When the school’s carillon announced the beginning of
Lawrence Academy’s 217th commencement exercises on June 4, family and friends
of the Class of 2010 waiting in the Quad turned in their seats. The Boston
Brass Ensemble began playing R. King’s arrangement of Dietrich Buxtehude’s “Fanfare,” ushering the
faculty and then their students from the portico of the Ferguson Building
toward the Ansin Academic Building. High overhead flew a lone hawk below the
brush strokes of clouds that hung in the blue sky. The temperatures hovered in
the 80s.
Head of School Scott Wiggins, after welcoming everyone to
graduation, noted that those who wanted refuge from the expected heat could
watch a live Web broadcast in the air-conditioned comfort of MacNeil Lounge. After
recounting how early forecasts called for rain, Mr. Wiggins explained how seniors
had lobbied hard for graduation to be held outside, including a note emailed to
him at 1 a.m. Thursday in which a senior provided updated weather forecasts
favoring his classmates’ position.
The story, he said, provides an apt metaphor describing the
Class of 2010—a class that “overcame some unfavorable forecasts and led us
through a year that had a multitude of successes and high points,” though not
without a few rain clouds along the way. He thanked the seniors for keeping
their spirits up throughout the year, advising them to embrace the opportunity
being granted to them to start over, to experience something different from
their time at LA.
Charles Franklin: On Opportunities
and Empowerment
Meg Lewis ’10, a
three-year student from Acton who was actively involved in theatre, dance, and
music, and who capped her career by being inducted into the Cum Laude Society,
introduced this year’s guest speaker chosen by the Graduation Speaker
Committee. Charles Franklin, formerly the dean of students at Lawrence Academy,
now serves in that role at the Boys’ Latin School of Maryland, located in
Baltimore.
After telling his audience how surprised and flattered he
was to have been asked to speak at graduation, he explained that he accepted
the honor, usually extended to people of “elevated status,” because he
considered himself to be in the perfect position to address the seniors. Like
them, he had spent formative years at Lawrence Academy, and, just as they were
about to do, he had left LA for another school.
Before sharing his insights into what they might experience
next year, however, he told them a story about his first year at LA, in 2001, when
he was called to coach a sport he knew nothing about. Unsure of what to do
during the first wrestling match, he began repeating instructions called out by
a senior on the bench; later in the match, unaware that the senior had noticed
what the assistant coach was doing, Mr. Franklin called out advice that the
senior had only whispered: “Tickle his foot!” The episode reminded Mr. Franklin
just how unsure of his own abilities he had been in his first year.
Being given opportunities in his eight years at LA—to be a
head varsity coach, a Winterim leader, and dean of students—and learning from
the experiences, he said, allowed him to become a better teacher, coach, and
administrator. To help them
reflect on lessons learned and how
they were learned, Mr. Franklin asked them if they had acquired new friends at
LA; if they had more confidence in themselves as students than they did in
their first year; and if a Winterim experience or a Cultural Coffeehouse Series
event had changed they way they “think about the world and the people who are
different from [them].”
“This school does an amazing job of providing opportunities
to students,” he said, “and the faculty does a wonderful job of empowering
students to take advantage of those opportunities.” He warned them that while
colleges and universities have many more opportunities than high schools do,
they just as often lack the kind of support and encouragement teachers at LA
provide. “But that’s OK,” he said. “If you head into your college experience
knowing that you have to use the skills you’ve acquired at Lawrence Academy to
seek out new opportunities, then you’ll have another four years of intellectual
development and personal growth.”
In concluding his remarks, Mr. Franklin urged the seniors to
do three things: to keep thanking their parents throughout their lives for the
opportunities they’ve had at Lawrence; to thank their teachers for providing
“the tools to become successful in the classroom and beyond”; and to remember
an important lesson learned at LA—“that incredible results can come from hard
work and exploring new opportunities.”
Presentation of Prizes
Following Mr.Franklin's remarks, Mr. Wiggins was assisted by Mr. Horne in presenting the prizes to students selected for recognition by the faculty. Click on Graduation Prizes to view the citations and pictures of the recipients.
John Kelley ’10: On
Friendship
The first of two seniors chosen by classmates to speak at
graduation, following the presentation by Mr. Wiggins of the graduation prizes,
was John Kelley, of Sudbury, who is
bound for St. Lawrence University. John left Lincoln-Sudbury High School to
attend Lawrence, where he served in his senior year as a peer counselor and a
captain of the undefeated football team.
John began his remarks by explaining that before attending
LA, he had been virtually friendless and scared to death of girls. All that began
to change when he attended Revisit Day. “I remember vividly sitting at a table
with Scott Shiner, looking at him, and knowing that one day we would be great
friends. It was a feeling I had never had before, and I knew when I stepped on
Lawrence Academy’s campus that [the school] was something special.”
John went on to recall befriending classmates Nick Hamel, Ian Hough, Nico Higgins,
and Marco Rafaelli during football
camp that summer and being intimidated by the size of Tyler Cardoze ’11 and Max
Ricci ’11, future all-ISL linemen. “But I can also remember how on even my
worst days, those two can still make me laugh harder than anything—and how they
even call my own mother Mamma.” He publically thanked Brian Carroll, his first
LA football coach, for believing in him on and off the gridiron; his teammates,
for their support and for accepting him as a member of the team; Coach Mike
Taylor, for providing the team all it needed to succeed; and his girlfriend
Haley, for making the last few months of his time at LA special.
John fought back tears in thanking Nick Hamel—“for always
being there no matter what was going on in my life”—as well as Mr. and Mrs.
Walsh, for being second parents, and his friend, Bryan Walsh ’10, for being the closest thing he has had to a brother
having grown up as an only child. His final thank-you went to his parents,
Sandra and Cameron Kelley: “They have given me every opportunity to succeed in
this life, and I can never thank them enough. I love you more than words can
describe.”
Izzy Lawrence ’10: “Hey,
babe. We need to talk.”
Speaking next was
Izzy Lawrence, of Groton. A member of the Cum Laude Society and an actress whom
Mr. Wiggins described as “gushing with talent,” Izzy expects to pursue her
passion for chemistry next year at Reed College.
After referring to Lawrence Academy as “practically a
tangible, animate human being, with whom I have shared a [pause] complicated
relationship,” Izzy delivered her remarks as a love letter in which she
recalled some of the “great times” she and her partner had shared.
She began by describing her advisory— “the weirdest
assortment of kids I’ve ever been forced to meet with three times a week”—as a
handful of individuals who over time have become family. She recalled being
paralyzed at first by all the options in the Winterim catalogue, and, while she
never participated in a trip abroad, she said she has no regrets because of the
unforgettable experiences she had in Lowell, Somerville, on campus, and in
Washington, D.C. “I am extremely jealous
of all the underclassmen who will continue to have those two weeks in March to
open themselves to new experiences through Winterim.” She then turned to the
“stately and imposing” additions to the Ferguson Building, expressing gratitude
for the grand facilities and the inspiring mentors she found in arts faculty Brian
Feigenbaum, Joel Sugerman, and Stephen Peisch.
“See, LA? It may be
over, but believe me when I tell you that, looking back, I know every moment of
my time spent here was worthwhile.” In a reference to a previous graduation
speaker’s extended metaphor, Izzy noted that the “delicious beverage” that is
LA—“equal parts honey and vinegar spiked with blood, sweat, and tears, then
lightly carbonated”—is not bottled by Veryfine.
She offered these parting
words of advice to underclassmen in developing their own partnerships with LA: “Get
to know your teachers; they will guide you in more ways than you realize. Get
to know the dining hall staff and the buildings and grounds crew. Everyone who
works here, even in what is supposedly a non-teaching capacity, has vast
quantities of knowledge to pass on to you. And most importantly, get to know
each other while you can. High school will be over before you know it.” In the
sweet sorrow of her parting, Izzy wrote to her partner of four years, “I know
you will care for, challenge, and inspire these young people, and students for
years to come as well. There are other fish in the sea, for both of us.”
Closing Traditions
Finally, friends and family watched and snapped pictures as diplomas
were presented by Board President Al Gordon ’59, Mr. Wiggins, and both
assistant heads of school, Henry Horne and Rob Moore. In observance of another graduation
tradition, Laura Leblanc, a member of the Alumni/Development staff, presented
diplomas to her twin boys, Jimmy ’10 and
Matt ’10, of Fitchburg.
When they were all awarded diplomas, the graduates
participated in the time-honored tradition of tossing their mortarboards into
the air. The final act of commencement, known as the Senior Farewell, called on
seniors to form a single column and the faculty to file past, bidding each
graduate a final good-bye. Among the music played by The Boston Brass Ensemble
was “Fanfare for the Lord Mayor of London” (Bliss), “Lawrence, Here’s to Thee,”
and “Auld Lang Syne.”
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