www.spotlightnews.com 6 COLONIE SPOTLIGHT | June 9 - 15, 2021
June 9 - 15, 2021 | COLONIE SPOTLIGHT 1 www.spotlightnews.com
CLASS OF 2021
Shaker high School
SUPERINTENDENT’S MESSAGE:
It gives me great pleasure to have the honor and the privilege to address the graduating class of 2021! It is hard for me to admit, but I graduated from high school in June 1969. That summer of 1969 is one I remember well. The Moon landing was particularly significant for me because the space race with the then Soviet Union had defined much of my public schooling life from the intermediate elementary grades to high school graduation. I vividly remembered the night of July 20, 1969. My father, mother, sister, brother-in-law, and my three slumbering, young nieces and nephews, two twin boys and a girl, all under two years of age, were huddled together in the living room around the black and white TV. We were moved to tears as Neil Armstrong at 10:56 p.m. EDT descended down the ladder of the vehicle and proclaimed the immortal: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” We were amazed and awestruck as we watched the shadowy, ghostlike figure of Neil Armstrong seem to skate across the surface of the Moon for the next three hours. It was one of the defining moments of my generation. One of your defining moments began on March 13, 2020 with the pandemic lockdown and continued in various forms until your graduation. Like the Moon landing was for me, the pandemic will be one of your defining moments. It is highly likely that historians will refer to you as the Pandemic Generation. However, while some may choose to refer to this time as your defining moment, you did not let it define you. Isolation, despair, anger, fear, anxiety, and hardship were felt by all during these challenging times. But through it all, you persevered. You overcame these troubles by being present for each
other, by building relationships, and supporting each other as a true community. The coronavirus pandemic may have pulled us apart physically, but there were countless times where I saw our school community, under your senior leadership, come together stronger than ever. Compassion, caring, understanding, scholarship and goodwill are the words which define your time at Shaker High School. To say we are proud of all you accomplished this year would be an understatement. You choose to share the joys of music, song, poetry, literature, painting, and sculpture and the creative life. You choose to dream big, think beyond the confines of tradition, design and create for the future, and use science and technology to create a better world. You choose to focus on improving conditions for all of humanity and directing those efforts toward those who suffer: the poor, the sick, and disenfranchised. You choose to define yourself not by what you have but by who you are and by what you can give to others. You choose to pursue not only what gives you joy but what also graces others with your kind and generous spirit. You choose to forge forward. We are comforted by the fact that you, the Pandemic Generation, represent the best of our hopes and dreams and the vision of a bright future. Congratulations on arriving at this important milestone in your life. You are to be commended and honored, and I want to thank your families, our faculty, staff and the community for helping achieve your defining moment. It is an outstanding accomplishment. Congratulations Shaker High School Class of 2021!
Sincerely, D. Joseph Corr Superintendent of Schools
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