Edgemont Salutes the Class of 2010
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Edgemont High School said goodbye to the Class of 2010 – at 180 students, the largest in Edgemont’s 54-year history – at graduation exercises held Thursday evening on a tree-covered lawn in the center of the school’s park-like campus. A huge throng of parents, teachers, siblings, relatives and friends were on hand as senior Adrian Burke urged classmates to set goals for themselves because “the climb up the mountain” is more important in life than the “view from the top,” while fellow senior Danny Bernstein praised the faculty for teaching the class “how to learn” so that “we’re always learning even when outside the classroom” in ways that influence them not just as students but as people too.
Referring to Edgemont’s long breezeways that connect one campus building to the next, Bernstein said that one of the greatest classes he had ever taken was “Introduction to Breezeway Etiquette,” where he learned “how to avoid awkward situations” by among other things “pretending to text.” He also spoke of classmates learning to “ask each other for help” and learning how to “offer it in return.”
A third senior, Taylor Barker, welcomed the crowd by noting how few people ever remember who speaks at high school graduation or what anyone says.
English teacher Elizabeth Scut was chosen by the class as its faculty speaker. Scut spoke of a noisy mockingbird that set up residence outside her home a few months ago and kept her family awake after midnight. She urged the graduates to find their own voices.
Weather was a major factor that threatened to postpone the ceremonies. Because the class was so large, the administration decided that if it rained, it would postpone the ceremony by a day until Friday so that exercises could be held outside rather than in the school’s gymnasium, which would have been too small to accommodate the crowd. Even though the region was under a severe thunderstorm alert on Thursday, with a 40% chance of rain, the decision was made at noon to proceed with the ceremony anyway, and robo calls and email announcements confirming that there would be no postponement were made.
However, the weather continued to look threatening, and contingency plans were made that afternoon to move the ceremony to the gym in any event.
But skies brightened when the ceremonies began at around 6:30 p.m., with the faculty marching in their black robes, while the graduates, in their bright Edgemont blue caps and gowns, followed immediate behind.
At the conclusion of the speeches, and after the distribution of displomas, senior class president Chase Klein led the class in the traditional moving of the tassel from right to left, followed by the Edgemont tradition of the graduates all tossing their blue caps in the air in celebration, while the crowd looked on and cheered.
Photographs by Mariela Dujovne Melamed
Scholar Athlete Awards at SHS
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Scarsdale High School seniors, Jennie Pechman and Matthew Oliverio were the recipients of the Scarsdale High School 2010 Scholar Athlete awards. The students received the awards in an intimate ceremony on Monday June 21, attended by their families, Athletic Director Michael Menna, High School Principal John Klemme and Coach Cece Berger. Coincidentally the two seniors were also voted “most likely to be signed as a pro athlete” in the 2010 Scarsdale High School yearbook. Hats off to these accomplished grads.
A School Graduation Day
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On Friday June 18, 28 seniors graduated from the Scarsdale Alternative School. Founded in 1972, the Scarsdale Alternative School is one of the longest running alternative schools in the country. The school calls itself a community of learners where students and teachers benefit from interactions with one another. The weather was very warm as was the atmosphere, and a supportive group of teachers, family, students and friends participated in and watched a unique and personal graduation ceremony.
The event was held on the front lawn of the Scarsdale Alternative School, with speakers addressing the group from the porch. Underclassmen from the SAS decorated the venue with flowers and set up a beautiful space for the celebration of the upperclassmen.
Graduating senior Jeff Kosofsky served as the Master of Ceremonies. He welcomed the group and introduced the speakers. In the spirit of the Alternative School he provided tongue and cheek evaluations of the Alternative School teachers who in turn made graduation speeches about the their students.
SAS Director Howard Rodstein thanked audience members in attendance including Linda Chayes of the Scarsdale School Board, and two devoted SAS PTA mothers, Rebecca Dulit and Linda Shapiro. Since it was his last chance to impart advice, he offered eight suggestions to the graduating class from which we can all benefit.
Here are his words:
1) Practice good listening skills
2) Spend more time being engaged than locked behind a closed door
3) Making mistakes is the key to learning and mistakes are the building blocks of insight
4) Distrust packaging and embrace individuality
5) Kindness matters
6) Courage matters even more than kindness
7) Democracy requires hard work
8) Think outside the box
Reminding the students that they chose to attend the A-School because they wanted something different, he encouraged them to go beyond conventional boundaries in the future. He ended by telling the students, “It has been a joy to get to know you” and assured them that they "graduate with the love of the entire community.”
Next up was Assistant Principal Sue Peppers who offered her congratulations and best wishes and said that graduation was a time to reflect on the past and see into the future. She provided her own list of the “Five C’s essential for effective learning.”
They are caring relationships, cognitive challenges, a culture of support, community contribution and connections to quality post learning opportunities. She credited the A-school with providing these elements for 30 years and complimented the group for learning to work in groups, run their own schools and work in the outside world as interns as part of their education.
Quoting Dr. Seuss, she closed by saying, "Congratulations! Today is your day. You’re off to Great Places! You’re off and away!"
Each of the 28 students was given a personalized tribute by one of the A-school faculty and the affection between students and staff was evident. Speaking for the student body, Laura Petschek thanked the student who gave up her spot on the A-school student list three years ago and allowed her to benefit from an A-School education. She felt lucky to receive a serious education in a wonderful setting and told the group she was proud to be a member of this class of outstanding seniors. In her words, “We will never forget what it meant to be part of the Scarsdale Alternative School. We owned it!”
Rodstein returned to the podium to give a glowing tribute to math teacher Linda Rich who will be returning to teach at the high school after many years of service to the SAS.
Following graduation, the Adler family invited A-School students and their families to a reception at their home. It was a joyous and memorable day for all.
Courses for HS Grads and College Students from SAS
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The Scarsdale Adult School is offering four summer sessions to help recent high school graduates and college students make the transition to adulthood. Advocating for Yourself and Promoting Healthy Relationships is the first of a four part life skills series. Lauren Pomerantz, a youth outreach worker at Scarsdale High School will lead the seminar for the Scarsdale Adult School Thursday, July 8th.
Skills will be learned through dialogue/conversations, role-playing situations, acting out skits, and problem solving together. Students will develop the skills necessary to successfully promote what is in their best interest as they cope with life away from home. They will leave with a sense of how to get the best out of their college experience while learning to successfully navigate the college and post college environments. Additionally, information and education about teen dating violence will also be discussed.
The series of classes are held throughout Scarsdale for four Thursday evenings beginning July 8th from 7-9 pm. Subjects include Advocating for Yourself and Promoting Healthy Relationships (July 8th at the Scarsdale Teen Center); Auto Maintenance & Safe Driving Techniques (July 15th Heathcote Gulf Service Station); Managing Your Money: Becoming Your Own CFO (July 22nd Scarsdale Teen Center); and Cooking 101 & Eating Healthy (July 29th Greenville Community Church).
The cost for all four classes is $100 or $30 per individual class.
To register, or for information on all course offerings, visit www.ScarsdaleAdultSchool.org. Questions? Call 723-2325.
Transition Day at SHS
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Scarsdale High School seniors returned from their Senior Options assignments to attend Senior Transition Day on Monday, June 7th. It was a day to look back at the high school experience, look forward to college and enjoy a wonderful celebration lunch put together by the mothers.
The morning began with panel discussions with Scarsdale alumni who had just finished their freshman years. They were invited to give the high school seniors tips and advice for getting adjusted to college. Seniors posed questions and the college freshmen gave answers to queries such as:
- What was your roommate situation?
- Where did you meet your friends?
- What was the best and worst thing about living away from home?
- What was the most shocking thing about college?
- Was it difficult to begin doing work again after four months off?
- Was it hard to balance your social life and all the adjustments with the work?
Following the college information sessions, students broke up into group discussions with their deans focusing on high school. Deans asked students to appraise their overall experience, express regrets, think about who influenced them most, and what they would remember about SHS.
Lunch and yearbook distribution in the gym was next on the agenda. The room was decked out in red and white balloons and adorned with posters bearing class photos from grades K-5. In addition, large printouts of the Middle School yearbook photos were hung up, giving everyone a chance to see themselves grow from 5- 17 years old.
There were hero sandwiches from Buon Amici and talented moms baked graduation cookies, red and white cupcakes and brownies.
Kids leafed through and signed yearbooks and the Class of 2010 enjoyed one of their last days as students at Scarsdale High School.
Photos courtesy of Nancy Adler
