I Am Jack Scalise Speeches

Until recently well this Sunday the 15th of May, when the high schoolers really did come to play baseball with us in our Babe Ruth league. This is the moment that I transitioned into wanting to go to high school. I knew two of the high schoolers already; Sean & Dylan, as they’ve played baseball with me before, but I didn't know Lance, Maxx, and John. Lance seemed like one of the high schoolers I envisioned, mean, grouchy… the way you see prisoners… After I got to talk to him I realized he was the same way as was used to, nice, funny, and hyper. John is that super tall guy that we're all scared of, yet again I was wrong, he turned out to be one of the nicest people i've ever met. Maxx was the last person I got a chance to talk to, he seemed shy but he was almost exactly like me, he was nice, funny, lively, clumsy… all of the above. They we're the opposite of what I imagine high school to be like. Nothing negative has come from meeting the new people so far, and we can all affect each other in a positive way. After that Sunday double header I’ve wanted to go to high school and forget middle school. It would be a moment to make new friends and think about what i'm going to do in the

On September 1, 2012, I walked into my fifth grade teacher’s classroom for the first time in my life. Mrs.Cullen was standing in the front of the door with open arms ready to welcome her new fifth grade students. As I made my way to my desk and sat down next to Charlie Schutt and Quin Timmerman, I got the feeling that middle school would be a time of talking to some of my best friends and cruising through classes. As the school year progressed, and classroom seats changed, my thought of how Middle school would be changed as well. On the first day Mrs.Cullen explained our schedule, Homework detentions, and demerits. After about fifty questions, she sent us off to our first class, and the first step of our Middle School journey. The fifth grade

It was the year 2008, I had just graduated from St. Michael’s School located in Los Angeles, CA. This year was quite exhilarating for me also scary because I was going to attend an all-girls high school. Los Angeles was my birth place also a place where I called home. One day, I came home to hearing my parents talking about moving to Mississippi. I remained devastated, not only we were moving to the south, I’m moving away from childhood friends. I was worried I wouldn’t see them again and I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to make new friends in Mississippi.

A lot has changed since freshman year. I moved to Oak Ridge, so my father and I could be with the family. I switched to Oak Ridge High School and struggled tremendously, but most importantly, I made friends that needed me. Although my trust issues are still very much a problem for me, I’ve learned to cope with them by surrounding myself with people that I love. My heart continues to swell every time I

When we all came outside for a picture and we sang the school song for the last time, I knew that I would remember that day as possibly the best and worst day of my life. Losing the school was an immense blow and it still hurts to think about it. I had such incredible relationships with my peers and my teachers that I feel like I will never be able to recapture. The decision was made to consolidate with North Posey—the biggest rival New Harmony had ever known. The prospect of transferring to a school many times larger, of walking in that first day not knowing hardly anyone, it terrified me. Now that two years have passed and I have started my senior year at North Posey, I recall that shy, reserved girl and I do not recognize her. It is difficult to connect with who I used to be at New Harmony, tantamount to looking at a different person. I have new friends and am taking challenging courses. I have made accomplishments in the past year alone—like staying at a veterinarian camp by myself for a week—that are still surprising

As any other freshman entering high school it can be a very nerve racking situation. On September 8, 2015 I Chelsea Gonzalez was entering high school in Thurgood Academy Of Learning And Social Change , my mind was going crazy and I didn't know what to expect. I have always asked myself whether high school would be similar to what appeared in movies; people dancing and singing on top of the lunch tables or, was it going to be a 4 horrible school years in which I would never make friends. I clearly remember seeing kids running toward their group of friends, as I walked down the lunchroom. My hands were sweating and it felt like a million butterflies in my stomach. The room was filled with cries of laughter, kids running back and forth asking each

It was pretty odd suddenly coming in during the middle of the school year like this but at least another boy also started today - his name is Arnold but he told me that his reservation calls him Junior. Arnold seemed like he was trying to be nice but his actions came across more as being peculiar and basic signs of someone that I would not usually associate myself with. Reardan is much smaller than my old school but I guess that I should have expected that moving from the city to this exhaustingly infinitesimal farm town. I could tell that it was going to be quite different from the moment that I stepped into my first hour class and there were only nineteen students at the most sitting in the small room. The group of students all seemed pretty close to each other, like they had all gone to elementary school together and their families had cookouts on the weekends. The remainder of the day was uneventful. I skyped my (old?) cheer squad during lunch period - the girls all wanted to make sure that I was doing all right. My immediate answer was a pretty unenthusiastic, “No,” I missed my friends. With a frown I explained that the entire school was one short hallway in length and that no one here knew the good music, we then commenced in a few minutes of light conversation before I had to return to class. I have to get out of this town sooner rather than later, before my mental health takes any more

I have enjoyed my time at Mapleton Jr. High so much that I felt like I was losing a part of myself when I left the school today. Each of those students made a real difference in my life and were an example to me of what seventh grade can be like. As Mrs. Low announced my leaving today after our “academic social,” they collectively moaned “Nooooooo...” and then clapped and thanked me for the help I gave them. One young man even asked if he could shake my hand. I had not thought when I first arrived that they would ever respond to my absence in such a way. It reminds me of when I was graduating high school. I went to a small school and I had made an effort to not leave any ends open, yet I felt like I was leaving a part of me behind when I

Although very nervous and uncomfortable, I decided that there was nothing in my power to change the future; and so taking a deep breath, I entered the freshly painted red, iron doorway. I began noticing my classmates forming their “cliques” and “gangs” of friends that they would “hang out with.” Here came the breath again… I took another one and then started talking to a group of guys and girls. I did it in a way that I would speak to my friends in the old country. This time, I realized, it was different. Inadvertently, I was making a fool of myself when I began small talk about the classes that we would be taking that year. They did not care about classes, they cared about the movies they watched or comparing the great vacations they had which happened to have just ended because of school. They did not want to hear about classes. It took me a long time to realize that I wasn’t like them, I was better than them. I had bigger plans than just wasting the summer away… I read everything I could get my hands on. I wish I could discuss some of the stories I read or the things I learned for just about any topic. Instead, I went with: “My name is Leonidas… Have any of you seen the movie 300? The fearless protagonist has the same name as mine.” I think that was when they began to love me! I mean I was the new star that everybody in my school had to

Hey, that’s me! In all my glory, or lack thereof, or however you see me. I think I’m pretty cool, I guess. Anyways. Here I am, a 15 year old girl living the life of a high schooler. Isn’t that a tale unheard of? But unlike many, I LOVE highschool. Mostly, because it’s in Phoenix, and one of the most important things you could know about me, is that this is my town. The gas stations, grocery stores, and library, especially, are and have always been the things I consider home. Since February 3rd, 2002, my date of birth, I have been in this town for all my life, minus a 2-3 month and a later 3-4 month period.

If you were to ask the new sixth grader waltzing into FCS that breezy September day what she thoughts she’d be like in three years, I can assure you I’m not it. But looking back at these past few years, I couldn't be happier with who I've become. Within the 1,000 days I’ve been a student here, I’ve struggled, I’ve flourished, I’ve crumbled, and I’ve built myself back up inside these very walls. My thoughts, my wants, my dreams, my friends, my joys… It’s all evolved.

In a lot of ways, I no longer really care about what happened in seventh grade. I hated it and cried about it when it was happening, but now? Now I don’t even think about it. The point is that I got over it. I’m still friends with Julia, she’s still an angel, and I’m happy. It sounds cliché, but she helped me get through so much that year and she is the one reason I was truly resilient. I wouldn’t have lasted one month without her. As for Mr. Ritter, it’s sad to hear that he’s still teaching, but the thing is, he wasn’t the worst Social Studies teacher. He just totally hated me. My one hope is that he retires soon, so that instead of bullying

Hello everyone and thank you for coming out to see us graduate on to BHS! I am Nekeria Ransom a METCO student here. If you don't know what a METCO student is it is a student is a kid who lives in Boston but goes to school in a different town. Now I’m fairly new to Bedford , I came here in 6th grade, and I can remember it as if it was yesterday. I was so nervous having to meet new teachers, being so far away from home ,and having to meet new friends since some of the kids knew each other since kindergarden. The first day of school I was on the phone with my sister Nekkitta the whole ride from Boston to Bedford asking some of the most ridiculous questions like “Where do I go when I get off the bus? Are the teachers nice? Who do I sit with?”

“The world breaks everyone and afterwards many are strong in the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these, you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry” (Earnest Hemingway). I pray that I will have the courage to be broken and the courage and strength to move on and be stronger. I pray that I will remember to always be humble and compassionate. This year it has been harder to remember to enjoy the little things and live in the moments. Senior years has been a very stressful and tiring year but I am thankful for the challenges that have prepared me for the next step in life. Being a senior has also been excessively humbling experiences as well because of the number of younger students that I have impacted. I remember being a junior high student and underclassmen and looking up to the seniors yet feeling they were so untouchable. I am finally in their shoes and I am realizing the stress and hard work that consumed their time as a senior yet they still had the time to provide guidance or a simple smile in the hallway. I never would have imagined myself in the reversed situation in such a position of admiration and respect and I never could have imaged what it would mean to me for underclassmen to say hi or tell me thank you for making them feel so comfortable. I am reminded that sometimes high school is just a struggle to feel comfortable in your own skin and to be able to relate to just one person. Sometimes a simple hello or smile in the hallway can make you feel comfortable in your own skin. It is a comfort to know that while I looked up to the seniors before me there was another future senior behind me that say how my hard work and broken moments do pay off and get

The first year, the time to prove myself had arrived. Classes, rooms, teachers, and some students were unfamiliar. Eventually, minutes melted into hours, hours to days, and days to weeks. It didn’t take long before my schedule was routine, something of second nature. Humor and happiness were found in the form of my advisory family, where school was transformed into something more than going through the same motions of day to day activity. By the closing point of sixth grade, I was having a hard time letting go of what I’d adapted to. “What’s wrong?” my dad asked when I was getting into the car after being picked up early on the last day. I explained how distressed I was that my first year of middle school exceeded my expectations, and that it had to come to an end. Although his outlook viewed my reason for sorrow as trivial, I didn’t.