Meadowbrook Alternative Program send off 19 seniors

The Meadowbrook Alternative Program in the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District graduated 19 students from its senior class on June 18.

During her commencement speech, valedictorian Jordan Ladd addressed the crowd of fellow graduates, staff, board members and school administrators.

“At MAP, you’re seen as a whole person,” Ladd said. “You figure out your strengths and your weaknesses and see what works.”

Salutatorian Chazz Opperman thanked teachers and staff for not giving up on him.

“Through a series of blessed mistakes, I’m somehow right here; exactly where I’m supposed to be, accepting my high school diploma,” he said.

During his faculty address, teacher Zachary Gosse spoke about the importance of experimenting in life and embracing both successes and failures.

“There is no single roadmap that guides you through life,” he said. “Everyone follows their own path. And it is perfectly okay to fail, but it is the insight that you gain from your failed experiments that will once again enable you to be successful.”