Cairo-Durham grads: Live in the moment
The Daily Mail
June 28, 2009, online
June 30, 2009, in print

Parents and friends of the 136 graduating seniors of the Cairo-Durham High School Class of 2009 gathered Saturday afternoon to witness the culmination of the students’ high school careers.

At the beginning of the ceremony in the auditorium, Principal Anthony Taibi announced that 87 percent of the class would start college programs or enter the military service later this year. He told an applauding audience his students had earned 100 scholarships for a total of $40,000 donated by various community organizations.

He said each graduate had in his or her mind a “headline” for the many special moments that made up their high school careers, including team victories, personal achievements and their graduation day.

He asked the graduates not to stop learning and to set goals for themselves.
“You are in control of writing your next headlines,” he said.

Salutatorian Jessa Suhner equated the feeling she and her classmates had on stage to how they felt walking into school on their first days of kindergarten.

They were, and are, excited, fearful and curious, she said.

The Class of 2009 came together, she said, when, as fifth graders, students from Cairo Elementary School met students from Durham Elementary School.

Suhner said she felt protected while in school from the violence of the outside world. Rap star Tupac was killed at the start of their kindergarten year and the events of 9/11 rocked the country just as fifth grade began, she said. But now, as graduates, she and her classmates had to start caring about world events that will affect their lives.

“We are adults,” Suhner said.

Valedictorian Amanda Chan asked her classmates not to forget that life after high school holds a vast sea of opportunities.

“Nothing can, and nothing will, defeat the determination and courage,” she said. “The only person who can stop you from fulfilling your dreams is you.”

Cairo-Durham alumnus and Albany Medical Center cardiologist Dr. Jeffrey Uzzilia told the graduates that they should be proud of attending their small school.

Uzzilia told the graduates to always use common sense and to think before they act, and reminded them to keep a sort of balance with their lives.

Cairo-Durham Superintendent Sally Sharkey reminded the graduates that the ceremony marked a new beginning of their lives.

She told the graduates not to be content with the bare minimum, not to wait for things to happen and not to wish their time away.

“Enjoy now,” Sharkey said. “Always challenge yourself and your abilities.”

The senior chorus performed a song from the musical “Wicked,” for their classmates and teachers, singing “because I know you I have been changed for good.”