'Faith, leadership, creativity and participation’

THOMAS SHERWIN - Valedictorian 

'Faith, leadership, creativity and participation’

Welcome Most Reverend Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger, Superintendent Giovanni Virgiglio, Mr. Kilmade, Father Ebert, Father Gorenski, Mrs. Fornabia, board members, faculty and staff, parents, guests and the Class of 2022.

Saint Paul writes in the book of Romans, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2). I believe that the Catholic education we have received at SCC since sixth grade has been in response to this command given by Paul. At SCC, we have learned to live by our morals and virtues, rather than conform to society. This comes from a fundamental part of our Catholic education, which is inspiration of leadership, creativity and participation. These aspects of our Catholic education — faith, leadership, creativity and participation — are important tools we will use to have success in our lives and help us to live out God’s plans for us.

SCC’s tight budget and limited resources have inspired all of us to think creatively at some point, whether it was in academics, community service, clubs or sports. To give an example, calculus is a class not currently offered at our school, but for those who wished to take this class, such as myself, we joined a Microsoft Teams meeting every day with the calculus class from Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons in Schenectady. To give another example, our track and field program, in which I participated and was run by our religion teacher, does not have a track of its own, nor do we have a complete team on our own. To help with this, we teamed up with the track team from Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons and had success with them. Thinking creatively with what we had to work with, and doing it with success, is something we learned here from experience. This skill we have learned here is one reason why we will have the success we will, and why past graduates have had the success they have had.

In addition to inspiring leadership, creative solutions and participation, our school’s size, opportunities and independence created an environment for us all to emerge as leaders ready to bring our gifts to wherever we go from here. Due to the size of our school and classes, every student has their role to play and has their chances to become leaders. In our student government, decisions made on class fundraisers and activities come from us and everyone has a say. In our sports and clubs, seniors are almost always given leadership positions due to the small class sizes. We have all grown as leaders and this was made possible by our Catholic education here at SCC. We have learned from experience not to conform to society because if we do, we cannot be leaders. The leadership qualities we have all acquired were made possible by the environment we have learned and grown in and will prove to be very useful down the road and will give us success.

A big part of leadership often overlooked is simply participating in events, and we have grown more as people willing to participate and not sit things out. It’s amazing to see how many people have participated in our school events, from Spirit Day to the Hoops for Hope fundraiser. Our school sports are open to everyone and everyone is able to participate whatever their talent level is. During my time here at SCC, I have participated in baseball, basketball, bowling, cross-country running, and the indoor and outdoor track programs. I’m especially grateful for the opportunities I had with the cross-country team, as it became one of the greatest sources of joy during my time at SCC and I learned so much from my coaches and teammates. High participation in school activities is one of the strongest points of our school and we have grown much in character and virtue through this. I believe we are ready for whatever comes next and we will take it on with high morale and motivation.

We have also grown in our faith from the time we have started here until now, with the school attending Mass every few weeks, offering of occasional chances to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the placement of a huge crucifix in the lobby, and our school’s motto being “Omnia Pro Deo,” which means “All for God,” which our beloved administrative assistant, Mrs. Mantia, proudly proclaims when answering the phone. Our practice of the faith and its encouragement separates us and gives all we do a sense of greater purpose.

For these reasons and more, I am most grateful for the education and experiences I have received from SCC during my time here and how it will help us to achieve our goals and God’s goals for us. I would also like to thank all of you — my classmates, teachers, coaches — for the support, encouragement, and above all, kindness you have graciously given me during my time here. I hope that I have been as good to you as you have been to me and I have been praying for you. I would also like to thank my family —  my parents, brothers, aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins — for the love, support and guidance they have given me throughout my life. I would also like to thank the families of my classmates for helping them during their time here at SCC with the love and support you have shown them. It is one of the greatest blessings to know you are loved.

In conclusion, I would like to congratulate us, the Class of 2022, on a great SCC career we have had together and on our high school graduation, one of the most memorable days of our lives. I will continue to pray for all of you, and I ask that you pray for me. Thank you, everyone.

ALLISON MOTLER - Salutatorian 

‘Rise up, take courage and do it’

Good morning and welcome Most Reverend Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger, Superintendent Giovanni Virgiglio, Mr. Kilmade, Father Ebert, Father Gorenski, Mrs. Fornabia, board members, faculty and staff, parents, guests and the Class of 2022 — I am both honored and humbled to have the opportunity to speak to you this morning.  

I will be honest with you. Writing a speech that is meant to have a meaningful and memorable impact on such a large number of people with such diverse backgrounds, ages and experiences was a bit daunting for me. And delivering it — even more so.  

The Bible says: Rise up, take courage and do it. (Ezra 10:4)

This short verse is applicable to all of our lives. In only seven words — it gives us the encouragement to execute three separate commands needed in life for so many challenges.

Those who know me well, know that I have a very analytical way of thinking and a very organized, methodical way of doing everything I do. When I analyzed this verse, and broke it down, I found that it is a very clean, three-step road map to face something, remedy something, start something, finish something or create something. So let’s break it down:

1. Rise up
This step is critical. It is a command to rise each day. Get out of bed and decide you will face whatever problem or issue or worry that you had the night before that may have made you lose sleep. Some research suggests that human beings make an average of 35,000 decisions a day. The first step is to get yourself in a position to face them.

2. Take courage
This is important when facing problems, but also in all aspects of life. Taking courage is being confident in all you do, and when you may be unsure, believing that all will go well and continuing to pursue your goal. Whenever you are faced with a decision, big or small, it is important to consider two questions: Is my decision going to be good for me and is my decision going to be good for the people who surround me? If the answer is yes to both — that provides the only courage necessary to move forward and make the decision.

3. Do it
Ironically, this is actually the easiest step. Once you decide to stop worrying and face a task ahead that you’ve determined will be good and beneficial for not only you, but also those around you as well — taking action becomes a lot easier. It actually becomes not only easy, but exciting because even the smallest decisions we make can end up making a huge difference.

There was a discovery made by meteorologist Edward Lorenz called “The Butterfly Effect.” If you’ve never researched this phenomenon, it basically states that something as small as the flap of a butterfly’s wings can cause a big change in the weather somewhere else. The term is now used in psychology to apply to people — indicating that even the most small-scale decisions can impact other people and events in the long run.

I will end my address today by saying, if this is true — if we indeed can create significant changes in our future and have an effect on people when we make little decisions and take small actions — don’t we all have a responsibility to be sure we have the courage to make the best decisions and take the most positive of actions?

I leave you today with the challenge to realize that each tiny move you make can send ripples for days and even years to come. Rise up, take courage and do it. And make sure you are doing what you are doing with the most positive of intentions.

Thank you and best of luck to not only the Class of 2022, but to everyone here today.