Page 20 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – Friday, June 7, 2019 Saugus High School Class of 2019 The Valedictory Address by Raisha Rahman (Editor’s Note: The graduation speech of this year’s Valedictorian follows. Valerie Bedard presented Raisha Rahman, who plans to attend Harvard University this fall, where plans to study environmental engineering or chemistry.) G ood evening everyone. Thank you all for coming today and thank you to Ms. Bedard for her beautiful introduction. I would also like to quickly thank my family, especially my parents, for supporting me and cheering me on for the past four years. I hope this is everything they wanted for me. Now on to us: they say that we might be the last class to spend an entire four years at the current Saugus High building. The next generation of SHS students will have a bigger, newer, shinier high school, full of state-of-the-art this and that, air-conditioning, and probably more than one bathroom. There’s one perspective we could look at this from: that we missed out. We missed out on a brand-new building, graduating just barely before it opens. We could have had it all: freshly stocked art rooms, high-tech science labs, breathtaking athletic facilities, and the novelty of a new school, to boot. We could have had it all, but all we had was...Saugus High. Crumby building and all, Saugus High was our high school. Perhaps we all felt that something was missing or that something could have been Raisha Rahman after reading her speech (Saugus Advocate Photo by Mark E. Vogler) better, but I don’t think anyone here would change that. After all, would high school have really been high school if not for the sweltering heat and sweaty desks we were forced to endure every June? Or the faulty heaters or that one time we had like a billion fire drills in one day? Let’s face it: Would high school have been high school if we had actually been allowed to use the bathrooms whenever we wanted? No, probably not. But at the end of the day, high school was high school because of us. We studied hard and we had fun; we found happiness in a place where others may not of. It was all us, together with our amazing friends and teachers and our dedicated faculty and families. It was us who filled seats at sports games and cheered our heads off at color day, it was us who spent hours in the classroom, and it was us who were most vocal about the things we didn’t like. We made ourselves comfortable and we forged our own happiness, built with enthusiasm and joy and the occasional burst of anger. That’s what I want for all of us, as we move on to the next phase of our lives. It’s a brave new world out there, one where we can drink coffee in the morning without fear of admin forcing it out of our hands and into the trash. There’s a lot of opportunity for success, and for failure, and we’re suddenly facing it head on. I know that we’ll all face hardship, probably more than we’ve ever faced before, and that we have a long way to go, but I hope we find the sense of comfort we found at the high school and the sense of pride we feel right now, sitting here on the cusp of Graduation. We will all leave here today on different paths, heading towards completely different lives. Even when others do not understand the choices we will make or the dreams we have, I hope that we are Photo of the Month THE WAY IT WAS: Here is the Saugus High School Band in 1958 – under the direction of Jerome Mitchell – shown in front of the high school auditorium. “For decades the band became ambassadors of good will and musical excellence to audiences locally and nationally,” according to the information accompanying the June photo of the Saugus Historical Society 2019 Calendar. (Photo Courtesy of Marilyn Carlson) SOUNDS | from page 19 brick. Each line is a maximum of 15 characters. “The improvement and upkeep of the monument on the corner of Winter and Central Streets rely on the generosity of donors through fundraising. “The brick application must be in by September 30th to ensure the bricks will be ready for Veteran’s Day. Please contact Corinne Riley at 781-231THE WAY IT IS: Members of the Saugus High School Concert Band performing at last Friday night’s Saugus High School graduation, with Band Director Justin Jones. (Saugus Advocate Photo by Mark E. Vogler) 7995, for more information and applications.” Let’s hear it! Got an idea, passing thought or gripe you would like to share with The Saugus Advocate? I’m always interested in your feedback. It’s been more than three years since I began work at The Saugus Advocate. I’m always interested in hearing readers’ suggestions for possible stories or good candidates for The Advocate Asks interview of the week. Feel free to email me at mvoge@ comcast.net. Do you have some interesting views on an issue that you want express to the community? Submit your idea. If I like it, we can meet for a 15to 20-minute interview at a local coffee shop. And I’ll buy the coffee. 1. What is Orchard House? 2. What fruit name does not have a perfect rhyme? 3. In June 1815 the Duke of Wellington defeated Napoleon where? 4. In golf, what is a bogey? 5. On June 8, 1905, the Pennsylvania Railroad began 18-hour service between what two cities? 6. In 1999 what magazine changed Man of the Year to Person of the Year? 7. Who created the fictional detective Perry Mason? 8. On June 8, 1967, the national spelling bee winner aced what word to win? (Hints: small dog, starts with C.) 9. Who said “If all the year were playing holidays, to sport would be as tedious as to work”? (Hint: initials WS.) 10. What TV comedy duo also played the guitar and stand-up base? 11. On June 9, 1870, what writer died, who, in “Hard Times” wrote “There is a wisdom of the head, and ... there is a wisdom of the heart”? 12. What fictional character lived in Bag End, Under Hill, Hobberton? 13. In scrabble, a “triple letter score” square is what color? 14. What book has the subtitle “OR, The Whale”? (Hint: author initials HM.) 15. Artist Charles Dana Gibson, creator of the “Gibson Girl,” was born in what Massachusetts community? (Hint: starts with R.) 16. What is the largest crop in the United States? 17. On June 10, 1652, the first U.S. mint was established in what city? 18. In June 2001 what car make was discontinued? (Hint: named after a colony.) 19. What kind of rabbit is found in Massachusetts? 20. On June 13, 1611, a Dutch astronomer, Johannes Fabricius, published a paper about what dark spots? Answers below, please no cheating! FROM PAGE 20 strong enough to stick to the goals we set for ourselves and brave enough to stay true to our values. I hope that we all become the people we want to be, not the people we feel we have to be. Last but not least, I hope, from the bottom of my heart, that we’ll all be happy. Good luck guys and thank you for being my class. 1. Louisa May Alcott’s home in Concord, Mass. 2. Orange 3. Waterloo 4. A one over par score 5. Chicago and New York 6. Time 7. Erle Stanley Gardner 8. Chihuahua 9. William Shakespeare 10. The Smothers Brothers 11. Charles Dickens 12. Bilbo Baggins 13. Red 14. Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick” 15. Roxbury 16. Corn 17. Boston 18. Plymouth 19. Cottontail 20. Sunspots
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