Tag Archives: Senior Class President

Class President’s Welcome by Maddy Stern ’14

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Faculty, staff, guests, students, class of 2014 welcome to the 173rd Williston Northampton Convocation,

My name is Maddy Stern and I am the president of the senior class. I’d like to extend a huge thank you to everyone here at Williston, to the teachers and staff who’ve spent the past weeks preparing for our arrival, to the guests who have traveled to join us, to the senior class for giving me the opportunity to stand up here before everyone. And also I probably won’t be getting a ride to school tomorrow or the necessary Dunkin coffee if I don’t thank my family for everything they’ve done for me. Since this is my only opportunity to get up and address the entire school I’d like to take a picture of you all real quick. Thanks. Please like that when I Instagram it.

But now to the real reason I’m up here. This speech is something I have been thinking about for a long time and I knew that I would be talking to the entire student body, therefore I should write a speech everyone could relate to. So last spring I began asking people what made a “good” convocation speech. The two pieces of advice I continually received were, “be funny” and “please keep it short.” If you know me, I really like to talk and I’m not that funny, so after ruling my only two pieces of advice inapplicable I did what any well-educated student would do, I went to Wikipedia.

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Posted in: Convocation Address, Student Speaker

Senior Class Dinner Speech by Matthew Freire ’13

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Editor’s note: These remarks were delivered at the Williston Northampton School’s Senior Dinner on May 10, 2013, by Matthew Freire ’13, senior class president.

Good Evening Everyone,

During our first Senior Dinner we had just come back from summer vacation. We were excited to see our friends, and brag about how awesome each of our breaks was. We were also excited to meet new students, and excited about simply being seniors, being the leaders of our school. At the same time, we were anxious about applying to college and waiting countless days to hear back from them. And now that we’ve been through all that, we can finally take a deep breath and say “We did it.”

And so here we are, months later, at our last Senior Dinner. We only have a couple weeks until graduation, and many of us can’t wait to embark on the next phase our lives. But, at the same time many of us will also miss the treasured memories that we’ve had during our high school careers. The close games we’ve won, the lifelong friends that we have made from around the US and the world, and the unique connections we’ve had with our teachers are all memories that will be embedded in our minds for years to come.

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Posted in: Student Speaker

Convocation Speech by Matthew Freire ’13

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Presented by student government president Matthew Freire ’13 during Convocation on September 14, 2012.

To the faculty, staff and administration; parents; distinguished guests; and especially to my fellow Williston students:

Good evening.

© Matthew Cavanaugh

It is indeed an honor to stand before you this evening as your 2012-2013 student government president. I can hardly believe that it has been four years since my first convocation! I was excited, scared and uncertain about what to expect once I got here. Despite my mixed feelings, however, I was sure of one thing: that Williston would be perfect for me.

When I first arrived, I was astounded by how tall people were, nevertheless it didn’t prevent me from establishing the wonderful friendships I have here today. I arrived at Williston as one of the shortest freshmen and now four years and about three inches taller, I continue to remain one of the shortest in my class. However, my message to you today is not about how tall or short you are, it’s about how far you can go and what story you want to tell at the end of your Williston journey.

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Posted in: Convocation Address, Student Speaker