The BHS Performing Arts Company Will Be Staging ‘Something Rotten’ This Week

Photo: The poster of this year’s musical “Something Rotten”

The tale of how the world’s very first musical was staged, the Belmont High School Performing Arts Company presents its Spring Musical “Something Rotten” this week in the Belmont Middle and High School Main Theater.

Showtimes are:

  • Thursday, March 14 at 7 p.m.
  • Friday, March 15 at 7 p.m.
  • Saturday, March 16 at 2 p.m. (matinee) and 7 p.m. 

Ticketing for the shows is online, and advance purchase of tickets is strongly encouraged, as the Main Theater has limited seating capacity. Tickets can be purchased at bhs-pac.org

It’s 1595, and brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom are desperate to write a hit play but find themselves stuck in the shadow of William Shakespeare, the Renaissance rock star known as “The Bard.” When a soothsayer foretells that the future of theater involves singing, dancing, and acting – all at the same time – Nick and Nigel set out to write the world’s very first musical. Amidst the scandalous excitement of opening night, the Bottom brothers realize that reaching the top means being true to their own self.

The book is by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell. Music and lyrics by Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick, who also conceived the work.

TICKETS:
ADULTS: $15 in advance / $18 at the door
STUDENTS/CHILDREN: $10
BHS STUDENTS: $5 Thursday and Saturday Matinee, $10 Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m.

Filling Spaces: Belmont Announces ‘New’ Asst. Super, A First CUE Leader, Extended Elementary Principals Search

Photo: The Belmont School District is filling leadership positions

The Belmont School District has taken the “interim” from assistant superintendent Lucia Sullivan’s title as the in-house candidate was hired to fill the post recently held by Janice Darias.

Sullivan’s appointment to the full-time post was one of two selections by Superintendent Jill Geiser in filling major leadership positions in the district over the past month. Sullivan’s promotion was hardly a surprise as she and Geiser have created an effective team after the superintendent arrived in Belmont this past July.

The second announcement was the appointment of Belmont educator Laura Smith as the first permanent principal of the Chenery Upper Elementary School – dubbed by the district as the “CUE” – which will take place July 1. Until then, Smith will continue serving as the CUE’s Elementary Curriculum Coordinator, a position she has held since September.

“I’m excited to step into the role of principal at the Chenery Upper Elementary School, the first leader of the school in its grades four, five and six configuration,” said Smith to the school committee on Feb. 28.

“One message came through really strongly to me is that Belmont really cares about education. And it was affirming to me to have the support of all of those community stakeholders,” Smith said. “I believe in open communication and collaboration; so, with that in mind, please, I encourage you to share your insights and concerns openly as we work together to build this new fourth to sixth [grade] school.”

Prior to coming to Belmont, Smith worked for two years as the district’s Literacy Coach in the Cambridge Public Schools. She brings previous experience as a Cultural Proficiency Facilitator (2015-2021, Cambridge Street Upper School), an Assistant Principal (2009-2015, Kennedy Middle School), and nearly a decade as a classroom teacher of English at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School.

She has a BA in English Literature from the University of Massachusetts at Boston, a MEd degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education where she was honored as a James Bryant Conant Fellow, And she will soon be “Dr. Smith” as she anticipates earning a doctorate in Curricular Studies and Educational Leadership from the University of South Carolina sometime this year.

Still up in the air remains hiring principals at the Winn Brook and Burbank elementary schools in which the job postings remain open with interviews coming in the spring. Geiser told the committee the district is “still within the window” from January to the spring in which a larger candidate pool is emerging.

“There’s a lot of movement” among educators seeking new positions which places Belmont in “a good situation.”

Finally the hiring of an assistant principal at the Belmont Middle School (grades 7-8) is being led by BMS’s Principal Russ Kupperstein.

The 2024-25 Belmont School Year Starts After Labor Day As Committee Approves Calendar

Photo: The 2024-5 school year calendar has been approved

Keeping with recent tradition, Belmont schools will open for the 2024-25 school year after Labor Day as the Belmont School Committee voted unanimously to start classes for first to 12th grade on Wednesday, Sept. 4, two days after the holiday.

There will be four recesses in 2024-2025:

  • Thanksgiving: Nov. 28-29.
  • Winter: Dec. 23 – Jan. 1.
  • February: Feb. 17-21.
  • April: Apr. 21-25.

As 2024 is a presidential year, schools will be closed on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5.

Graduation for the class of 2025 will be held on Saturday, June 7.

The final day of the school year for K-11 will be Tuesday, June 24 which includes five “snow” days added. If schools are not postponed during the year due to the weather, the final day will be pushed up to Tuesday, June 17.

‘It Could Be Yesterday; It Might Be Tomorrow’: BHS Performing Arts Company’s ‘Inherit The Wind’ [VIDEO]

Photo: Henry Barnes (sitting) and Gavin Tieken-Zidel (standing right) were the leads in Belmont High School Performing Arts Company’s production of “Inherit The Wind.”

Belmont High School Performing Arts Company Presented “INHERIT THE WIND” by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee at Belmont Middle and High School Black Box.

​The Performing Arts Company Fall Play was the classic drama, “Inherit the Wind,” based on the real-life story of the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial, when a high school science teacher was arrested for teaching evolution and violating a new state law. The play tells the tale of a small town gripped in the ensuing debate about science, religion, free speech, the law, and the two legal heavyweights coming to town to battle for their causes.

The show features a cast of 18 actors and the tech crew includes more than 40 students working on lighting, scenery, costumes, props, sound, and stage management.

NOTES ABOUT THE SHOW FROM PRODUCTION DRAMATURG LUCAS HOLMAN:

A dramaturg serves as a literary expert for a theatrical production, providing historical research, analysis and interpretation of a play to the cast, crew, and audience. For Inherit the Wind, Junior Lucas Holman conducted research about the history of the play, which was presented to the cast/crew throughout the rehearsal process, and participated with the cast in conversations about the present-day relevance of the show. He also wrote an essay for the program, part of which is excerpted here:

“Inherit the Wind” is a timeless work of historical fiction based on the “Scopes Monkey Trial” of 1925, in which a high school biology teacher was prosecuted for teaching evolution, which had been banned months prior. The play was written in the 1950s as a response to the McCarthy trials and a critique to the kangaroo courts of the Red Scare.

“Inherit the Wind” takes the historical figures and blends them into a dramatization of the courtroom. On one hand, “Inherit the Wind” is a time capsule, not just of the Scopes Trial from which it borrows its story, but from the McCarthy era which it aimed to critique. Similar to Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible,” “Inherit the Wind” utilizes the American past to touch on its American present by interweaving the themes and conflicts of the past with what they needed to hear then. However, the play is both timely as well as timeless, as many of the critiques it directs towards the unchecked dogma of Bryanism still ring true today in the climate of a divided America.

NOTES ABOUT THE SHOW FROM PRODUCER/DIRECTOR EZRA FLAM

“Inherit the Wind” is a Modern American drama, which is a style of play we have not done in the PAC in recent years. Students have had the opportunity to explore character development, naturalistic acting and play dramatic scenes, which has been a fun challenge for rehearsal and a great learning experience for them.

In March of 1925, the Tennessee legislature prohibited the teaching of evolution. The strike against Darwin sparked outrage across scientific America. Local authority figures in Dayton, Tennessee, quickly agreed: they wanted to use the new law to bring money and fame to their unknown town. They convinced John T. Scopes, on whom the character of Bert Cates is based, to stand trial. The ACLU put together a defense team led by Clarence Darrow, the most famed defense attorney in the nation in his time. Darrow is fictionalized in the play as Henry Drummond, facing off against prosecuting attorney Matthew Harrison Brady, a disgruntled thrice-failed presidential candidate who sees the defense of God as his last mission. Matthew Harrison Brady is modeled after William Jennings Bryan, the 19th and early 20th-century presidential candidate and novel politician, whose influence derived from his populist ideals. 

In addition, the tech crew has been hard at work creating the world of the show. Under the guidance of Scenic Designer Anna Moss, Costume Designer Lila West and Technical Director Ian O’Malley, students are creating the world of the play. Although the show takes place in the 1920s, we felt it was important to show that the story is not a historical artifact. As the author’s say in their preface to the script, “it could be yesterday; it might be tomorrow.” We have represented that on stage with a “Wall of Americana” spanning the last 100 years of culture and invention, a decade spanning soundtrack of American music and costumes that evoke the 1920s, but don’t lock the characters into that time period.

Performing Arts Company’s 2023-4 Season Gets Underway With ‘Broadway Night,’ Oct. 13, 14

Photo: Nicole Thoma singing “History of Wrong Guys” on Broadway Night, 2015

BROADWAY NIGHT 2023, the Performing Arts Company’s annual evening of musical theater cabaret, will take place Oct. 13 and 14, at 7 p.m. in the Belmont Middle and High School Main Theater.

TICKETS: $5 Students, $12 Adults BUY TICKETS FOR BROADWAY NIGHT

Advance Ticket Purchase online recommended. Some tickets will be available at the theater 30 minutes before each performance.

Broadway Night kicks off the theater season at Belmont High. Students perform classic show tunes and contemporary work from new musical theater composers in an evening of song, dance and storytelling. ​This year, the show features more than 40 solo, duet and group performers, with a mix of humor, heart, romance and high-energy fun, plus a dance number

Broadway Night represents the core mission of the PAC, with an emphasis on showcasing student work. The performers have selected, staged and rehearsed the songs almost entirely on their own, In addition, the lighting design is done entirely by students, and the show ends with a finale song featuring the entire company

Angus On The Run: Teen Town Meeting Member Seeks School Committee Seat

Photo: Angus Abercrombie, 19, has confirmed he will be running for school committee in the 2024 Town Election

In June 2022, Angus Abercrombie crossed the raised daïs at Harris Field to receive his high school diploma from Belmont High School in spirit; he was attending the Democratic Party’s State Convention that day as one would expect from an ambitious young man with his eyes on his political future.

If everything goes according to his plans, by June 2024, Abercrombie will be setting school policy, approving the school district’s multimillion budget, and negotiating with school unions – whose members only two years before were his teachers – as the 19-year-old Winn Street resident has announced his campaign for one of two seats up for grabs on the Belmont School Committee next year.

Abercrombie is the first person to submit a Statement of Organization of Candidate’s Committee with the Town Clerk’s Office (Nomination papers are still weeks away from being available). The Emerson freshman already has a campaign web page up and running and is active on X (formally Twitter), TikToc, Facebook, and Instagram, where Abercrombie is seen chummy with local, state, and national Democratic leaders.

A lifelong Belmont resident educated in the Belmont public schools, Abercrombie ran and was elected to Town Meeting in April, which at the time caught the attention of the Boston Globe. Since then, the Democratic Party activist has been featured in the Globe, WBZ-TV, and National Public Radio, which described him as one of a growing number of “Gen Z politicians pushing to become leaders of today.”

At first glance, dismissing the teenager as a passing fade would be to the challengers’ disadvantage. An energetic campaigner, Abercrombie topped Precinct 8 Town Meeting results with 544 votes, the second largest town-wide tally. He is a frequent participant at public, board, committee, and school meetings where he is gaining a reputation for thoughtful, engaging comments.

School Committee Chair Meghan Moriarty and Jamal Saeh are up for reelection in April 2024.

The Belmontonian interviewed Abercrombie after the 2025 Budget Public Forum at Town Hall.

You have submitted organization papers with the Town Clerk. Are you considering running for School Committee?

Abercrombie: Yes, I’ve decided to seek a seat on the School Committee.

Why?

Abercrombie: “[Belmont] is really at an inflection point. We’re about to ask voters for the biggest override ever, and we need to prove that we have the leadership to spend that money how it needs to allocated. I’ve attended our schools recently and I’ve watched the cuts get made to programs and increased fees that were imposed from when I was in kindergarten to the Winn Brook [Elementary] and the High School . I’ve watched every part of the school experience – not just in the classroom but also transportation issues, sports, activity fees – becoming tougher and tougher, especially for our families who don’t have the time and money to push for their kids outside of school. I want to advocate for them on the committee.

You’ve said you will bring the insight and interests of students to the school committee which, you’ve noted, is the largest constituency who doesn’t have the opportunity to be heard via the ballot box.

Abercrombie: Absolutely. There are a lot of students who have a deep attachment to this community. But the first time they’re actually able to vote on the issues that matter of this community, they’re often going ready to go off to college and university. That makes it really difficult for us to properly hear their voices and for the people who are in the halls of power to weigh those voices correctly.

What are the three main goals that you will bring to the school committee?

Abercrombie: Number one, we need to fix our long-term Special Education program with good wraparound services. Ensuring we are serving every student’s needs, and when possible and appropriate, keeping them in-district.

Number two, transportation. The way students get to school, right now, is unfeasible. It’s getting students to and from school in a climate conscious, low-traffic impact, and safe manner. And that also means pushing back school start times because student drivers who are tired are not safe drivers.

Number three is communication. Leveraging my background in campaigns, communications, and community organizing to better connect and engage families with school programming. We can’t allow students to fall through the cracks just because their parents don’t have time for what is sometimes a full time job; keeping up-to-date on in-school opportunities and needs.

You’re 19 and a full-time college student at Emerson. How do you respond to those who believe you lack the experience to take on the job?

Abercrombie: Well, last year at Emerson College, I ran the allocation of a $1.1 million budget. I did it. Everyone has spoken to has been happy about how that budget went down. Look, Belmont has six people on our school committee who bring different experiences, and we need to make sure that every part of the conversation about our schools is represented on our school committee. That includes parents, students, and people in the town who are not currently in either of those groups, but still deeply feel the effects of our school department. That’s why I’m running.

School Week: A Decade Of Work Ends With A Ribbon Cutting Opening Belmont’s New Middle And High School [Video]

Photo: (In no particular order: Superintendent Dr. Jill Geiser; Jim McDonald, MSBA; School Committee Chair Meghan Moriarty; retired Superintendent John Phelan; Building Committee Chair Bill Lovallo; and BMHS students Charlie and Ellie Shea, Jane and Allison Caputo, Maybe Thurston, Elizabeth Zuccarello, and Sarah Lovallo cutting the ribbon opening the new Belmont Middle and High School on Sept. 6, 2023)

Under a blazing hot summer sun, a decade of planning, financing, and construction culminated in the ceremony cutting of the ribbon opening Belmont’s newest school, the Middle and High School, held on the opening day of the 2023-24 school year, Wednesday, Sept. 6.

“This is your building now. Congratulations,” Bill Lovallo, the Middle and High School Building Committee chair, told the assembled students and teachers. Lovallo, along with vice chair Pat Brusch, led the team that shepherded the project after 3/4 of town voters approved a $212 million debt exclusion in November 2018. Construction started in June 2019.

“Your vote made an impactful statement to Belmont and the surrounding communities, approving at the time one of the largest public school projects in the state,” said Lovallo. “Why? Because this community is committed to investing in our future, particularly the future involving our children.”

Costing $295 million to construct, the 450,000-square-foot building will house more than 2,300 students in grades 7-12. Including the hundreds of geothermal wells that will heat and cool the building, more than 2,000 solar panels will be a major electrical power source when its installation is completed at the beginning of 2024.

While the project – designed by Perkins+Will and constructed by Skanska USA – came in “on time and on budget,” according to the building committee, there currently is projected a $1.9 million deficit as a result of a reduction in the $83 million initially promised by the Massachusetts School Building Authority. The shortfall – due to a dispute on what areas of construction are deemed reimbursable – will be resolved in the next 18 months.

Yet that is a future concern as Wednesday saw town and school department officials, employees, and dozens of middle and high school students celebrate the opening of the school year and the completed school held outside of the high school’s dining area overlooking Clay Pit Pond.

“It’s easy for us to see, looking at this building, that the physical spaces of teaching and learning have changed education,” said Meghan Moriarty, chair of the School Committee. “In the coming year, on behalf of the School Committee, we want to help the Belmont community to see how teaching and learning has changed to meet the needs of all of our Belmont students. And how this innovative space and our educators are catalysts in that change.”

In the end, seven Middle and High School students, along with officials, took scissors to ribbon and welcomed the newest school to the Belmont district.

On a side note, 12 years nearly to the day as a kindergartener helping cut the ribbon to open the new Wellington Elementary School in 2011, Sarah Lovallo joined six of her fellow schoolmates in the ribbon cutting for another new school.

The current members of the Belmont Middle and High School Building Committee are:

Amy ZuccarelloSchool Committee Member
Patricia BruschCommittee Vice Chair, Permanent Building Committee Chair, Capital Budget Committee
Thomas CaputoSelect Board Member, CMS parent
Joseph DeStefanoPlanning Board, construction experience, CMS and BHS parent
David BlazonDirector of Facilities
Patrice GarvinTown Administrator, MCPPO Certified
Bill LovalloCommittee Chair, Permanent Building Committee, engineering experience, CMS parent
Michael McAllisterPrincipal, Chenery Middle School
Robert McLaughlinPermanent Building Committee, Warrant Committee
Christopher MesserCommittee Secretary, operations and real estate experience, BHS parent
Diane MillerArchitecture experience, CMS and BHS parent
Joel MooneyPermanent Building Committee, engineering experience
Jill GeiserSuperintendent of Schools
Ellen SchreiberWarrant Committee Member, CMS Parent
Jamie SheaFoundation for Belmont Education, BHS teacher, Burbank, CMS, and BHS parent
Emma ThurstonCommittee Treasurer, business experience, BHS Parent

Let’s Have Coffee And A Chat With The New School Supers: Jill Geiser and Lucia Sullivan

Photo: (from left) Belmont School District’s new superintendents: Jill Geiser and assistant Lucia Sullivan

The Belmont School District invites residents for a coffee and conversation with its new superintendents: Jill Geiser and Assistant Lucia Sullivan.

You can attend the meet and greet in person at the School Administration Building, 644 Pleasant St. on the following days and times:

  • Wednesday, Aug. 9: 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
  • Friday, Aug. 11: 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
  • Thursday, Sept. 14: 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Light refreshments will be served!

Virtual Meeting Zoom: Click here to Join

  • Tuesday, Sept. 26: Noon to 1:30 p.m.

Please RSVP for Planning Purposes: Meet & Greet RSVP

More meeting opportunities with Jill and Lucia to come.

Chenery Eighth Graders Champs Of National Middle School Quiz Bowl Tourney

Photo: The National Champions of Middle School Quiz Bowl: (from left) Gregory Zeldovich, Jeffrey Wu, Fergus Williams and Andrew Gao

When Andrew Gao answered what would be the deciding question in the 2023 Quiz Bowl Middle School National Championship Tournament, he knew he got it correct. And when they the announcer confirmed it, an excited Gao jumped out of his seat knocking over the chair in front of an auditorium filled with students, parents and Quiz Bowl officials.

[The answer was the 1976 Korean axe murder incident]

But that small faux pas didn’t dampen the realization the team from the Belmont’s W. L. Chenery Middle School had enough of a lead to hold off their Georgia competition and secured the national title to the team made up of four eighth graders – captains Gao and Gregory Zeldovich, along with Fergus Williams and Jeffrey Wu – who represented Belmont’s W. L. Chenery Middle School.

“It was like a mystical thing,” said Williams when the final score was announced. “Then it instinctively click: we won!”

Quiz bowl is a competitive, academic, interscholastic activity for teams of four students. Quiz Bowl teams use buzzers to answer questions about science, math, history, literature, mythology, geography, social science, current events, sports, and popular culture. The matches feature a blend of individual competition and team collaboration, since no individual player is likely to be an expert in all subject areas. Participation in quiz bowl both reinforces lessons from the classroom and encourages players to develop new intellectual interests.

“It’s like Jeopardy but with longer questions and there are bonuses for getting the question early,” said Gao.

See how you would do answering these Middle School Quiz Bowl questions.

The Chenery joined 159 of the top middle schools Quiz Bowl teams from 31 states and South Korea at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare Chicago for the annual event held over the May 13 weekend.

Not that the Goa or the Chenery team are strangers to the competition as the school’s Quiz Bowl club was runners-up in the 2022 edition, losing to Longfellow Middle School of Falls Church, Virginia.

“That really helped knowing how to take on the pressure of each game,” said Zeldovich.

The young men are members of the school’s Quiz Bowl Club which includes students who are competitive and those who simply want to have fun with a wide array of subjects. The club qualified for the national tournament being one of the top 15 percent of teams in the country.

“I feel like we do pretty well in tournaments that we took part in last fall,” said Williams.

Coached by Beth Manca, Chenery began the preliminary rounds with a eight-game winning streak, finishing the preliminary rounds with a 8-0 record, qualifying them for the eight game playoff round.

There were some tense moments in the final round. Chenery defeated Sycamore A from Indianapolis, Indiana by the narrow margin of 440-415 during round 5 and then suffered a narrow loss to River Trail A from Johns Creek, Georgia, 345-340, during round 21. But by then, Chenery cumulative record was good enough to put them in the championship finals against Johns Creek.

In the ultimate match, Chenery had a small lead at the half 200-160. “It was back and forth, just like in the last game with them, It was Deja vu,” said Gao.

After a second half push by River Trail, Chenery managed to pull ahead for good with two minutes remaining, winning 380-280.

Gao was honored as an All-Star for correctly answering 60 tossup questions, 46 of them for “power questions.” Goa said he’s good at quires about literature, geography and history. “But not math,” he said with a shrug. “So it’s OK that there are not that many math questions.”

Belmont High Graduates 315 In The Misty Chill Of Harris Field

Photo: Caps tossed into the overcast as Belmont High School graduated 315 in the Class of 2023.

In weather more attuned for a fall football game, parents, siblings, relatives, and friends bundled up to witness the graduation of the members of the senior class of Belmont High School on Saturday, June 3.

The anticipated rain never came during the event, but the mist, wind, and 50-degree weather put an unseasonable chill on the ceremony underway at 10 a.m. outdoors at Harris Field. Retiring Superintendent John Phelan and retiring Assistant Superintendent Janice Darias (“I’m finally graduating,” she said before the ceremony) lead the long crimson procession for a final time from the high school to the field with the Belmont High School Wind Symphony playing Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance.”

With parents and friends taking photos and umbrellas opening in the stands and on the field, the graduates strode down the 50-yard line to their seats in the center of the field, where the ceremony began with the Belmont High Chorus performing the National Anthem.

In his speech, Belmont High School Principal Issac Taylor addressed the assemblage the “fear and uncertainty in a world that is undergoing enormous changes compressed into one generation.” And while these “new tools are powerful and where there is power, there is both opportunity and danger.”

“Technology responds to you, and you respond to it. And the ease with which you navigate the modern world is a dynamic tool that will help you succeed. You will also be the people who helped steer the direction we take as a species, how we use this technology, and to what ends. This is an enormous responsibility and a great opportunity,” said Taylor.

“I hope that you all find your version of success. In a world that is changing so quickly, defining a successful life can be elusive. Like happiness, success comes from within. Partly success and happiness comes from the skills that we develop. Partly they come from the experiences that we have. But mostly being successful comes not from the pride of what we know and what we can do.”

Class of 2023 President Nicky Mosharaf reminded her classmates and graduates, “the most abundant challenge for us this year was making a tough decision. Deciding which college you’re going to go to, if you’re going to go to college.”

“However, we haven’t gotten to life’s hardest decisions yet. From what I’ve seen, I think the most difficult life decisions are the ones where you have to decide whether to give up or not. Usually the first thing that comes to mind is never give up,” said Mosharaf, using her mother’s decision to return to school to seek her MBA with two small children and an infant.

“On the other hand, there’s a second option to give up. I know it doesn’t sound as motivational as never give up. But I think sometimes it can be better to scrap the current plan and go down a new path. Maybe sometimes it is better to give up.,” she said, remembering how she decided gymnastics wasn’t her cup of tea.

“So deciding between the two options is tough, and there’s no specific Tiktok that’s gonna give us the right answer,” she said. “Whether we give up or not … is not as important as we think. The most important thing is to make your decision positively and take joy in your decision and what you do.”

The Belmont School Committee awards for outstanding achievement and scholarship were presented to seniors Leo Son and Ana Lehmann. Son, whose accomplishments in the classroom and as a student leader run an entire printed page: he is a math and STEM scholar, took 11 AP courses, and plays and teaches chess, among numerous other accomplishments.

“And I’m sure many of us were thinking about this idea on our last day of high school, navigating thethe hallways for the last time on route from yellow to light blue to pink, already missing the comfort of a weekly club, where you found a community that you belong to.”

“But as this meeting place for all of us comes to an end … be proud of how far you’ve come. Remember all the connections and routines we’ve let slip by, and we look forward to the opportunity to find a new lunch table for the first time and new club communities again next year or sooner. Do not let go of what you’ve gained from the sources of joy that you once knew and grasp more tightly onto the experiences we have now.”

When Lehmann – an international Math Olympian, a harrier, and a talented German speaker whose language proficiency is at the university level – heard she would be receiving the award and expected to make a speech, “I procrastinated.” While admitting she was “mostly excited and honored to be speaking,” the suggested subject concerning the future was “nerve-racking.”

“What can I, a 17-year-old, impart to an audience – at least half of which has much more life experience than me – about the future? I don’t even know which college I’m going to in the fall!” Instead, Lehmann decided to speak “about the uncertainty of it all.”

Lehmann spoke of her parent’s immigration story – her Serbian mother and German father who came to the US and met in Pennsylvania – and how their journey became hers. “I’ll technically follow in their footsteps as immigrants. They didn’t know what to expect when they came here. And like many of us here today, we don’t know exactly what’s awaiting us at college.”

“On the journey into our inherantly uncertain futures, we can choose familiar constants to keep with us and help us along the way, whether it be family, friends, mentors, pets, or even hobbies. We’re not all about to be immigrants, but we are all starting an exciting and unknown new chapter in a new environment with new labels of high school, graduate or college students,” she said.

A rendition of “Landslide” by the Belmont High A Capella was followed by the presentation of diplomas – the names masterfully handled by Mosharaf – then the moving of tallases and tossing of caps into the air. And it wasn’t surprising that not that many people stuck around Harris Field as the chilly wind picked up had the clouds grew dark.