Good evening and welcome to this day of celebration and gratitude as we hear from our graduating class– their last time speaking on campus as current students. Of course, we hope you will come back as often as you can; from here, you are officially our newest alumni!

It’s lovely to see parents, siblings, relatives, alums, faculty and friends here in our Gillette Garden on a perfect evening. This is a ceremony that so many have worked hard to coordinate…

First, thank you to Pippin Barnett whose role as Sabot’s facilities manager has him doing everything from making sure the stage, chairs and sound are set up for this event to escorting our graduates and their second grade buddies in by drum. He, of course, is aided by a number of helpers including Sabot’s own faculty and administrative team and a team of volunteers, especially parents Elizabeth Sundberg, Morgan Vickery, and Betsy Phillips. Thank you all, for all you do. Thank you, as well, to the graduation committee: Maggie Barrett, Carol-Margaret Bitner, Jess Khawaja, Sarah Lile, Allison Seay, LeAnn Mazzeo, Ann Reavey, and Tappan Vickery for helping to plan this event. 

And, I offer my deep gratitude for every single faculty member—past and present— who has been a part of the journey of these graduates at Sabot at Stony Point, and I express particular thanks to those who have been part of our faculty this year. Our middle school teachers,  especially, have done the daily, consistent, difficult, inspiring work of shepherding our 8th graders and I ask that you please join me in thanking them and our entire Sabot at Stony Point faculty. Please stand and be recognized.

Finally, my greatest thanks goes to the families who are part of the Sabot community, especially those who are here in support this evening.  Your job is a difficult and often thankless one. Please hear me say, on behalf of your children who may or may not have said it yet, THANK YOU. Thank you for the hundred ways that you love and support this school, the hundred sacrifices you have made on our behalf, the hundred ways you give your child the support and challenge and love (and snacks) that they need. THANK YOU for getting us this far, to right now, to this very evening where we celebrate all we have done, all that we have, and all that is yet to come. 

Today, as is the tradition, each of our graduates will share their personal reflections with us before they are presented their student-made diploma. For those that may not know, Sabot diplomas are–literally–works of art. Each is tailored for its recipient by their peers who find ways through a variety of visual media to represent a graduate’s interests, passions, talents, and unique qualities. They really are exquisite works.

I know we are all eager to hear our students’ remarks, so I will keep mine brief.  Really, what I have to say to you is nothing I have not said before though it cannot hurt to say it again: We Are SO  Very Proud Of You. Finishing Middle School is, truly, one of life’s most difficult passages. It is not always graceful; it is not always fun; and it is certainly not always easy. You have done  it and you have done it well and we are proud that you are not only a graduate, but you are a Sabot graduate.

Whenever it was that you came to Sabot – whether as a two-year-old entering preschool or a Kindergartner or just this year– it is likely that someone (your parents, or your grandparents or your parents’ friends) someone somewhere has likely asked a question that sounded something like this: “Are you really prepared?” Although I’ve spent my entire life with middle school students, this is my first time working at a school that ends in eighth grade. Now I hear this question more frequently than ever before: are your students prepared? Are they ready? Do they have what they need? Have they gotten what they were supposed to get?

And here is my response – which is the response I give to anyone who asks . . .  prospective parents, current parents, alumni parents, other Heads of School, counselors, advisors, and anyone who will listen: YES.  YES. and YES.

You are prepared. You are ready. You do have what you need. You have gotten what you came for. 

No matter where you are going, there will be students you meet who are arriving from all different points, all different walks, all different educational experiences. Every rising 9th grader has had a different journey and as anyone here can attest, no two students– even those who have had the same teacher in class– have identical experiences in school. In that way, every single rising 9th grader is in fact brand new. High school is a whole new ball game.

But let me tell you again: You are ready for it. What Sabot has prepared you for is what some take a lifetime to learn (if they ever learn it at all). YOU are prepared to ask a good question. YOU are prepared to think about good questions that may or may not have answers to them. YOU are prepared to answer what can be answered. You are prepared to sit with what cannot be answered. You are prepared to work alone. You are prepared to work in a group. You are prepared to speak with adults, to speak to an audience, to speak to your peers, to speak to those younger than you with respect and dignity.  You are as prepared to accept support when you need it as you are to offer support when you can give it. You are prepared for test-taking. You are prepared for essay-writing. You are prepared for the great experiment that is your life. You are prepared for difficulty. You are prepared for joy. You are prepared for a new cycle of learning that is not a straight line but a wheel and you are prepared to take the wheel with courage and confidence. 

Trust us. Trust that the work you have done here – the mistakes you made here, the accomplishments you achieved here– trust that the work you have done here – all of it – has prepared you well for whatever may come. One of my great hopes–and I have many hopes– is that you will come back often and tell us just how right we were. Everyone you’ve encountered at Sabot knew you could do it all along, and we can’t wait to see where you go from here.