North grads are forever Spartans

Family, friends and faculty members gathered on the lawn behind North High School on a sunny Thursday evening to watch as the 219 members of the class of 2014 walked across the stage and officially became graduates.

The lasting message from student speakers and administration to graduating seniors at North High School was to not fear the challenges and obstacles ahead of them, because they are forever Spartans.

In her valedictory address, Jeanette Freeman used examples of Lady Gaga, who was teased in high school, Michael Jordan, who didn’t make the varsity high school team as a sophomore, and Steven Spielberg, who was twice denied acceptance to the University of Southern California School of Cinema Arts.

“We are all afraid that we are not good enough, that we cannot do it, that we will not succeed,” she said. “Underneath that voice inside telling us to quit, there is a voice telling us we can do it.”

Michael Sanky, the salutatorian, kicked off the student speakers portion of the program, telling the tale of a boy named Tommy with a wandering mind and had to work selling newspapers to help his family financially.

One day, Tommy saved a 3-year-old from a runaway train. The boy’s father was grateful enough to give Tommy a job as a telegraph operator, where he worked the night shift to continue his experiments.

Tommy, who Sanky later revealed to be the great American inventor Thomas Edison, was not afraid to fail, nor should his fellow classmates.

“It is imperative that we avail ourselves of the opportunity to discover the limits of our potential,” he said. “Without risking failure, our limits are merely the borders of our comfort zone.”

James Mattone, president of student council, said that North’s “training” of the graduates will help them in any challenges they will face, and, pointing to his watch, said it is now their time to shine. “Spartans,” he said, “like all of us graduating today, have been trained and prepared to face and defeat that which stands in their way mentally and physically.”

North’s principal, Clifford Odell, told the graduates to be confident in life and to make as much noise as they can in their futures.

“You have met and exceeded the challenges before you and you will all emerge triumphant,” he said.

See more photos from the graduation ceremony here.