Harrison Community Celebrates Graduates!
A week of celebrations culminated with the Harrison High School Commencement ceremony on a perfect summer evening, when family and friends gathered on the school grounds to celebrate the Class of 2022. Earlier in the week the District hosted Moving Up ceremonies for LMK Middle School 8th grade students and 5th grade students at Harrison Avenue Elementary School, Parsons Elementary School, Preston Elementary School, and Purchase Elementary School in the Harrison Performing Arts Center at the high school.
Board of Education trustees spoke at each ceremony, acknowledged the dedication of Dr. Wool, administrators, faculty, and staff, and thanked the community for supporting and believing in our schools to ensure opportunities are available for all of our children.
Principals welcomed families, thanked parents for their partnership, and recognized the many ways faculty and staff at each school genuinely care for and support students. Each principal shared stories about the graduating classes and thanked them for the joy and kindness they bring each day. They also encouraged students to take their next step with courage, confidence, and care, reminding students to “have the confidence to be yourself,” and to “be fearless,” but remember “what it means to belong and make others feel included” Harrison High School Principal, Ms. Beukema told graduates that she would remember them for their “love, kindness and care for each other and the world around them.”
Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Louis Wool greeted families at each ceremony with enthusiasm and thanked parents, faculty, and the entire Harrison learning community for all they do on behalf of our students. At the moving up ceremonies, Dr. Wool reflected on the importance of “seeing what is in front of you.” He encouraged students to take the time to truly see what is in front of them and to “never underestimate the power of what you see when you look with your heart.”
During the Harrison High School Commencement, Dr. Wool talked about how the Class of 2022 had faced much more than what should be expected, but their “experiences bound them together in ways no other class experienced.” He shared the extraordinary acts of kindness the graduates displayed while at Harrison High School, and how they “see and value the people in front of them, whether similar or different, and include them in meaningful ways” He compared their actions to the reflections of poet Chris Abani, “you can only see who you really are from the love you reflect back on others.” Dr. Wool concluded by telling graduates how proud he was of them as “shining examples of our core values and what this District stands for.”
Student speakers at the Harrison High School Commencement included Class of 2022 President, Danny Eljamal, Juan Gomez, and Remy Rabin who compared the fortitude of her classmates to the “explorative nature, endurance and strength of a Husky,” and challenged them as they leave Harrison High School to “have the courage to trek forward fearlessly…. if you stumble to remember whatever we do and whoever we become, we will always be Huskies.”