Danielle Sherman is one of two graduate student speakers this year at Archbishop Wood High School. Danielle, 18, is a member of the National Honor Society and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia All Catholic Orchestra. She was a Pennsylvania 4-H State Fashion Design Winner, and received both the The Seeing Eye "Best Friend Award" and the Archbishop Wood Viking Award.
Danielle was chose from a group of 12 top students who wrote and delivered their speeches.
"So not only are they students who excel, they are students who can write well, make a significant point and deliver it well," said principal Mary Harkins.
Danielle will be attending West Chester University this fall with a scholarship from West Chester's Board of Governors. She will major in Accounting and double minor in Music and IT Security.
Archbishop Wood H. S Memories Graduation Speech
Good morning, and welcome honored guests, faculty, administration, parents, families, friends, and class of 2013.
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Can you believe it? As we look around at our entire class gathered for the last time, we experience flashbacks of the unforgettable memories we’ve made with the lifelong friends we’ve made. The teachers who never ceased to push us to our potential, fascinate us with their knowledge, and of course make us laugh. At places like the playing fields, locker rooms, band room and cafeteria where we’ve spent much of our time these past four years.
Sometimes, freshmen year seems like a lifetime ago, other times it feels like it was just yesterday. In September 2009, we were excited, nervous, and a bit overwhelmed beginning high school. At the freshmen picnic we dared to speak to new people, and now as we graduate we are savoring our class being together for the last time.
At the start of freshmen year we discovered ourselves as Vikings, made new friends, and found our niche amongst all the sports, clubs, and activities. Although stressful at the time, fighting with the locks on our lockers, speed walking to classes with our rosters, and avoiding being trampled by upperclassmen is funny to think about. I realize how much we have grown since then.
Remember academic prep, and being afraid of getting caught without our lanyards? And attentively listening to everything channel 1 and flocab had to say? What could be funnier than Mr. Collins nonchalant reaction to the broken window in World history 1, or the groundhog that meandered in to the band room during the play that year?
Four-minute class changes seemed impossible then, but by sophomore year, we had it down and could even stop to see friends along the way.
Remember the team spirit as we cheered on our teams to state championship titles. The pep rallies with the inspirational pep talks given by Mr. Krantz and Mr. Peters always kept us well entertained! And we can also give due credit to our student council president and the Viking for boosting our school spirit!
How about the late nights at play practice, the songs like Shipoopi, Hello Dolly, and Those Cannon Days that were stuck in everyone’s head for weeks? The long bus rides with our teams, or the school traditions, and goofy moments we spent together during homecoming week? The pride in the Vikings grew as we walked through the decorated hallways dressed up as twins or nerds with the music playing in between classes.
Some things we will never forget; the Football games, Viking Nights, the Astonishing Neal, Kairos, prom... Or the Mr. Viking contestants’ rendition of Silent Night conducted by our school president. It was an incredible preview of the hilarious competition where we were all relieved to see Father Chung rescued from drowning!
How about senior costume day, when we saw a baseball trophy, the monopoly man, and snap, crackle, and pop walking through the halls?
Of course our memories here are not all fun and games, academics was after all the reason we came here to begin with! We will not soon forget copying notes that seemed endless, the amusing negotiations with teachers over due dates, tests days, and extra credit. The Late nights deciphering difficult subjects like pre-calc and chemistry, or last minute cramming for tests during homeroom.
As hard as we worked in the classroom, we always looked forward to taking a break from the books and having a class party on pi day, the three kings visit us in Senora’s room, and of course Ms. Blastic’s Christmas party.
Each June we counted down another year to graduation, and now that its here we feel mixed emotions of our longing for college freedom, and a pang of sadness over leaving our structured schedules, familiar faces, and our comfort zone of Archbishop Wood.
Remember the Inside jokes that no one else could possibly make sense of, the drama, the laughter, the memories and the pictures we have to always remember them with? The time we spent counting down the minutes to the bell, to lunch and to Woods famous wraps and cookies? The friendly staff, like Mr. Denny, who always stopped to say, “Hi” in the hallway, even when he didn’t know who we were. The teachers who inspired us, especially Mr. Collins, Mr. Kelly, and Mr. Duffy?
And although we will miss all of this, some things will continue on next year as well; the schedules crammed full of sports practices, games, club meetings, band, play rehearsals, and deadlines. And next year we will start over as freshmen again and find our niche among friends, clubs, sports, and newfound interests.
Wood Administration and staff, our awesome teachers, and coaches, thank you for giving us the opportunity to succeed both in and out of the classroom.
Parents today would not be possible without your help, support and guidance. Thank you for dealing with us when we drove you crazy, driving us to practices, social events, and school when we missed the bus, and coming to watch our games, plays, and concerts. As we continue on our journey, we will be forever enriched by the love, strength, faith and education received from our family and Archbishop wood community these past four years.
Congratulations Class of 2013!
