The air under the overhang of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center was briefly filled with purple and white on the afternoon of Wednesday, June 25 as Ballston Spa High School’s Class of 2008 made their transition from grade school to the real world. According to district staff who spoke at the ceremony, this year’s class is truly remarkable.
Kristi Jensen, principal of Ballston Spa High School, said that finding words of encouragement for this class is like trying to find a present for the person who has everything.
That’s because of the quality of the class of 2008, she said. It is the largest graduating class in the district’s history, with 311 seniors, and their academic achievements also go above and beyond the norm, as does their service to the community.
`We have a tremendous number of students who have learned ways to give back to the community that has given them so much,` said Jensen.
The class’ high standards are reflected in their class gift(s) to the school. The class of 2008 managed to raise over $13,000 during their time at the high school, buying them a senior banquet, gowns, prom and a senior picnic.
They will not only be donating directional signs for the high school, but will give $500 to the class of 2009 and use $1,000 to start a new scholarship. A worthy senior will receive $100 every year, and the scholarship will continue to be funded by donations at class of 2008 reunions every decade.
Valedictorian Jennifer Williams made mention of the class’ desire to give back to the community in her speech, reminding the audience that `members of this class may be the ones to help you and your family in a time of need.`
She continued, `Individually our goals differ, but as a class they share a common theme: success, legacy and happiness.`
Williams will be pursuing the field of biology and genetics at the University of Rochester.
While members of the district’s High School and Middle School Orchestras provided music for the event, the ceremony was punctuated by musical performances by senior groups. The Senior Ensemble, an all-female vocal group, performed `The New World,` by Jason Robert Brown, and a four-piece clarinet ensemble called Back in Black played `Time,` composed by Ballston Spa alumnus Caryn Freitag.
The subject of passing time was addressed in Salutatorian Katrina Krebs’ speech. `Our graduation today is not just composed of our hopes for the future, but with the experiences of the past four years of our lives,` said Krebs.
She will be attending Cornell University to study natural sciences in the fall.
It wasn’t just students who were moving on from the district, however. Interim Superintendent Raymond Colucciello will be heading to Voorheesville Central School District next year to serve as their interim superintendent.
Colucciello said that he prepared for his speech by using the popular Internet search engine Google to find `graduation speeches.` His search returned 235,000 sites.
Despite finding pieces of advice like `tell them to study hard,` or `tell them to respect their peers,` the superintendent said he couldn’t find a suggestion that the class of 2008 wasn’t already following.
As a result, Colucciello decided to keep his message simple: `Congratulations, and best wishes.“