CLASS OF 2011 GRADUATION

JUNE 3, 2011

McLAUGHLIN THEATER FOR PERFORMING ARTS

ST. IGNATIUS COLLEGE PREP

Speech for Parents

This speech was presented by Cameron who will be attending Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts in the fall.

Good evening Mr. Lynch, benefactors, faculty, and most importantly, families of the Class of 2011.  My name is Cameron and I would like to recognize the great contributions by parents to the class sitting before you.  Many of us didn’t realize what a great place CJA was when we first came here.  An all-boys, college preparatory middle school isn’t the most exciting description to a sixth grader.  For most of us, this important decision, this act of faith came not from us, but from our parents. 

Our parents chose CJA because they knew that we were built for greatness and they wanted us to succeed.  That’s important to recognize.  They loved us so much that they were willing for us to be unhappy, and angry with them to have this opportunity.

I know I can say confidently that this is how most of my classmates came to CJA.  As the years have progressed, however, I see more and more why our parents sent us here.  Their support didn’t stop there.  Our parents also interacted with the school and supported the teachers when we students struggled to do what was best for us.

I remember at my old school I couldn’t get out of getting C’s and B’s.  I knew I was better than that and my parents knew I was better than that.  Then my mother and father reached out a helping hand and said “Enough.”  They sent me to CJA, nagged me every day to get the work done and demanded only the best results.  Here I am now, three years later, graduating from eighth grade and headed to Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts in the fall.

Mom and Dad, thank you for all that you’ve given me.  Thank you for sending me to this school, for challenging me to do my best, and for trusting me to go so far from you for my high school education.  Like all of the parents here, you love us no matter what we do or who we are.  By doing this, you make us want to live up to our potential and be great.

Parents and families, thank you.