For the students selected to speak at Cherry Hill High School East’s graduation ceremony on Thursday, June 20, the common theme was gratitude. As they reflected back on their high school years, each of the speakers expressed sentiments of gratitude for the education, people and memories they’ll take with them as they embark on the next chapter of their lives.
Lucas Semon, student government president, said more than anything, he’s thankful for the education East gave him. He said Cherry Hill’s school system offers students an unparalleled educational experience and its rigorous academics are widely recognized at the collegiate level.
Looking back on his time as president, Semon said he’s most proud of helping to create students’ high school memories. He said he hopes one day his fellow students will look at the photos in the yearbook and vividly remember those moments.
“I wanted to make sure they had those memories,” Semon said.
He said he’s grateful for both the highs and lows of the high school experience because they all taught him something.
“I’ve been very thankful for senior year,” Semon said. “It kind of feels like the amalgam of four good years.”
Kyle Krell, the class of 2019 president, said his experience running for student government provided some of his fondest memories. He said he parodied Jason Kelce’s mummers speech when running, and it was this same sense of humor he wanted to bring to his graduation speech. He said he hoped to get people laughing.
But for Krell, above anything else, the teachers made his experience at East unforgettable. He said in all four years, he didn’t have a single “bad” teacher.
“They really care about the students; they’re incredible at actually teaching the material and outside of material, they’re good at teaching valuable life skills,” Krell said.
For Kevin Naddeo, whose speech earned him the opening address slot at the ceremony, it was the class of 2019 that made his experience special.
Naddeo said the school day may have ended at 2:30 p.m., but so many members of the class of 2019 were willing to stay late and participate. He said his fellow students went above and beyond. From starting a club, trying out for a sport, joining an organization, there was no shortage of opportunities to get involved, and East students took advantage of this.
“I think that East is just a really inclusive environment that makes sure every kid feels wanted,” Naddeo said.
Along the way, these teams, clubs and organizations forged bonds that make parting ways hard, Naddeo said.
“You spend a lot of time with these people and now to just say ‘bye’ is going to be really hard,” Naddeo said.
Shir Goldfinger, one of East’s nine valedictorians, said her fondest memories were also formed after 2:30 p.m. She said because East is such a large public school, there were always so many organizations to join and new people to meet.
“Here we have so many clubs you can do virtually anything,” Goldfinger said.
She said East taught her the importance of balancing her schoolwork, activities and social work. Goldfinger said some schools emphasize working hard, getting good grades and that’s it, but at East, every valedictorian was also involved in clubs or volunteer work outside of just their academic pursuits.
Goldfinger said one piece of wisdom she hoped to impart on her classmates with her speech was that they should trust in the skills they learned at East.
“We came from East, and if you just trust in your ability to succeed and you have confidence in yourself, you can basically achieve anything in the future,” Goldfinger said.
Sam Grossman, whose speech earned him the closing slot, said he’s come to love East, and he just hoped his speech conveyed that.
He said some of his fondest memories came while writing a column for Eastside, the school newspaper, in which he wrote about “East Etiquette.” The column gave humorous social commentary, and he said his fellow students were constantly stopping him in the halls about his column. He said it’s this sense of community that he’ll miss.
In the days leading up to graduation, Grossman said he noticed many of his classmates becoming reflective about their time at East, himself included. He said he wanted to touch on that with his speech.
“This is coming to a close, and now, we might not see each other again for a long time,” Grossman said. “We may grow apart, but one day our paths may cross again, and then, we can reminisce about Cherry Hill East.”
