Graduation Speech: Salutatorian Deanna Nappi

Good evening parents, graduates, administrators, and friends. Well, Class of 2011, that time is finally here. After 12 years of school bells, bagged lunches, and standardized tests, we’ve finally made it to graduation. It seems like only yesterday that I was just that nervous freshman still trying to find my way around the two big floors that make up the high school, and looking forward to proms, college applications, and not needing a pass to get into the library. Now all of that has passed, and it’s time for us to become those nervous freshmen once again as we venture off into the unknown abyss known as our future.

A friend (Ned Furtney) once told me that if you look at it the right way, high school is kind of like a Tootsie Pop. The more you lick it, the closer you get to that delicious chocolatey center. For twelve years I have been working hard to get to that glorious center, and tonight I made it; we all made it. While we all went about getting to the center of our Tootsie Pops in different ways, we are still all here, and can enjoy that gooey chocolate Tootsie Roll center together. But for a moment I would just like to look back at my years at Canton High School that have encompassed the candy layers around my tootsie pop.

The first layer comes from all of the wonderful opportunities that Canton High School has provided for us throughout the last four years. The Saltillo exchange and China trips have offered the chance for students to have traveled and experienced more cultures at 17 than most people ever do in a lifetime. As well, for the indecisive people like me, we never had to choose between music or sports or other activities, and I am greatly appreciative that we had the ability to do it all.  Being a part of the CHS music program has given me the skill and passion that I will inevitably use to continue music throughout my life, even if it meant surviving the two hour a week bloodbaths known as jazz rehearsals, and not being able to hear the word “Prisms” again without flinching. The coaches and teammates that I’ve had the experience of working with are more than I could have ever asked for.  While he may have a tendency to mumble, Mr. O’Donnell’s clear yell of, “Nappi! Pick up the pace!” will forever ring in my head to make me run faster. Of course, this was balanced by Ms. Cavanaugh’s willingness to always buy the girl’s cross-country team ice cream, so I guess it was a pretty good deal.  Though my experiences may be similar to some, there is a plethora of ways in which CHS has given the students behind me the options to pursue their true interests and enjoy their time spent here.

The second layer between me and that delicious tootsie roll were the amazing teachers that have molded my mind during my time at CHS. While there is no doubt that I have learned a massive amount of information from all of the classes that I’ve taken here, it’s the stuff that won’t show up on any sort of test that I’ll take with me beyond high school. Take Ms. Ott, for example. In my two years of chemistry, not only did I learn that sodium burns yellow or that the halogens are in fact NOT the same as the noble gases *cough* Nancy Kutz *cough*, but more importantly I learned that the occasional “What the jorb?” or “Quarter you” gives a student just the amount of motivation that they need to do well. 

From Ms. Forastiere, I learned that if you look at any mathematical symbol or graph for long enough you will be able to make it into some sort of face, not to mention the fact that I don’t think I will ever be able to write a zero again without transforming it into a “doughnut man.”

After taking Humanities, Ms. Mocarski made it clear that the only true way to motivate your students to do well on an AP exam was to scooter into class with a pink wig and cheerleader/supreme court judge costume and have them sing, “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” And finally, the lesson that no one that has ever had Mr. Scavone will forget: “Fun is the end result of hard work, everything else is cheap entertainment. But is cheap entertainment important? Of course!” With this wisdom under my belt, there is no doubt that I’ll go far in whatever I pursue. 

And that final layer of candy surrounding the Tootsie Roll would have to be all of my fellow graduates sitting here. More than anything else, they have been my inspiration while at CHS. The diversity within the class sitting before you is truly quite amazing. Some will go on to become doctors, lawyers, chefs, teachers, firemen; the list goes on and on, yet no matter where we end up in the future, we will all always remember our time here at Canton High School. Now it’s true, our class, especially compared to the angelic class of 2012, didn’t have the best reputation of being the most motivated or well-behaved, yet it has amazed me how our class has been able to come together to reach a common goal. One of my proudest moments, I must say, throughout high school was seeing our class gather one morning in the parking lot preparing as a whole to break the dress code and block the juniors from parking in the student lot. As different as we all are, we were actually able to pull it together, and in my opinion that was something fairly admirable. The other thing that has always inspired me about our class, though it sounds quite cheesy, is just how friendly and accepting everyone is. Thinking back, there has barely been any time in which I can remember walking down the hallway between classes without at least one person saying “Hello” or “Good Morning” to me. 

Whether we were best friends or acquaintances, I feel so incredibly honored that I have had the opportunity to know each and every one of you because I cannot think of a greater group of people that I would have wanted to graduate with.  Most of you I have been going to school with for 12 years now; 12 years of the same faces, and the same personalities. Though the excitement of meeting new people and forming new friendships is beginning to overtake us, there is no doubt that I will miss seeing these same faces day after day, bringing back memories of traveling to the new world together in fourth grade, or having the fire alarm go off during our eighth grade Greek banquet. These memories will never be forgotten, just added to and revisited from time to time. 

And there you have it, you’ve made it to the center. So take a big bite, and savor the delectable taste of that Tootsie Roll.  It’s time for us to make the choice between free will and society (see that Ms. Schilling, I was paying attention all year during Lit). It’s time to pick up a new pop and start the journey all over again.  Good luck class of 2011, I just know that we‘ll all be successful!