2022 Beacon Commencement

COMMENCEMENT

MAGAZINE

MARIANDL HUFFORD

President & Head of School

Dear Spartan Families,

I am pleased to invite you to enjoy this Commencement 2023 magazine. In it, you will be able to relive all the moments of joy and celebration that were part of the graduation exercises of the incomparable Class of 2023!

After a three year hiatus, we were once again able to hold our commencement ceremony at the Adrienne Arsht Center, and what a celebration it was! It was my first experience at the Arsht, and I loved seeing the place filled with the thousands of smiling faces in the audience, and those of the students on stage.

The following pages will help you relive those magical moments, and I know this issue will become a special keepsake for each Class of 2023 family. In addition, this magazine will honor and highlight the many ways in which the newest MCDS alumni were celebrated in the last few weeks of school.

To the newly admitted alumni, the Class of 2023, on behalf of your teachers and administrators, I wish you lots of happiness and success in all your future endeavors. And as told you in my Commencement welcome: come home to us when you need to in times of challenge, and when you want to, in times of celebration. Being a member of the Spartan community does not end with graduation, but it merely enters a new chapter.

With Spartan Pride,

Mariandl Hufford President and Head of School

“

Being a member of the Spartan community does not end with graduation, but it merely enters a new chapter. ”

SCAN HERE TO VIEW ALL PHOTOS FROM THE BACCALAUREATE

12 , 13 , and 14 YEAR CLUBS

Through the 12, 13, and 14 year clubs, Miami Country Day School celebrates the members of the graduating class of 2023 that have spent nearly their entire academic career as a Spartan. These students walked onto campus as young children eager to learn and now enter the world as global citizens and young adults of substance poised to make a difference.

Stefano Dumas

Thomas Robert

Ameya Beohar

Nathaniel Giovannucci Francesco Rumiano

Lucas Crespo

Chiara Moura

Lucas Velloso

YEAR CLUB

YEAR CLUB

Maya Leoni

Cliff Halliwell

Anthony Calfa

Cody Halliwell

Rosangel Cabrera

Marley Borrow

Lucia Burton

Lucas Hansen

Josh Ader

Brooke Kovacs

Madison Castro

Pedro Silva

Logan Sennett

Samuel Netkins

GRADUATE FEATURES

INVOCATION

Audrey Mo He ‘23

What does a transformative maternal health clinic in Sierra Leone have in common with the popular teen novel The Fault in Our Stars? They are both the work of author, philanthropist, YouTube educator, and philosopher John Green. While he may be better known in his other endeavors, he most inspires me as a philosopher whose nuanced non-idealistic optimism quietly points us to all the good in the world without denying that the bad exists.

In his 2021 book “The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human Centered Planet,” Green wrote:

“You can’t see the future coming - not the terrors, for sure, but you also can’t see the wonders that are coming, the moments of light - soaked joy that await each of us.”

Class of 2023, regardless of how you feel about your future today, standing here at graduation before

STUDENT OFFERINGS

the gates of possibility, I hope you know that there are moments of lightsoaked joy awaiting all of us.

So, let us now celebrate the long journey that has led us to this new beginning. Thank you and welcome to the board of trustees, faculty, staff, family members, and friends who have joined us today in celebrating the remarkable achievements of the Class of 2023.

Kenneth Barrett ‘23

My first introduction to MCDS was in the summer prior to 6th grade when I was coming for swimming. It was there that I first met Coach Dave who suggested I think about Water Polo in addition to swimming. Setting foot on campus in the fall for the start of 6th grade, I could not have imagined that 7 years later, I would go from being the new kid to proudly serving as the president of the student body and getting ready to embark on a combined medical degree program!

But let’s take a step back. 6th grade was in 2016; Obama was wrapping up his final term, Hillary was projected to be the first female president, and few gave any belief that businessman Donald Trump would emerge from nowhere to win the presidential election. And of course, a worldwide epidemic was the last thing on our minds! We were more focused on the seven-class rotation, the Wheel track with Health, Tech, and PE, and the memorable video on bonobos by Ms. Linfield. For me personally, coming into MCDS in 6th grade from a public school, I didn’t know what to expect, since many of the students in 6th grade had already established their friendships in lower school, and I didn’t know if they’d be open to meeting me, the new redhead in the class.

So, in an effort to get to know more people, I ran for student government in 6th grade using a big neon green poster of myself (the sign really clashed with my red hair)! on the wall between Mr. Muhlig’s and Ms. Tanona’s

classrooms. And it worked! was elected, and as a result, I got to meet and become friends with a lot of people in middle school. Sometimes it was a little awkward when people would know my name from the poster and would say “hi” and I would have no idea what their name was, but people were quick to introduce themselves and thus friendships grew. I met people in the library, made friends in classes, and started establishing myself by joining the swimming and water polo teams. As I look back, it was the 7th grade trip to DC, when truly began to feel that I fit in. On this trip, I met a bunch of new people and formed a more solid group of friends. One of the amazing things about our class trips is that with each trip, we developed different friendships by being all together in a group setting away from school. There was a greater ability to connect, get to know each other, and meet people with whom you might not have any classes or other activities when on campus in the regular day to day routine.

Middle school also brought with it several other fun memories. For example, the PE classes with Coach Watson, the Core Value award ceremonies, and the ridiculously short lunch breaks that barely left us time to eat. Eventually, middle school came to an end with the 8th grade reflections and ceremony and for me with Mr. Finny calling out my size 15 shoes at the awards ceremony in front of the entire audience!

Moving forward, we were prepared to take the next step in our journey: upper school. And I believe it is in upper school that our class truly began to take shape. We lost a few people from 8th to 9th grade as they transitioned to other schools or moved to different states, but we also welcomed many new students - reflected on how I felt back in 6th grade as the new kid and made it a point to meet the new students to make them feel at home at MCDS as well.

This aspect of connection reflects the general feeling surrounding our class, and I believe we are particularly close compared to other classes. Perhaps it can be attributed to the fact that we were the first class to undergo the entirety of Covid throughout our upper school years, beginning in 9th grade. Perhaps our connections formed during middle school were also key to bringing us closer as we went thru Covid together.

In late February and early March of 2020, I remember sitting in Mr. Miguez’s Spanish Speakers II Honors class, discussing the possibility of school shutting down due to this mystery illness affecting people around the world called Covid. Some people in my class were thrilled with the prospect of having time off from school! Little did we know how long that hiatus from school would be. After our water polo match on Thursday night March 12, Coach advised us that we’d be cutting the season short “just to be on the safe side”. Ironically, our last day of school fell on Friday, March 13th, although it was like any other normal day. We went to class, gathered our things, and left for what was supposed to be a short break, not knowing that we wouldn’t be back on campus until the next school year.

We underwent a lot of changes during that time. We transitioned from in-person activities to a virtual setting, and when we came back, we had the hybrid schedule with classes in the morning or afternoon, big tents everywhere on campus, and designated directions we had to walk in around campus. Recognizing people with

masks on was a challenge (and breathing through them for the full day even more so)! It was an interesting time, to say the least. Later we transitioned to a new schedule, similar to the one we have now, with a few adjustments here and there, including the introduction of Community Time.

In addition to adapting to the new schedule and ways of interacting with each other, we also saw changes in our Administration with Ms. Robert taking over as Upper School Director. I think can speak for all of us in saying that she has done an incredible job, and has been a constant throughout our four years here in the upper school, and we are very grateful for the work she has done with and for us. Additionally, when we came into high school, we had the assistance of our new President and Head of School, Ms. Hufford. After the retirement of Dr. Davies and while we searched for the next head of school, we had our interim head of school, Mr. Connor, (who for those of you who never met him, was the guy who always walked around with a baseball cap). Ms. Hufford then took over at the start of our 9th grade year.

Many of us also saw changes in the Music Department with the retirement of Mr. Wicker, and in Water Polo with the passing of Coach Alain. But the programs continued and even grew with the addition of talented new leaders.

So what is my point with all this? It’s not to dredge up unpleasant memories or make people uncomfortable, rather, it’s to point out that during our time here, we have gone through a lot and have come out better and stronger for it, having shared the experiences together. Whether we realize it or not, we have been at the forefront of many school changes and have endured a world-altering pandemic. Our administration under Ms. Hufford has guided us through it, not by sheltering us from the changes and difficulties, but rather by ensuring we were informed and supported as needed. We have learned persistence and found ways to better cope with

personal, school, and family issues as well as ask for help when needed. We have grown stronger and matured, and I think that is the general purpose of high school. It serves as a partial transition into the adult world. Most of us here, if not all, are officially adults of voting age and can make an impact and create real change in society. As we move on to college and beyond, we have a responsibility to be informed and prepared citizens. Personally, think Miami Country Day has done a great job in preparing us for just that.

As we move on to college, let’s keep in mind and cherish the friendships, experiences, and memories we have formed here and use them to grow and learn. Each of us will take our own separate paths, and while we may see each other again for events, reunions,or funding campaigns, we will likely never all be in the same place for a common purpose like this after graduation. It’s a fact of life that we move on and move forward.

Speaking for myself, since no one else from MCDS is going to Case Western Reserve, I won’t be seeing any of you on a day-to-day basis. However, I do plan to keep in touch and see you when we return home on breaks, and will look forward to also coming to see and support the Swimming and Water Polo matches, and of course the CME performances as well! In general, let us not forget everything that we have gone through as a class, the joys, sorrows, and lessons. Let us not lose contact with our friends, teachers, and mentors. And most importantly, let us use what we have learned at Miami Country Day to make an impact and bring about meaningful change in society. have the utmost confidence in us and know that each of us has a bright future ahead of us. Thank you to everyone for making my experience at Country Day incredible these past 7 years. I will miss you greatly!

My full name is Kenneth Barrett ’23, and it has been an honor and a privilege to spend these last seven years of my life with all of you. Thank you!

VALEDICTORIAN Zakaria Djahed ‘23

VALEDICTORIAN SPEECH

To start off, I would like to comment on the old adage that if you are nervous when you speak, just imagine everyone around you is naked. I don’t recommend this; it will just conjure a bunch of weird images you never wanted to think of.

To get it out of the way, I know at least one person in the crowd is wondering: no, ChatGPT did not write this speech. It may be able to write a speech better than this, but I thought maybe it would fit to manifest some semblance of human creativity while it remains. I promise.

Good afternoon, family and friends, and welcome to the class of 2023’s graduation. First, this would not be a proper graduation speech without an exhaustive yet necessary list of thank yous:

To our parents and family, for your endless dedication to us receiving the best possible education at this institution, mine personally seeing me transform from a whiny preschooler who did not want to attend class to their child now speaking at their graduation, thank you. You were always there to keep us ambitious yet grounded; I used to want to be just like SpiderMan when I was younger until my mom told me “grow up, you are about to graduate high school”. Remember that your support drove our growth and we are forever indebted.

To all our teachers who have worked tirelessly to not only

inspire a lifelong fervor for learning and curiosity in us all, but to be our mentors and biggest advocates, I offer my deepest gratitude. Also, I’m taking full advantage of the fact that this speech is not graded, so thanks for that too.

To our class sponsor, Mr. Lovett, for stepping up to support our grade in the middle of our high school journey and doing so with flying colors, thank you.

To the administration, who have strived and succeeded in offering the best high school experience to us, keeping the school a well oiled machine during a pandemic, and working hard to ensure that we graduate at the stunning Adrienne Arsht Center for the first time in years, we are deeply grateful.

To our student government for putting in the extra hours to

make our 4 years fun and memorable, and yes, being the first class to win homecoming twice in a row in numerous years, we strongly appreciate you.

To the maintenance staff who ensured that we studied, learned, and grew on a beautiful and clean campus, thank you.

To anyone who has ever believed in any member of the class of 2023, there is no possible way we could be here without you.

To begin, picture this: You are sitting on your sofa, typing away at your keyboard for a speech that, though you have been indirectly working toward for 4 years, do not really have a roadmap for.

You see, after my time at Miami Country Day School, I can solve a triple integral and analyze Moby Dick probably a bit more than anyone would need to (thank you Mr. Brennan), but for this, I do not have an immediate answer.

You see, when I heard

my name called for this honor, I was struck with an immense sense of pride, yet found the task sort of daunting. After all, the latin root of “valedictorian” is “valedicere”, which actually does not translate to “nerd” or “he who is most sleep deprived”, it means “goodbye”. So my task here is not to lecture you on “the grind set” and what it took to reach this accolade, it is to offer one last farewell, and it is this task that I find most formidable. How would I say a goodbye that would encapsulate the range of deeply personal and formative experiences that my class experienced here? They call it “Miami Country Day and Night” for a reason; our class had an unstoppable diligence in reaching our goals, building lasting relationships with others, and crafting a better community for us all, a trait that has greatly impressed and inspired me. Plus, my 4 years at this school pale in comparison to so many who have been here as many as 14 years here. How am I supposed to, if I even can, properly capture and close all of these experiences?

As I sat with myself for a bit longer, an answer slowly became clearer. First, I figured that I owed it to myself to give it my best shot for a speech after 4 years that have profoundly pushed me and helped me grow as a person. I also considered that this would be one of the few instances of my entire life where I will be able to speak to thousands of people, and potentially maybe even move a handful. By move, I mean to move emotionally, not to move out of their seats—I will try my best to be at least a little bit entertaining. With that, I can share some wisdom—albeit perhaps a little immature—that I have garnered over my 18 years of living, and maybe crack a few jokes along the way.

The “eureka” moment really came when I remembered a conversation I had with my dad on why so many people tend to idolize their teenage and young adult years, especially in high school. I recall him saying that there exists a pervasive bond that few will experience again in life with their peers. My dad probably did not know this until hearing this right now, but this profoundly affected me and the attitude I carried as I neared the end of my high school tenure.

Many of my closest friends graduated a year before me, which, in a strange way, brought this whole phenomenon we are experiencing today a bit earlier to me, almost as if it were a test run. The very last time that we all were together before my friends departed to college I vividly remember a joyous scene where all of us were simply laughing, seemingly no other worry in the world or any other world really, just us in the comfort of each other’s company. To me, this scene seemed to be uncannily exact to what my father told me earlier. In light of the

fact that my dad said that moments like this may never come again, I did my best to capture it—just situate myself in the moment in a sort of metaphysical manner of trying to grasp the gravity of the moment I experience before it actually passes. Since then, have done my best to capture as many of these fleeting moments as I can like fireflies in ajar, buzzing brightly until the gradual fade. Every time throughout the year that I faced moments that either reminded me of my father’s words, or in general, were times with a unique and distinctive sense of beauty and fragility, I would follow that same thought process.

In no way am I advocating for people to linger on a select few moments while missing out on the broader trajectory of your life; in fact, I am favoring the opposite: understanding how these moments serve to form the greater tapestry of your high school careers, entry into this grand juncture into adulthood, and ultimately, your life as a whole. The next time that you have a good laugh with your friends, that the breeze and the sun brush your face just right, or you fall in love with something or someone, or any experience that makes you love life just a little bit more, take it and hold it for as long as you can.

Essentially, fellow classmates, what I ask you to do, and by extension, avoid, is well described by Pink Floyd in one of their masterpieces “Time”:

“And then one day you find ten years have got behind you / No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun”

Please, don’t undergo the tragedy of missing that starting gun. Yes, understand that this year we had to go through a lot of waiting. We eagerly anticipated our next sports games, Model UN conferences, theater and music performances, and senior events. We pestered our teachers asking when assignments would be graded. We even lay awake at night counting the days until a college decision would finally be released. Trust me, am guilty as charged when it comes to all of this. While all of this waiting is a natural component of the stresses of senior year, don’t let it make you “miss the starting gun” and let the moments that matter pass you by. To the class of 2023, when that diploma is placed upon your palm, challenge you to capture that moment and as many as you can thereafter.

Let the past be what teaches you, your present what engages you, and your future what motivates you.

The more I speak, the more I feel the inevitability that, just like those fireflies in ajar, the class of 2023’s shared experiences shall too fade. Even if you mentally checked out as soon as I started mentioning imagining people naked when you give speeches, which I completely understand if you did, please bear with me for a little longer and just remember a few things. First, never forget how critical gratitude is. It might seem cliché, but to me, it is a guideline to living. As easily dismissable as saying “thank you” might be, there may be no more common regret than not offering your thanks to those who have led you all to the wonderful place you stand today. If you have yet to express your gratitude to someone important to you, be it a teacher, a family member, or a long lost friend, say thank you before a deeper tinge of regret sinks in. Be grateful for your privilege and seek not how to serve yourself, but how you can serve others. One of the most inspiring and moving acts of gratitude and service I have seen is when a friend of mine, one who is graduating here with us today, gifted an extremely special record (The Door’s debut album as an original

copy from 1967) to a teacher. When I asked why he would do this as opposed to selling an antique that could easily have provided him a handsome sum of money, he responded that he “rather make someone else happy”. To reach this level of gratitude and kindness will be a lifelong goal that I will strive for, and one that I hope you will join me in doing.

Lastly, there will be no shortage of changes coming up in our lives. If anything, I could have probably just read “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost as a substitute for this speech and it would have probably been adequate. You all will learn, laugh, and love, and I am so excited for all that you will face. Don’t forget to identify those times and capture them, holding them so close to you that they hold the same affirmation for life and power as they did when you first experienced them. If you don’t find that these types of moments in your life happen often enough, take the initiative to make them happen more often.

I guess all that I am trying to say is best summarized by a quote, the typical manner of concluding a graduation speech, at least according to Google. No, this one is not from Gandhi, and not even from Sun Tzu. It is from Tim Robbins’s character Andy Dufresne from one of my favorite films, The Shawshank Redemption: “I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living or get busy dying.” To Miami Coundry Day School’s class of 2023, before you get busy packing for college, before you get busy heading to your next vacation, and even before you get busy opening that diploma and flipping that tassel to the left side of your cap, get busy living.

Thank you and congratulations to the class of 2023!

SALUTATORIAN

Audrey Mo He ‘23

SALUTATORIAN SPEECH

The class of 2023 is the class that has changed, and will continue to change, the world. We are already a class of activists, environmentalists, educators, writers, artists, actors, mathematicians, and so much more. Some of my dearest friends have built libraries in Malawi, changed school curriculums to incorporate indigenous voices, and held crucial, lifesaving blood drives for those in need. So, imagine the pressure when I was told that I was supposed to share my wisdom with these brilliant peoplewith you brilliant people. Anyways... here goes nothing.

As a class, we’ve had really really great days together, and some really

not great ones too. From late-night cramming before exams, to online schooling during COVID, to now, we’ve been through a lot together. But my favorite part about our class is that we’ve never taken ourselves too seriously - even amidst the pressure of college applications and senior grades, we’ve never been afraid to laugh and party and just celebrate the fact that we exist. A few weeks ago, it seemed like we all wanted this day to come a little faster. But now, now that it’s goodbye, I have to admit a cliche - I want it all to slow down.

In reminiscing about my past, I remembered this story that think perfectly encapsulates the past

4 years. When arrived in Miami in 9th grade, I didn’t know what MLA formatting meant because my previous school in Belize hadn’t used computers. So, there I was, sitting in my world history class with the notes app open on my computer, because I hadn’t quite figured out how Google Docs worked yet, trying to discreetly search what M. L. A stood for. I didn’t dare ask anyone for help because I was just so embarrassed that I didn’t know something that seemed so fundamental. I could’ve just failed history. But I didn’t. Because, somehow, my then English teacher, Mr. Brown found out about this situation and kindly helped me to figure things out.

Those first few weeks were definitely a humbling experience, but today, looking back to the peersturned-friends who helped me pass my first biology exam, to the teachers who withstood hours of obvious questions without complaint, and to the administrators who helped me with my strange sche- duling requests, what strikes me most about that time is not my struggles but the incredible amount of support that the Miami Country Day community offered every step of the way.

I was always really confused by the question “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I mean, when was six, I was sure I wanted to be a paleontologist because I thought the T-Rex was awesome. But then wanted to be anthropologist, then a doctor, then an engineer- I basically cycled through every career on the planet. The more I actually ‘grew up’ the more nervous

I became, because, in all the media I consumed, the quote unquote smart characters always seemed to know exactly what they wanted to do with their lives from day one. But then I came to Country Day. Miami Country Day is a school that truly, purposefully, and remarkably, celebrates exploration and experimentation.

The world refuses to tell us this, so I will. Class of 2023: We are so young.

We are all so young. We shouldn’t have to know what we are doing yet.

I mean, a month ago, we were still asking permission to use the bathroom, and now we’re supposed to have our entire careersour entire lives- mapped out. My message to you, the class of 2023 is: don’t.

Because life is full of possibility and people change.

How could I know what I want to do in 10 years, when 10 years ago, I was a child who could not even imagine the person I am now. How could you?

My friends, in your pursuits of happiness, continue what Miami Country Day School has already taught us:

do not dwell in absolute futures; rather, build a framework in which you improvise.

Explore without the restriction of surety. That sense of wonder, that ability you have to experiment without distinct objectives? Nurture it.

Work towards your goals, but don’t work because of them.

Work because you enjoy your work. Fight for what you believe, but don’t fight to believe in them. Change your mind whenever you need to.

And most importantly, keep the dreams that you have today, but don’t keep to them.

Dreams are meant to change and grow and be messy and confusing and force you to see the worldto fall in love with the world. Dreams are what empower you to really LIVE.

Tonight, Class of 2023, we honor MCDS by celebrating our past, but tomorrow, hope you will do so by truly, truly living your futures.

Congratulations my friends and thank you.

CLASS PRESIDENT

As the senior class president of the nowgraduating class of 2023, hereby bestow the flag of the Class of 2024 to Harry Florin. I should start off this benediction by saying thank you to all that accompanied us throughout our academic career in Miami Country Day School. To the teachers, the faculty, the parents, and to ourselves, we should be grateful for the way we’ve changed our time in the school for the better. I should also mention how it’s been a true honor to be your class president and now the final speaker at our graduation ceremony. I look towards a poem from the author Paulo Coelho, as he reflects on his life:

It’s not always enough to be forgiven by someone, In most cases you have to forgive yourself first...

That no matter how many pieces your heart is broken into, the world doesn’t stop to fix it.

Maybe God wants us to meet all the wrong people first before meeting the right one…

So when we finally meet the right one we are grateful for that gift.

When the door of happiness closes, another door opens... but often we look so long at the closed one... we don’t see what was open for us... The best kind of a friend is the kind in which you can sit on a porch and walk. Without saying a word & when you leave it feels it was the best conversation you ever had. It’s true we don’t know what we have until we find it, but it’s also true, we don’t know what we’ve been missing until it arrives... It only takes a minute to offend someone, an hour to like someone, a day to love someone, but it takes a lifetime to forget someone.

Class of 2023, it’s been a good ride. We’ll miss you all dearly, and it’ll truly take a lifetime to forget the times we spent together.

Pedro Silva ‘23

AWARDS & HONORS

SENIOR ALUMNI AWARD

Kristina Godfrey ‘23

The Alumni Award was established in 1996 by the Alumni Association to recognize a member of the senior class who has exhibited a commitment to and concern for the well-being of the student body as well as the school community. This year’s recipient has maintained a high standard of excellence and distinguished herself through her work and personal accomplishments throughout her 6 years at Country Day. She continuously embodies the characteristics of our core values: purpose, honor, respect, wisdom, and compassion.

Ms. Kelly had this to say:

“Just as Kristina has excelled in Spanish, she has continued to grow into an inspirational, generous, and competent leader. She was a captain of our state champion girls’ basketball team, a chair in our school’s annual Walk with Purpose to raise funds for cancer research, and a class representative on the Student Government. As the Student Government advisor, I rely heavily on her sense of responsibility and leadership to make wonderful things happen for the student body.”

Ms. Sardina shared the following remarks:

“Among her greatest contributions to MCDS has been ‘inspiring school and team spirit in her class with the goal of creating an enjoyable community now, that will result in dedicated alumni.’

Undeniably, Kristina is the type of person who we all hope remains a part of our community long after graduation.”

And Class Sponsor, Mr. Lovett mentioned that:

“Kristina played a central role in uniting the Class of 2023 especially in the Homecoming events in both Junior and Senior years. She would organize and delegate to increase participation and efficiency. But anything she asked of others, she demanded more of herself. She has an energy and spirit that is contagious and a work ethic that is out of this world. She is admired by her peers and teachers alike.”

After reading the remarks shared by her teachers, it sounds like Kristina has left a lasting impact here at Miami Country Day School, and has a bright future ahead of her at Florida Atlantic University where she will continue sharing her basketball talent for the Owls.

As the Alumni Board President, it is my honor and privilege to present the 2023 Senior Alumni Award to, Kristina Godfrey.

TRUSTEES’ AWARD

The Trustees’ Award for General Excellence recognizes the graduating senior who exemplifies excellence in academics, citizenship, responsibility, and character to the highest degree. This award goes to the all-around, most outstanding senior.

A National Merit Scholar, this year’s recipient is motivated by his love of learning, not the pursuit of recognition. “Whether learning from books, teachers, videos, articles, experiences, internships,” he told Mr. Spatig, his college counselor.

“I always enjoy learning new things and being intellectually stimulated.”

His AP Calculus BC teacher, Mr. Hutsko, concurs. “He was a highly engaged learner who was fully committed to achieving a deep understanding of the material.

His thoughtful inquiries enriched the class experience and made it a more robust learning environment for everyone in the room.

He shared with me his enjoyment of the lively class discussions as well as the culture of working collaboratively. His clarity of communication was undeniable and his strong ability to think mathematically made him an asset to any group who was lucky enough to have him. Not only was he unwavering in his desire to share his knowledge and ideas, but he also appreciated the ‘fresh perspective’ others often contributed to the problems at hand.”

“Mature and wise beyond his years,” comments

Mariandl Hufford, President and Head of School,

Kenneth Barrett ‘23

He is THE person on whom I can rely to tell me the unvarnished truth about how the student body perceives administrative decisions. Similarly, I have seen him correct his peers when they, as adolescents can sometimes do, exaggerate the impact of a decision.

One example occurred during our recent rebranding efforts. The original design of the logo was not popular with students, and the students were articulate about why they felt the way they did. We took their feedback to the design firm, who proposed strong alternatives. When we went back to the student group, He was the person to acknowledge how grateful he was that we had accepted student feedback. It is this type of behavior that has earned him the respect, not just from the adults in the MCDS community, but from his peers as well. If being elected president of the student body can often be only the result of a young person’s popularity, this was not the case in his case.

He proudly leads the student body because he works hard on behalf of it and has earned his peers’ respect.”

“How can mere words describe a person with the character of Jiminy Cricket?” concludes Ms. Kelly, Dean of Student Activities. “This remarkable person is a dedicated and intelligent student, who is also a leader, also an innovator, also an athlete, also bilingual in English and Spanish, also a musician, also elected to the Homecoming Court and to be the President of the Student Body.

Miami County Day School has been incredibly blessed by having him as a student.

only in ninth grade, he became an active member of the Student Government from day one. He was (and continues to be) thoughtful, wise, and meticulous. He accepted responsibility for many events and followed through from the planning stages to turning off the lights when the events were finished. He has inspired the respect and confidence of his classmates, and they have chosen him to represent their class for all four years of their upper school tenure.

As President of the Student Body, he has the benefit of being both comfortable speaking on a stage and being wise and sincere. When he speaks, people genuinely want to listen. While Student Government takes up much of his time, he has also carefully carved out time for swimming and water polo, the Christian Student Union, the Community Service Board, CAUSE, and to co-create HOSA, a club for students interested in medicine and the health profession. While this might sound like the activities of a professional resume builder, this is not the case. I have been at Miami Country Day School for 22 years,” concludes Ms. Kelly,

In the Fall, this year’s recipient will enroll in the PreProfessional Scholars Program in Medicine at Case Western Reserve University. He dreams of working for Doctors Without Borders and possesses a strong desire to incorporate his interest in medicine with his desire to serve his Latino community. His AP Biology teacher, Mr. Konen, is confident that he will make an excellent physician.

“He possesses the holy trinity of Hippocratic traits: He is a strong critical thinker, he is detail oriented, and his integrity is unimpeachable.

I have zero doubt that he will end up being the type of doctor I would trust with my life if I ever ended up in his emergency room.”

It is for all these reasons that I am pleased to present Kenneth Barrett IV, the Trustees Award for the Class of 2023.

He is an athlete and scholar, a leader and musician. When he gets involved with a group or activity, he gives his all. He is not easily defined in a single dimension but is a truly well-rounded and simply extraordinary human being.

Five years ago, members of the Contemporary Music Ensemble were all enamored and awed by a young 8th grader who came up from the Middle School band to play the keyboard in CME. They recommended that he run for Student Government, and as the Student Government sponsor, I became his advisor. Although he was

“and while we have had many magnificent students, there has never been anyone like him, and I doubt there will soon be another.”

“He is clear-headed, honest, and exudes integrity and common sense in equal measure.

MIAMI COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL CONGRATULATES THE CLASS OF 2023

DEAR GRADUATES,

The Country Day community has admired your strength, intellectual curiosity, and commitment to your education during these unprecedented times. You have shown us resilience in the face of challenge and have done so with good character, while practicing our Core Values of Purpose, Honor, Respect, Wisdom, and Compassion. Your community is extremely proud of you. Class of 2023, you will forever be in our hearts.

Celine Grace Acra

Joshua Adam Ader

Zachary Hayes Arnold

Hailey Grace Asseus

Kenneth Linn Barrett IV

Joseph Bassett V

Maya Charlotte Baudoin Marchand*

Emilio Belmonte Bierbaum*

Ameya Prakash Beohar

Amy Bhakta

Amina Akhmedovna Bilalova

Tatiana Ella Blasky

Felipe Blaya

Marley Borrow

Tristan Care Bradley

Isaac Lagrandeur Brown

Stuart Edward Browning Jr.

Lucia Flansburg Burton

Carlos D. Cabán

Rosangel Brisel Cabrera

Anthony Ross Calfa

Max Castanon

Madison Agustina Castro

Caitlin Sarah-Ann Cherenfant

Anna Weiss Cohen

Ava Helena Cohen

Lucas Fernando Crespo

Joao Victor Brennand da Fonte

Naveyah Lillian Damon

Shaelyn Bronte Davis

COLLEGE ACCEPTANCE LIST

Luca Manuel de Heusch-Desquiron

Nicolas Peter De La Cadena

Francesco Di Giuseppe

Mariana Diaz Coba

Zakaria Djahed

Sean Edward Doughty

Stefano Harry Dumas

Sami Ben Karim Elkamel

Matias Ferreira De Melo

Chloe Michelle Gaudet

Avraham Yehuda Gil

Nathaniel Robert Giovannucci

Sloane Natalie Gittler

Kristina Anne Godfrey

Sara Gomez

Colin Jacob Grant

Addyson Dellores Greene

Sophia Marie Guarini

Isabella Guevara

Cliff O’Coin Halliwell

Cody O’Coin Halliwell

Jaydy Juliane Hammond

Lucas Adrian Hansen

Samuel Asher Hare

Chaya Hazan

Audrey Mo He

Jude Harold Held

Timothy Sean Houser

Daniella Rae Judge

Alexis Howard Kaplan

Aïcha Keita

Reese Audrey Knapp

Anna Knyshova

Agustin Kohen

Brooke Danielle Kovacs

Enzo Matteo Lagrassa-Gillet

Nina Le Troadec

Maya Ruth Leoni

Sophia Isabella Lopez

Carl Olmare Louis

Charlotte Annis Manhire Brett

Riccardo Mascialino

Isabella Elia Mateo

Cole Maxwell McCabe

Jasai Alexander Miles

Chiara Estrada Moura

Elias Muniz Rodriguez

Gianna Grace Murdocco

Natalya Beth Neal*

Samuel Brenner Netkin

Valentina Oropeza Rodrigues

Xavia Losceria Orr

Lucas Philip Ortegon

Noah Agustin Perazzo

Nicholas Furlaneto Perez Hanley Ramirez Jr.

Layla Alexandra Reese

Danielle Sarah Respler

Scarlett Gregory Richards

Luis Angel Rincon Jr.

Cassandra Noelle Rivera

Thomas Jules Robert

Alejandro Rodriguez

Alesia Rodriguez Aldrey

Francesco Mario Rumiano

Maximilian Nicholas Ruskowski

Ian Sauer

Julian Eugene Schwartz

Logan Marie Sennett

Carmen Irene Serrano Bigles

Contessa Bella Sharp

Annabelle Shiff

Pedro Henrique Silva

Dylan Matthew Smiley

Sophia Marin Stoute

Hartley Isaac Sussman

Edgar Sebastian Teran

Ella Michaelle Tran

Lauryn Marie Turk

Isabella Urbina

Sofia Vasileva

Lucas Velloso

Marc Evan Wendrow

Lauren Elizabeth White

Breanna La Rue Wolfschlag

Jacob Wyka

Carla Jocelyne Zmirou

MIAMI COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

OF END-OF-YEAR

“

Do not dwell in absolute futures; rather, build a framework in which you improvise.

EVERY STUDENT. EVERY DAY. EVERYWHERE.

THE BEACON Congrat - ulations

Dreams are meant to change and grow.

Miami Country Day School

MCDS

20 23

You are, forever more, Spartans.

NEW TRADITIONS

FROM THE RIGHT FIT TO THE RIGHT FUTURE. Every Student. Every Day. Everywhere.

“To the class of 2023 , when that diploma is placed upon your palm, I challenge you to capture that moment and as many as you can thereafter. ”

CONGRATULATIONS

EVERY STUDENT. EVERY DAY. EVERYWHERE.

Live life to the & reach for the

Dreams are meant to change and grow

OF 2023 MOMENTS

THE CLASS OF 2023

TRADITIONS

The Spartan experience is steeped in many traditions that emphasize our lifelong commitment to our community. MCDS trustees, alumni, faculty, and staff who have a family member that is graduating have the honor of participating in the commencement ceremony by presenting their graduate with their diploma.

#OnceaSpartanAlwaysaSpartan

Devotion

CEREMONY SPEECHES

As your high school career draws to a close, let us pause to express our gratitude for everyone and everything that have brought us to this moment, appreciation for the relationships you have made, and hope for your future successes and prosperity.

Today, you are fortunate to be joined by your friends and family, both in-person and virtually.

“During your time at Country Day, you have been empowered to grow intellectually and develop your moral compass.”

Your hearts have been inspired to develop your natural gifts and, now, it is time for you to leave your youth behind. Now, it is time to walk forward to be the fine young adults we know you have been prepared to be.

As you go away to college, we hope that guiding love may accompany you. May you always honor yourself, your family, and pledge devotion to and compassion for all people.

We wish good fortune to your parents who seek to continue to support you in your development of sound scholarship and upstanding character.

“We ask that you look for inspiration in the wisdom of others and find ways to share that inspiration.”

May you find the grace to accept this transition from home to college or other endeavors as a part of your greater plan in the progress and development of your lives.

“We ask that you find the courage to live positively and earnestly through every difficult situation, looking unto your higher wisdom for sustenance and encouragement.”

May you be accorded good health, loving families, loyal friends, and diligence in your life-long pursuits. Enjoy the Journey.

Upper School Associate Director 2023 Baccalaureate

MICHAEL HUTSKO

Class Sponsor

Seniors. Class of 2023. Here we are at the end of this journey. Our last time as a group in CFA. I am so proud of the group of students that I see before me. I see scholars, and artists, and athletes. Champion athletes, and in many fields.

You know, let me rephrase that, see champion scholars of all sorts, champion artists, champion athletes, two-time Homecoming champions, champion writers, champion entrepreneurs, champion innovators, some champion comedians (well, some of you?), champion scientists, champion musicians and

actors, champion designers, champion global citizens (I think there are a few of you I’ve been with in Rome, London, Dublin and Paris just in the last year and a half - keep traveling the world and keep checking out the museums!)

I see champion humanitarians. I see those who champion a cause. I see a group of students who champion each other. Anytime you might hear someone putting another person down and say “wait, that’s not really fair…” you are championing someone else. Champion friends.

“Sometimes learning to champion for yourself is a big victory.”

I see 117 unique champions. All in your own way.

And it has been my honor to be the class sponsor for the past two years.

So I spent some time thinking about what I would use for the speech. Should I find a profound quote, should I use ChatGPT?

But I kept coming back to the Senior trip in August. It is one of the few times, beyond class meetings, when we really spent time together as a group. got to see all of you!

I hope everyone enjoyed the trip as much as I did. But I was looking for observations or lessons from the trip.

So here are 4 that I hope you’ll use in the future.

Well, first of all, some of you are surprisingly good at axe throwing, and I’m not sure what to make of that.

But I think the first lesson we all learned was in the airports. Think back to the check-in experience here in Miami versus Pittsburgh. This would apply to the group on my plane. I don’t know anything about the guy who checked us in here in Miami, but I suspect he was having a bad day. And then he saw 70, 80 kids all show up at the same time. Remember this? He made us all check in individually and check every bag. It took forever. Coming back, they printed all of the passes at once, checked only the bags needed and we were in and out quickly.

“So lesson #1Attitude is everything.”

We all have bad days. That’s life. Sometimes we all need time to step back. But in general, your attitude will help set the out-come of any situation.

That guy in the airport, he probably made his own day worse. If someone is determined to fail or to be miserable, they probably will be.

But once we were at the resort the alpine slide was a favorite. So this brings us to lesson #2. Yes, some of you could beat your teachers down the course, but that’s not the lesson. Think about those carts. If you hesitate too much, it’s going to take forever to get down. You push too hard and go too fast, and we had some spills.

“Lesson #2 - it’s all about pacing.”

Of course, you want to push yourself, but not to the point where you spill. Now in real life, this could be about burning out. Pushing yourself to the point where your work gets sloppy, or pushing yourself to sickness and stress. Where that perfect spot is between motivation and self-care, that’s different for everyone. There is no magic formula that I know of. So find some balance in life. Sometimes you’ll need to push yourself more. Sometimes you’ll just need a down day. Listen to yourself.

But the big event of the Senior trip is always the rafting! You can see exactly where this is going. You don’t need ChatGPT, these speeches write themselves.

You get on the beautiful river and sometimes, the waters are rougher than you think. But you’re not alone on the raft. You have a guide. Someone who has done this before. But they can’t do it for you, they tell you and everyone on the raft what to do. Everyone has to listen, and paddle as instructed to get through the rough waters. Everyone pulls their weight. Sometimes it works smoothly, sometimes not.

Sometimes people go overboard. It doesn’t matter who it is, you need to extend a hand to help, literally in this case.

Think of this as a metaphor of your senior year, your high school years, or life itself. Mentors are all around you if you just ask, watch and listen. Sometimes a mentor is simply someone who has been through it before you. But you have to do the work yourself. Surround yourself with good people. People who will stick their hand

out for you when needed. And be willing to help others when they need it. We all need it, and sometimes it happens unexpectedly.

“Lesson #3 - the rafting lesson. Mentors, good teams, pull your weight, and helping hands.”

But my favorite part of the trip was the campfire. There is something about sitting around a fire. It’s entrancing. You can be sitting with a large group and it gets quiet. People don’t feel the need to talk. And yet, it’s still a bonding experience. Looking at water is also like thisthe ocean or flowing river. It could be sitting and listening to a rainstorm.

So what’s the fourth and final lesson here?

“Lesson #4 - Take time, or better yet, make time, for the quiet moments.”

Try to stop your mind from racing off to other things. Life goes by fast. You will treasure these quiet moments as you get older.

The airport, the alpine slide, the rafting, and the campfire…

Keep a good attitude, pace yourself, look for mentors all around you, surround yourself with good people, lend a helping hand, and cherish the quiet moments in life.

I hope you will all take these lessons from our Senior rafting trip off to college and future adventures.

So, as we prepare for our final event tomorrowgraduation. Let’s take a moment to be thankful for the people that have brought us here - your families, your teachers, your college counselors, the administration, the staff, the amazing class officers got to work with both years, and each other.

Class of 2023. We made it. You are all champions in my eyes.

I wish you all the best tomorrow, at college and into the future.

Thank you and congratulations!

Senior

MARIANDL HUFFORD

MATTHEW ABESS ’04

I hope you can look back on your time with us and revel in the times you were stretched and grew, for those are the times you will feel the greatest sense of pride and they will remind you, the next time you have a hill to climb, that you can do this.

Seniors (for can still call you that for an hour or two), on the cusp of this new chapter in your lives, I congratulate you on your achievements. Among you are artists who light up the stage and have captivated us with the startling beauty of your images. Among you are activists who challenge the norms of our times, advocate for those less fortunate; you are global citizens who understand the responsibility of taking care of our precious earth and the people on it. You have challenged yourselves in academic pursuits, walked for cancer, spoke up for those less fortunate, and played every sport we offer. Together, over the last four years, you completed 27,989 hours of communi-

ty service! You have won awards in academics, athletics, and the arts.

“Truly, your talents are all-encompassing, you have brought our whole child philosophy to life by your stellar example - and you have let us all bask in your reflected glory.”

This board of trustees, administration, this faculty and staff on behalf of whom speak today, are proud of what you have accomplished and the lasting mark you have left on this School.

And on behalf of them, I want to convey the hopes I have, we have, for you in your future.

As a class, you have proven to us that, in this world, what brings us together is much greater than what divides us. Hold onto that truth and forge your future path willing to debate with others’ the perspectives and opinions you hold dear - and continue to be willing to consult others’ perspectives and be open to testing your own. That will be how you contribute to the healing of our world.

I hope you will continue to lead your lives with the compassion and love you have shown each other and those less fortunate - and find that kindness and compassion grow your own heart, your own fulfillment, like little else can.

I hope you will come home to us when you need to, in times of challenge, and when you want to, in times of celebration. Being a member of the Spartan community does not end today - it merely enters a new chapter.

“You are, forever more, Spartans.”

And my final hope for you is that you truly know how much it has been my personal privilege to see you grow and thrive. You have fueled my purpose, and I am ready and eager to see what you will do next, for I have no doubt that each of you has the potential to make a profound impact on the world. Congratulations!

Thank you, Mariandl, for your kind introduction, from which you all might rightly conclude that I am uniquely unqualified to be offering either advice or inspiration. Nevertheless, here we are, so I’ll do my best.

When my father asked me what intended to speak about today, I had to admit that I wasn’t quite sure. He suggested that think back to my own high school graduation, though that proved fruitless given that I could not recall for the life of me who spoke or what was said. Turns out my that it was my father who delivered the commencement address. It was an awkward conversation. And even now, I have no idea what he said.

The point here is that I fully expect that most of you— possibly all of you—will remember nothing of what I say up here today. So, let’s kick things off with a single word, and if you take nothing else with you today, let this word be your guide: compassion.

Class of 2023: Everyone in this room is in awe of you. Your families, friends, faculty, and loved ones. I even heard word that among some members of the administration—**clears throat** Mariandl [Ms. Hufford] and Jill [Ms. Robert]—there was talk of finding a pretense for not letting you graduate just so they could keep you

all around longer. had the pleasure of getting to meet some of you over the past few weeks, and I understand their sentiment. You have achieved so much over these past years. You have, as Mariandl noted, served your community in remarkable ways. You have developed curriculum for the school, as well as for the State of Florida overall. You have built libraries in Belize and brought national exhibitions to campus. And while this is hardly a measure of your worth, it behooves me at least to mention the college acceptance stats, which are nothing short of remarkable.

You have endured so much as well. You lived through a pandemic. You have grieved many losses, both personal and communal. You have found common cause in your community, even as the nation and the world remain embroiled in anxiety and disunion.

As we contend with the demands of everyday life, it can be difficult enough to find a footing in our own time, let alone situate our experiences in the long arc of history. It will fall to some later generation to parse what is from what matters, and it is a fool’s errand to try and predict how that will then be condensed into a textbook chapter for yet another generation to read. Yet even as the particulars remain elusive, it seems quite clear that you are living through uncommonly pivotal times.

To be certain, every generation has its defining traumas. For my parents, it was the war in Vietnam and the struggle for Civil Rights. For me, as for my peers, it was September 11th, the War on Terror, and the 2008 financial crisis. For your generation, it seems like it’s everything. Just over the course of your high school years, you’ve seen a global health crisis, eruptions of collective violence, a land war in Europe, the most persistent inflation in over forty years. On the East Coast, we have flooding; the west coast is burning; rivers and reservoirs are drying up. It is, to put it a mildly, a bit of a mad world out there.

These things and others, we can see clearly with our own eyes, and I have no doubt that you all will play a part in working through an array of remedies. But there is another crisis at hand right now—just as immediate, though altogether more insidious. Let us call this crisis a moral panic. As a student at MCDS, you likely have been

President & Head of School Commencement Address

MCDS Commencement Address

well-insulated from this panic; as a soon-to-be Spartan grad, you are also uniquely equipped to answer it with compassion and moral clarity.

The contours of this particular panic are mellifluous; its consequences, far-reaching. And it sounds something like this (courtesy of the Chair of the Escambia County, FL School Board): “I wondered why so many students had mental health issues and disciplinary problems, bad disciplinary problems. believe they’re being poisoned by what they hear and what they read.”

Not the pandemic. Not climate change. Not the economy, war, civil unrest, nor the seemingly endless parade of school shootings. No.

“It is ‘what they hear and what they read.’ And the most poisonous content, it seems, is that which attends to history without fear or favor, as though there is nothing more injurious to the young mind than seeing things as they truly were, or hearing the echoes of the past in our own time.”

Book bans, censorship, the terrifyingly dystopic “reshelving”, as they now call here in Florida—whatever term you prefer, it is, in every case, an exercise in erasure.

My first encounter with these currents came about some seven or so years ago, in response to a funding proposal for an exhibition of New Deal-era public art for federal buildings in the American South—basically, government-funded mural projects from the 1930s. As a rule, when organizing a museum exhibition, the material must guide the narrative. Rather than mapping an idea over an array of objects, you take artworks and artifacts and let them tell the story. You find the thread that binds them. And if you look at these works from the 1930s, a clear thread emerges, namely, the role of race and

labor in the formation of modern society.

No surprises here: funding denied. Based not on the merits, but on objections to the content, and especially to a single work: a 1938 mural study, produced as part of a Treasury Department competition inviting artists to submit works on the theme of law for the downtown Miami federal courthouse. This one submission (which did not win) depicted the backbreaking construction of the Tamiami Trail by a chain gang comprised of Black prisoners—a not uncommon sight throughout the Florida at that time. Per the state, the piece did not provide an accurate picture of Florida history. A strange position to take, mind you, since that is exactly how the Tamiami Trail was built.

Until recently, such denials of the historical record struck me (naively) as unthinkable, or at the least, highly aberrant. Then came the new social studies books in Texas, following guidelines developed by the State Board of Education. The most outrageous changes to content received some national attention—much less so, the grammatical sleights of hand.

Believe it or not, grammar is a powerful thing. It carries moral weight. Admittedly, my therapist, my rabbi, and my mother all agree that have a neurotic disposition toward language. Fair enough. But is it truly pathological if there’s something to it? Let’s consider this one example before turning back to Texas.

Think back to your studies of American poetry and, specifically, Emily Dickinson. Try to recall how her work appeared on the page. Was it printed with fluid lineation and traditional punctuation and capitalization? The answer is probably yes. Yet that is not how it was written. Dickinson’s work is replete with unconventional line breaks, hyphenation, choppy clauses; the clipped cadence of thought in motion; the movements of a vibrant mind, a vibrant woman’s mind, which perhaps is why editors of selected and anthologized editions regu-

larized her writing. They domesticated Dickinson. Maybe her mind made people uncomfortable, as a woman’s mind working in unconventional ways often still does.

So what happened grammatically to those textbooks in Texas? First, consider what you all have learned about how to construct a sentence. You begin with a subject and a predicate, and you build out your sentence from there. One of the consequences is that you can assign agency to actions, and thereby know who is responsible for whatever occurs. The sentence allows for accountability.

These textbooks, however, are marked by an overwhelming use of the passive voice; more specifically, in the chapters that address the history of slavery, anything that was done to slaves is rendered in the passive voice. As though no hands were holding the whips; rather, the whips merely cracked themselves. This is how young people across the American South are learning about that history.

Another thing came to my attention more recently. As Mariandl mentioned, part of my academic expertise is teaching the Holocaust through literature, film, and other media. So I was a bit flabbergasted when I learned that certain counties in Tennessee had banned the teaching of Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize - winning work, Maus, a two-volume graphic novel by the son of survivors of Auschwitz. It is about the experience of the Holocaust as well as generational trauma. The characters are drawn as specific animals: Jews as mice, Nazis as cats, and everybody else as a dog. It’s a difficult book, to be sure, as it deals with an impossibly difficult subject. In their efforts to remove Maus from the school curriculum, school board members suggested that the book was too rife with “rough” and “objectionable” language. In a book about the Holocaust, people objected to bad words. They prefer to teach the work of Anne Frank, though not the whole Diary of a Young Girl. Students will instead be reading an edited version that removes all mention of female desire and the experience of going through puberty. Think about this for a moment: the school board has removed roughness from genocide and the experience of being a young woman from the diary of a young woman.

Florida is now at the forefront of this “reshelving” movement. And it’s not just those titles that have featured prominently in the press, like novels by Toni Morrison or picture books about penguins. For those students who labored so hard to have financial literacy added to the statewide curriculum, those textbooks have also been sent back for revision for including not only the pros, but also the cons of an unfettered free market.

We are witness to a movement that fosters panic as a

pretext to deny young people like yourselves an education rooted in the humanist tradition—a tradition that privileges clarity over obfuscation, dissension over negation, existence over annihilation.

Civil society cannot thrive in such a fog. It must be nurtured in the light of day, before and alongside our fellow citizens— free to think, free to speak, free to teach, and free to read. Such freedoms, though they should be a right, are being denied to your peers receiving a public education here in Florida. While they should be a right, they are, for now, a privilege—one you all have shared as students at Miami Country Day.

Yours has been an educational journey that values you as you are; that respects your intellect and honors your voice; that believes in the wisdom of young people, seeking nothing more nor less than to uphold your dignity, nurture your inherent excellence, and provide the resources required for a life lived with purpose.

Those diplomas that you see on the table over there are going to open doors for you. When you get to college, apply for internships and jobs, network in this and other communities, you will be looked upon with favor as a Miami Country Day graduate. Think about what you will do with that power as you move through the phases of life that await.

In a typical commencement address, this is the part where would say, “My challenge to you is . . .”. But I reckon you’ve faced enough challenges already, and certainly many more await. What I have, instead, is an appeal:

“Take what you have learned as students at Country Day and teach those around you who have been denied the same. Carry with you these core values—purpose, respect, honor, and, most of all, compassion—and bring them to bear on all that you do.”

Speak clearly and with kindness for what is good and what is right. Show others the world as it truly has been and give them reason to be hopeful for what it may one day be.

I know that many of you will leave town in the next few months to explore the world and continue your education outside of Miami - Dade. Here, then, is the last part of my appeal:

Someday soon, find your way back home, because now, more than ever, our community needs you.

speaker

JILL ROBERT

Chief Student Experience Officer Upper School Director

You are a group of young adults that knows how to do this. As a class, you were admitted to 210 universities and colleges within the United Stated and around the world. That is an incredible feat all by itself, and especially given all of the challenges your class has had to endure since 2020. Of those admits, as a group you have committed to attending 57 different higher education institutions. That is about every one out of two of you that will be attending a university of your choice in a different region, state, and even country. The incredible diversity of those institutions and programs of choice represents your

class well for each one of you are distinct and you have each made your mark during your Upper School years in your own way.

And what a mark you have made both at MCDS and on a national level!

“To name a few accomplishments, thirty of you earned a diploma endorsement this year, which is the most for any graduating class.”

Essentially this is equivalent to studying a major while in high school. The extra dedication and

hard work it takes to earn an endorsement speaks volumes about your desire to learn and achieve excellence in your studies. Additionally, you have sitting among you three National Merit ScholarsKenneth, Isaac and Zak— and one Silver Knight winner Chaya.

Although external validation should never be the reason to work hard, it is a wonderful feeling when your hard work is recognized by others.

These are but a few examples of the accomplishments of your class. They are important, but what is truly amazing about the Class of 2023

Your class is that class.

You are truly an incredible group of students that have have had a unique relationship through your years here. Many of you have known since Lower School. I have fond memories of watching you walk in your little lines when your uniforms were so big they were hanging off your little 3, 4, and 5 year old selves. And I have had the distinct privledge of watching your journey unfold firsthand.

that hasn’t already been said? Simply that you are a remarkable group who has left your mark on the hearts and minds of the fellow Spartans who have been lucky enough to have witnessed your journey.

is that you are a class we love and will miss dearlyand I really mean this - I’m not just saying it because I’m a parent and your parent always tells you what you make and do is a amazing, no matter how much we might be cringing just a little bit on the inside.

“Every now and then a class comes along that, even though you are happy for them to graduate and start the next chapter in their lives, you are really sad to see them go. ”

Kind, funny, determined, resilient, and sharp are but a few words I could use to describe you all.

“You have hearts of gold, yet you do engage in rivalry at times with each other, almost like siblings.”

You compete with compassion and integrity, though, qualities that are seemingly in short supply these days. Most moments you are great friends, occasionally frenemies, working together in and out of school, cajoling and plotting, but always supporting each other. So what can I say about your class

I now invite students sharing their words of wisdom and talents with you during the student performances to come to the stage. This evening we will have spoken offerings, singing, and instrument playing. I hope that everyone enjoys these offerings as these students take the stage for one last performance at Miami Country Day School.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senior Class: I charge you, as you leave Miami Country Day School, To remember that you are educated; it is your duty to seek wisdom and truth. To remember that you are privileged and that it is your duty to serve, To remember the values you have learned here, it is your duty to live by them. And remember your friends… those who leave with you and those of us who remain behind. ”

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