unique energy”

Sara Gannon introduced Superintendent Brian Hunt, noting that “his career began right here in this school.” She traced the course of his career and concluded, “This man knows small towns.”

Hunt said that the Class of 2017 brought a “unique energy” to the school and he lauded its 95 members for their “great diversity of talents and interests.”

Hunt also said, “The flair with which they express themselves sets them apart.” The superintendent said, “The world needs more creativity and intelligence.”

He concluded with this advice for the graduates: “Choose wisely and you are sure to be rewarded.”

With that, Principal Schmitz announced that the 95 members of the Class of 2017 were “entitled to their diplomas.”

To steady applause, interspersed with hoots and hollers, the graduates, one by one, filed to the front of the stage, receiving their diplomas from school board President Cheryl Dozier.

At the close of the ceremony, a few of the graduates flung their mortarboards in the air before they marched to music out of the auditorium.

As they walked out of the school doors for the last time, faculty members, robed in black, lined the walkway, applauding.