SWAMPSCOTT — In one of the most divisive times in the nation’s history, class speaker Tenley Seidel remarked that the 160 graduates of Swampscott High School have the capacity to repair the world.
Seidel delivered the commencement address on Sunday afternoon at the Swampscott High School field house. Earlier in the program, she sang the national anthem.
Seidel said she struggled to find a quote for her speech, but thought a Jewish concept, Tikkun Olam, meaning repair the world, was fitting. The concept, which she learned from her parents, has become synonymous with the notion of social action and social justice.
She said the Class of 2018 was about to graduate at one of the most polarized times in the nation’s history. Kids are becoming the moral high ground for social issues.
“The most powerful tools our opposition uses against us is our own apathy,” Seidel said. “The forces against us are actually counting on our short attention spans surrounding the issues we care about most. But we won’t let them win. We must fight apathy with empathy.”
Empathy, or the ability to understand and share the feelings of one another, can be turned into action. The graduates, she said, have the ability to practice active empathy, which is about basic kindness.
In fact, Seidel said her classmates already have, citing their efforts to help out when a family business burned down. Now, she said, it’s time for them to continue to practice it on a larger scale.
“If anyone is going to practice active empathy to repair the world, it’s us,” Seidel said.
Class vice-president Kendra Fitzgerald told her classmates life is messy, urging them to make messes, explore and find themselves in the process.
“Recognize that this is a new chapter in your lives and you must make the most of it,” Fitzgerald said.
Superintendent Pamela Angelakis said the graduates should already be aware that any real achievement requires investment — you only get out of something what you put in.
Angelakis said how much the graduates are willing to invest in themselves, through their education, careers and relationships, typically brings a return in investment in proportion to that effort.
But even while giving the maximum effort and doing everything right, she said they still may be passed over for a promotion or feel short-changed, which requires resilience, a trait they’ve already demonstrated by getting to the graduation stage.
“You will be faced with obstacles in your life that will stretch you to the limit, and maybe even beyond what you thought was the limit,” Angelakis said. “Resilience is what will give you the will and strength to bend, but not break … Be like Gumby, not Humpty Dumpty.”
History teacher Richard Maestranzi said it was an honor to be chosen by the Class of 2018 to deliver the faculty address.
“I also thought, wow, these students figured out a way to give me homework,” he said. “Well played.”
Dennis Kohut, Swampscott High School assistant principal, said since the high school has been without a principal for most of the year, he and Lytania Mackey, assistant principal, thought it would be fitting to deliver the principal’s address together.
Angelakis announced last month that Robert Murphy informed her that he would not be returning to his position as high school principal. He had been on medical leave since November. Lawrence Murphy has been serving as principal on an interim basis.
“Expect the unexpected,” Kohut said, noting that he and Mackey didn’t expect to be leading the high school this past year.
SWAMPSCOTT HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF 2018:
Megan Aherne
Sydney Faulkner
Livia Alperin
Christopher Figueiredo
Nicholas Antonyuk
Cailyn Fitzgerald
Victoria Asci
Kendra Fitzgerald
Jordan Aucone
Colin Frary
Jacquelyn Balleza
William Fraser
Joshua Barish
Michaela Freddo
Olivia Barton-Medugno
Ethan Friedman
Isaiah Bascon
Jacob Friedman
Margot Beaupre
Emmanuelle Fuentes
Emma Benevento
William Fuller
Justin Bennett
Amanda Gambale
Brett Benoit
Alexandra Gladstone
Margaret Bigler
Jasmine Grube
Takoda Blood
Emily Guiney
Brendan Bradley
Joseph Harling
Tony Broadnax
Brian Hoang
Michael Capone
Jacob Hoffman
Noah Carreiro
Genefrede Hollenbach
Madison Chambers
Mia Hopkins
Alexei Cherkasov
Russell Hopkins
Anna Cilley
Lexi Howard
Dominic Codispoti
Lauren Hussey
Elly Cohen
Sierra Inzana
Angelina Colella
Robert Jensen
Anna Conti
Daniel Johnson
Samantha Conti
Nicholas Johnson
Kathleen Cooke
Mallory Kessler
Maxx Cooper
Liam Kitt
Samira Correia
Hannah Kotz Olszewski
Lucas Cote
Rita LaPlante
Jordan Cox
Joseph Layne, III
Ocean Crawley-Sweeney
Ashley Leblanc
Cullan Daly
Troy Levine
Oliver Daniels-Koch
Evan Lippman
Nicholas Dariotis
Sophia Litle
Trevor Donahue
Laura Long
Luana Dos Santos
Riley Lord
Patrick Doucette
Zachary Lowe
Garrison Engle
Hannah Maercklein
Nicholas Engstrom
Andrew Maldonado
Molly Marocco
Julia Serino
Gina Marquis
Emily Sheard
Luke Marshall
Alexander Sheehan
Anna Marston
Mason Shultz
John Martin
Fatima Sidibe
Olivia Martorelli
Nicole Silverman
Samuel Mayblyum
Samantha Silverman
Claudia Mazariegos
Michael Smith
Morgan McBurney
Taya Smith
Lauren McCuish
Maxwell Solone
Cate McDonough
Olivia Sousa
Jacob McIntire
Sophie Stern
Michael McLaughlin
Adam Stockman
Colin McRae
Brian Strothman
Mckeon Midland
Christopher Sweeney
Anthony Moschella
Precious Sylvester
Ashley Murray
Dejen Teferra
Madeline Nelson
Lilay Teferra
Erika O’Brien
Steven Toomajian
Liam O’Brien
Advaughn Torres
Katelyn O’Keefe
Jacob Tucker-Figueroa
Thomas O’Keefe
Kwest Tylerlacy
Kahlil Palmer
Anne Vogel
Spencer Perkins
Isabella Vu
Michaela Phelan
George Wales
Kylie Pierce
Collin Walsh
Grace Pires^
Dean Warren
Daniel Popovskiy
Rachael Weiss
Jack Poska
Matthew Wetherald
David Quill
Alexandria White
Julia Rapisarda
Meredith Wolinski
Tristan Reenstierna
Kseniya Yermakova
Jonathan Resnic
Liad Zafrani
Julianna Rhoads
Zachary Richards
Benjamin Ringler
Christopher Rodriguez
Olivia Russell
Alexis Russo
John Ryan
Ebrahim Saeed
Yasmine Saeed
Lily Sanphy
Steven Santanello
Tenley Seidel
