100th Class Graduates from Pelham Saturday

This article was submitted by Angela Cox, the public information officer for the Pelham schools. It was posted by Michael Woyton.

The class of 2013, the 100th high school class to graduate from the Pelham Union Free School District, was described by Principal Jeannine Clark in her welcoming address Saturday as “young men and women who took on and conquered challenges, and resolved them all with determination, positive energy and creative solutions.”

The 192 graduates were recognized for their accomplishments in science, history, world language, poetry, the arts and athletics. Three will be serving their country, in the United States Marines and the US Naval Academy and one in college on a ROTC scholarship.

The Memorial Tablet Award, the highest honor presented to a male and female student for their scholarship, character and service, went to Gregory Sigelbaum and Julia Serafin. The W. W. Fairclough Prize went to the top three students of the class: Hauxuan Yuan, Helen Gandler and Ray Kelly.

In one of three student speeches, senior Helen Robertson, who heads to the US Naval Academy next year, quoted Aristotle to remind her classmates that “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Inspired by two older brothers, one deployed in Afghainstan and the other a senior at West Point, she acknowledged that excellence does not mean perfection or anything specific. “Everyone’s excellence is different and deeply personal… who we are is defined by what we do. And we are all doing something totally and completely different.” She added one last wish for her peers, “As we all scatter next year, be sure to at least once, take a good hard look at what habits you have formed (I know I will) and see if they are truly befitting of your potential. “

In her speech, Helen Gandler said, “Commencement means “a beginning” and reminded her classmates about the “opportunity to repair mistakes and then forge forward and leave them in the dust.” It is not too late, she said, to return an old library book uncovered in clutter at home, offer an apology, or extend a thank you. And, next year, she said, “It’s not too late to become involved in clubs and sports you’ve always felt too busy or too incompetent to try—isn’t that what college is for…Take classes and read books in subjects that interest you, because that will be what sticks with you. Follow your passion, and if you no longer feel passionate about it, stop. Change your major, and then change it again if need be. Undoubtedly you’ll make mistakes along the way, but at least you’ll have some great stories to tell.”

Senior class president, Daniel Gioe, reflected first on the death of his mother in sixth grade and then on some obstacles the senior class experienced this year—Hurricane Sandy delaying the annual Senior Haunted House and a snow storm delaying the Senior Talent Show. But, he noted, “not snow, rain, down trees and even no electricity stopped us from attaining our goals. In the end we really came together. We weren’t that common class that just says “hi” to one another in the hallways; instead, we became a unit of best friends, and this wouldn’t be possible if it were not for the hardships that the class of 2013 had to face and overcome.” Reflecting on his experience, he added, “I can't speak for anyone else when I say that this has been four of the best years in our lives but, the one thing I think I can say is that the friends we have made over these years has allowed the journey for everyone much easier.”