LYNN – KIPP Academy Collegiate’s graduation Saturday morning at Manning Field was a joyous occasion, matching a warm, starting with the warm, sunny weather and ending with tears of happiness, flowers and ethnic dancing on the stadium surface.
And, said principal Shaua-Kaye Clarke, that’s the way it should have been for the Class of 2022, which spent much of its time at KIPP navigating unprecedented waters.
“We used the word unprecedented for the last few years to refer to pandemic, but today we are reclaiming this word to amplify the power of the class of 2022,” she said. “There is no boundary to the impact they will have on this world, and as individuals, and as a collective, they are unparalleled and unmatched.”
Clarke said she wanted to engage the students in the concept of the “and,” as she herself lived by the mantra – embrace the beauty of the “and,” and not the tyranny of the “or.” It meant embracing all that you can without the tyranny of a choice.
“No matter your path, you will bear more fruit from life if you embrace all that you can without living in the tyranny of the or,” said Clarke.
Jaythean Im, who delivered the valedictory address, spoke on the importance of balance in life. He said that although he always sought perfection to make his parents proud of him, when he achieved that goal and was preparing for his graduation speech, he realized that he started to question what his grades represented.
“While grades are a large determinate of our academic aspirations, it is not the defining factor of our experience at KIPP,” said Im.
He said that he did not think he was the smartest person in the class, and that every one of his classmates was “brilliant in their own way.” And for him they were his friends and memories that he “will remember far beyond the things I learned for tests.”
“What is forever engraved in me are memories I made, and the lessons I learned from my peers,” said Im. “I can always re-learn the information from class, but what I can no longer do is to create memories.”
Phiseth Say in his salutatory address, also focused on equal importance of social and academic experiences at high school. He said that at one point of his life the most important question for him was who he was among his peers.
“I had felt that the community that surrounded me was one that I had not yet been part of,” said Say.
Everything changed for him when a friend of his invited him to become part of the Asian Student Union, and then thanked him for making her school life more bearable. This story became one of the sweetest moments of the graduation.
“Thank you, Rose, for making my high school life more bearable too,” said Say.
For a lot of students their high school life included one of their toughest moments in life so far, and it was discovered when keynote speaker, one of the assistant principals at the school, Alvaro Peters asked everyone in the class to stand if any of the 10 sentences he read was about them.
Peters then reminded the class that the strangers in their lives were just families they were yet to meet. Peters also said that he felt as if he had almost completed his life mission already in his early 30s, and it was because of his students.
“Getting to teach at this school has been the achievement of my lifetime, and in large part it was because of you,” said Peters to the graduates.
It was obvious that the feelings were mutual, the students said that they became better people and better leaders thanks to Peters. The class even dedicated their yearbook to Peters and to LaToya Tavernier who taught the senior seminar.
After the diplomas were awarded, Class President Tatiana I. Megie-Maddrey addressed the class and reminded her classmates that the only real things in this “fake world” were friends, family, and loved ones.
“The memories, pictures, and life that we made together means so much more than words can ever say,” said Megie-Maddrey.
“Courage is just one step ahead of fear,” reminded class-elected speaker Jason Perez.
Oksana Kotkina can be reached at [email protected].