Schools
On Cloudy Day, Patriots Have Bright Futures
The John Carroll School sent off Principal Barker along with 211 students in the class of 2011.
On a cloudy day at Gerry Gray Memorial Stadium at the , class of 2011 valedictorian Susan Lubejko invoked sunny imagery in her address to .
The Bel Air resident quoted Shel Silverstein’s “Shadow Race,” urging students to move forward despite the shadows that follow them everywhere.
“I hope each of us looks towards our futures with our faces towards the sun,” Lubejko said.
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Lubejko’s valedictory address capped the speeches for the ceremony, which not only marked the end of the class of 2011’s time at John Carroll, but also Dr. Paul Barker’s tenure, which started in 2001. The principal at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School.
Barker spoke of three things—bonding, belonging, believing—that he thought gave John Carroll graduates the “right stuff” to go out into the world. Barker touched on each aspect of the “right stuff,” including a recounting of his first address to the John Carroll community as a whole, which came following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and cemented his feeling of belonging in the community.
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“Now, and forevermore, you belong to the John Carroll class of 2011,” Barker said. The class of 2011 now includes Barker, who was presented with an honorary diploma during the ceremony.
Salutatorian Joseph Hoff was the first student speaker, and played off of the school’s slogans much to the amusement of student and faculty. Hoff talked about the things that shaped the 211-member graduating class, from opportunities to relationships to the big questions of their time at the school.
Commencement speaker and the Rev. Charles K. Riepe Alumni Award recipient Dr. Barbara Stauch Slusher, a member of the class of 1982, spoke of the changes she has seen the school go through. But she also mentioned things that have not changed, including 12 teachers who remain from her days at the school.
“Teachers are the heart of any school, and John Carroll is blessed to have teachers that lasted for 29 years,” Slusher said.
Slusher joked about teachers she had and how she was voted class clown upon her graduation, but she spoke of four life lessons she learned and left the class of 2011 with a plea.
“I urge you: share your resources and time with others," she said, "especially those others with needs."
