Cheering parents, educators and friends packed the Southold High School auditorium Saturday to celebrate the Class of 2014 — and the school’s 108th commencement.
As the band played “Pomp and Circumstance” proud parents and loves snapped photos with their phones of the beaming graduates during the processional.
Class President Alexandra Small led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Next, salutatorian Gary Preito addressed his fellow graduates and the audience, reflecting back on when he was only five years old and 2014, and graduation, seemed a lifetime away.
Laughing, he recalled the moment the senior class dropped a motorboat onto a cement block in front of the school at 3 a.m.
In all seriousness, Preito urged his classmates to reach for their dreams, reminding them of the famous quote, ‘Time and tide wait for no man’.”
Valedictorian Laura Rempel spoke of the eternal guidance of parents in the graduates’ lives, as well as the importance of lifelong friends, who kept secrets and shared tears and laughter over the years.
Growing up, students were provided with guidebooks and life lessons, she said. “As almost adults, we must construct our own manuals,” she said.
Superintendent David Gamberg gave a a heartfelt address on the importance of giving back.
“In giving of ourselves, we truly realize our own humanity,” he said.
Before being awarded their diplomas, graduates received commencement awards.
The Class of 2014, High School Principal William R. Galati said, included 79 students, who received a total of over $866,000 in awards, scholarships and grants.
In his closing remarks, Galati said noted that “most real life tests are unannounced,” and students are living in a challenging and competitive society. “To reach your achievents, you must move away from the notion of entitlement” and focus on hard work, empathy, hard work, respect, determination and discipline, he said.
“As you move forward in life, remember to live your best story,” Galati said.
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