Greenport School District

Greenport High School principal leaving for Shelter Island

(Credit: Katharine Schroeder photos)
(Credit: Katharine Schroeder photo)

Mr. Skuggevik’s final Greenport High School graduation speech:

Ladies and gentleman, good afternoon and welcome to the graduation of the Class of 2014. Welcome Board of Education members from Greenport and Oysterponds, faculty and staff, parents, grandparents, family and friends. I am extremely happy you could all join us for such a momentous occasion in the lives of our students.

It’s an honor to be standing before you this morning to present this year’s graduates. Class of 2014, as you stand on the threshold of adulthood, we salute you. High school commencement officially signifies that the next phase of your life is about to begin, thus the name of the ceremony itself, commencement, a new beginning.

This isn’t just a new beginning for our graduates. It’s a new beginning for everyone in this auditorium. So I’d like to take a moment and ask everyone here to take in a deep breath and hold it. OK… now let it out. That’s the sound of our collaborative sigh of relief. I know there are at least a few of you out there who were holding your breath, refusing to take that sigh until you actually saw your son or daughter on this stage with their cap and gown on.

I’ll bet that many members of The Class of 2014 thought that this day might never come. I know for sure that at least one of you was so excited she planned to wear her cap and gown all weekend long, (Stephanie). The good news is, in less than one hour you will all be recognized by the State of New York as official high school graduates.

In the words of the late former mayor of NYC Ed Koch, “The fireworks begin today. Each diploma is a lighted match. Each one of you is a fuse.”
Albert Einstein, arguably one of the smartest men to ever walk this planet, once said “Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.” Sitting on this stage today are young men and woman that Einstein himself would have admired. Yes, some are geniuses, but all are individuals of value. Before I go any further with today’s speech I want to present to you three individuals of value who have decided to put their own lives on hold, so that they may defend the lives and freedoms of us all. Will the following, soon to be members of the finest military in the world, please stand and be recognized. Chris Sponza, Chris Rabig, and Joe O’Brien. I know I speak for us all when I say thank you in advance for your service, and may God bless you.

When I look at all of the young men and women on this stage I see a group that truly symbolize the value of pride, respect, responsibility, honor and integrity. Those values don’t make you perfect, but they make you someone people want to be around. They make you someone people can trust.

They make you someone people can believe in and have the confidence in to get the job done. Please always remember that your parents and the entire Greenport community have helped mold you into the men and women of value that you have become. Some of you may decide to leave our beautiful little town for a time. Others may decide to stay right here. Either way I think Alan Alda said it best when he stated: “You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. You can’t get there by bus, only by hard work and risk and by not quite knowing what you’re doing, but what you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover will be yourself.”

Just before my daughter graduated two years ago, she asked me a series of question about what she should do with her life. My answer made her cry. I told her I couldn’t answer those questions for her anymore. I told her that her mother and I had spent the last 17 years giving her everything she needed to make those choices herself. I told her that we had every confidence that she would make the right choices for herself. As you know, I consider all of you my kids as well, and the faculty and staff here have done everything we could to reinforce what your parents have instilled in you.
We have every confidence that you will make the right decisions for yourselves.

So I say to you, go out there and find yourself. Your true self. Be who you want to be. Not who your parents want you to be, not what society wants you to be. Find what makes you happy, and be the very best at it. But please, don’t be afraid to be the very best at something. It’s OK to stand out in a crowd. It’s OK to make people notice you. It is OK to be the very best. And hey, you should be used to that, you’re Porters.

Speaking of being the best. Greenport High School has done it again. You have been recognized for a second year in a row by U.S. News & World Reports as a top high school in the country. In fact, while a great many of the schools that were on the list last year did not even make it to the list this year, Greenport High School has moved even further up … putting us in the top 8 percent in the country. I still think you’re number one but we’ll convince these guys of that soon enough. You, my graduating seniors, played a major role in that by being the role models that you are for our underclassmen and for that I not only congratulate you, but thank you. I have certificates from the President of the United States for each of you, and share this letter.

I realized just how special a situation I walked into five years ago when I met the first eighth grader I had ever been in charge of. I realized right away how important you were to each other, and how you would actually look out for each other. I was in my office when this little girl walked in with a smile that brightened up the room. She asked if she could talk to me, because she was worried about a decision that her friend was going to make. When I asked her what was wrong, she informed me that one of her friends was thinking about cutting class next period, and she didn’t want to see her get in trouble. She asked if I could help make sure she didn’t make a bad decision. To be honest, I was completely shocked and didn’t know exactly how to handle such a situation. That had never happened to me before. They certainly don’t write about this in any of the books. So I decided to just watch her friend leave her class when the bell rang and see where she went. You’ll be happy to know that she just went to her next class. The point is however, that someone cared enough about her friend to try and help her, before she made the mistake. For the next five years I’ve witnessed countless acts courage and kindness towards each other. To Shyanne Jones, thank you for brightening my day each morning with your smile. I’ll miss you.

When I finish my speech this morning, you will here from four of our top five students. One of our students is a man of few words, but many points. Mr. Gavin Dibble. Mr. 1,000 points. The guy who always wants the ball. The guy who is not afraid to be the center of attention when the game is on the line but who did not want to be the center of attention at this microphone. I wish you continued success in whatever you do in life.

Everyone on this stage has overcome some type of adversity to be here. But there are two of you who amazed me with your ability to adapt and overcome whatever life threw at you. Kayliegh Commins. You are an amazing young lady who I am honored to know. Your ability to continue on in the face of adversity is second to none and I couldn’t be prouder. Max Eggiman. To be honest, you were a little harder to deal with. I’m still amazed at the number of detentions you piled up and were actually able to serve. But the fact is life threw you a ton of curve balls over the past few years, and through it all you somehow managed to keep hacking away at them. Your diploma is the home run you’ve swinging for. I wish you the best of luck as you move forward, and remind you to stay focused on the final prize. Do not allow yourself to become distracted.

Also sitting on this stage today is our very first senior girls track member to graduate from Greenport High School. That’s not to say that all the other girls track member have failed or dropped out, this is just our first year of girls track. Ms. Mary Creedon, also our valedictorian and world traveller who will once again be leaving us to explore the world.

I offer you the words of wisdom from the toast of my best man at my wedding. Always remember, wherever it is you go in life, that’s where you’ll be. All right I know that may not be the best words of wisdom, but it is incredibly true.
For many of my quotes in this speech I consulted the ancient Greek philosopher Google. But by far my favorite quote of this year came from someone who I truly believe will one day be famous for her written word. About reading she said and I quote, “pages are my passport, and I am a world traveler with a serious case of wonder-lust”. I typed that quote and printed it to hang on my office wall. Brianna Pagano, I expect to read many more things from you in the future. Best of luck at Princeton.

And then there’s Jack Volinski. What can I say about Jack? Usually at graduation I give out the gifts. But I really do think you owe me at least one bottle of touch of grey for men. I think you might be responsible for at least half of these. But seriously, you made it, and seriously… at least one bottle.

Now on to someone who thinks not of herself, ever, but of the people, friends and community around her as a whole. Schuyler Gilispie. Skye, I have watched you initiate and take part in countless community service initiatives over the last 5 years. You are often the first one there, and the last one to leave. That is one of the foundations of a person of value. Though most of you out there aren’t aware of all of the things she has done for the school, many of you do know about the website she created for the people of Greenport. She has over 400 followers on Twitter and yes Skye in answer to this mornings tweet, this can be real. And no, I have not been creeping you, I just saw this morning.

No speech about the class of 2014 would be complete without discussing Brandi Gonzalez. Brandi you have led one of the most amazing classes to ever grace the halls of Greenport High School. You have done so with a sense of grace, dignity, and pride and have raised the bar for the classes that follow so high I can only hope they make it close. I can only assume that you will take the south by storm and continue to impress the world with your leadership skills. Thank you, and best of luck.

To Cole Mezineski, great job on the close line. That was one of my all time favorites.

To Paige Confort. I think you grew up the most over the last 5 years. I remember the 8th grade drama queen that was in my office nearly everyday. I haven’t seen her in a couple of years.

And finally, to the young lady who has called me Uncle Lenny since she could talk, oh and talk she can. Dori Lieblein. We all know you’ve had many fond memories upon this stage. Some maybe not so fond. Fear not though … their will be no ropes or harnesses to get to your diploma. But the fact is, I am really going to miss you. It’s not too often that family and friends get to see what their kids are really like when they are in school and with their friends. But I got to watch you grow up, make decisions, surround yourself with positive influences, be a positive influence on others, and become this beautiful young lady. We send you, the recognized number two NJROTC cadet in the country, out into the world to continue making us proud.

And as always, I have a couple of gifts. This year though, the recipients of the gifts will be the only ones who understand their true meaning. The first one goes to the man only known as Sponza. To you I give the military cure all for everything. A reasonably new roll of duct tape. Please use it more wisely in the future than you did this year.

And to Max Eggiman, a young man who after hearing one of the little kids say he lost his $10 to participate in a charity event, gave him his last $10. To you I give this used bookbag. You have an amazing ability to look out for others, even when times are tough. In it, you’ll find a little bit of karma, and I’m sure you’ll remember what to use the bag for when the time presents itself.

I wish I could take the time to talk about each and every one of you. You will never really know how much you mean to me. I will never forget the fact that 34 of you walked into my office, one by one, and showed your true value, your honor, and your integrity. Be proud of what you have learned here. Be proud of what you have accomplished here. And always remember, no matter where the road ahead takes you, You Are Porters, and we will always be here for you. The fact is, we love you all and will miss you dearly.