2024 Saugus High School graduation – The Superintendent’s graduation speech

By Michael Hashem

I want to welcome all of the students, families, friends, staff and invited guests as we come together this evening to celebrate the Saugus High School graduating class of 2024.

Each year we come together to honor our graduates and I attempt to write a graduation speech and follow a certain set of guidelines to make certain that it is both memorable and fits the given class.

Those guidelines start with a welcome and a congratulations to the graduates. That said, I want to congratulate our graduates here this evening; we are both proud of your accomplishments and sad to see such a great group of young adults leaving us. You will truly be missed. The rest of the guidelines for a speech are easy to describe, yet often extremely difficult to accomplish. I am charged with reflecting on a memorable event or events, providing you with words of wisdom or inspiration, and getting off the stage before you get restless and bring out the cell phones. Seems easy, but it is often surprisingly difficult, but here goes.

For memorable events your class has had many. You are the first Saugus High School class to spend all four years of high school in our new Saugus High. As a class you will always hold a special place in my heart. You were my last class as a principal. For some of you, I have been your principal, superintendent, and even your math teacher. You entered high school remotely, then in hybrid, and finally over the last three years back to a traditional education model. You have helped bring back Color Day, and established hall decorations during spirit week, won NEC titles and raised the banners in our new gym. You performed concerts, plays, and musicals and brought down the house in the new Lemoine/Mitchell Performing Arts Center with your performances of Working: The Musical, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Momma Mia!

Your class has shaped our new Complex and set the standards for other classes to reach. You have had many memorable events, but the one that will stand out for me the most occurred just the other day. Wednesday night at the awards night, I was truly impressed with your class’s excitement and support of one another as you claimed scholarships and awards. It was a wonderful evening and I was so pleased to see everyone sharing such an amazing moment.

So that covers the memorable moments from your four years; now comes the trickiest part, the words of wisdom and inspiration. Trying to write something profound is a reach for me so I tried to select a quote that fits the occasion. I looked to literature and found a quote from Henry David Thoreau, “it’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” It is “profound-ish,” but it really did quite fit what I was trying to say. Then I looked into the field of coaching and found a quote from the legendary John Wooden. “Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It’s courage that counts.” Again a strong quote and you can reflect on it and find inspiration, but not exactly what I was trying to say. I then tried to swing for the fences and quote something more timely and found a fitting quote from Taylor Swift, “No matter what happens in life, be good to people. Being good to people is a wonderful legacy to leave behind.” Another solid quote and it suits the occasion, but still not quite perfect.

Now as I was writing this speech, I was getting stuck and starting to close in a state of potential boredom. In the back of my head even now, I am hearing the chant “wrap it up, wrap it up, wrap it up.” So I decided to just be myself and quote someone that has always provided me with wisdom, Douglas Adams. “Any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with.”

Your path to this moment has been challenging and unprecedented. It has truly prepared you for future greatness. I wish you all the best in your future endeavors and I hope you all find the success and happiness that you deserve. It has been a pleasure to be your teacher. Enjoy the last few moments of your high school career.