Mineola Bids Farewell to Class of 2011

The 190 students in ’s Class of 2011 fit roughly into three categories for Superintendent Dr. Michael Nagler.

The largest group is made up of “students I know and we’ve had many conversations over the years,” including “favorite middle child” Luke Escobar, who played Nicely-Nicely in “,” Lesley Donelan who “hit it big” playing Adelaide after years of performing in the background, Sean Cha who “amazes me” after mastering English in 4 years and is going to Harvard and science research program students Bethanne Bartscherer, Jessica Shi and Nick Vale.

“I want to thank all three of you for helping to make one of my dreams a reality,” Nagler said during his commencement address Saturday at C.W. Post as the group was able to produce Mineola’s . The superintendent also noted that “it saddens me that this is the last year that I can walk around saying ‘Buehler? Buehler?’,” referring to William Buehler’s cinematic namesake.

Secondly, “kids I know and I doubt they know me,” like Jimmy Bulva whose “sportsmanship outshone his talent,” and John Farley who performed as Glenn in the production of “Rumors,” which he called “one of the best performances I’ve seen in Mineola,” and the of Zachary Rachelle, Vincent Buonincontro and Nicholas Fury.

Another group are “students who have distinguished themselves and whom I have no idea who they are,” such as Olivia Rodrigues and Lauren Bonilla who have been honored for their community service work to the district. “It’s definitely my loss for not knowing you,” Nagler said. “While I only mentioned a few, every student has contributed to our school community and made our district a special place. You make me proud to be your superintendent.”

Equally proud were the class’ parents who swooped down to the lower level of the Tilles Center auditorium as their child’s name was called to receive their diplomas, flash bulbs going off throughout the ceremony and even an air-horn sounding at some of the names.

“Through all of your school experiences, a constant has been the support of your families; they have been with you throughout your young lives,” Principal Ed Escobar said in his speech. “Graduation represents a beginning, not an end.”

Class of 2011 President Katherine Dul “didn’t believe it when as a freshman, Mr. Escobar said that time is going to fly by but I actually do believe it now. We have crawled, we have stumbled, we have run and we are finally here. For most of us we see only familiar faces that have surrounded us for the past 4 years. These faces are each a memory, or a reminder of a memory. These memories are things that make us who we are.”

The speeches were punctuated with several musical interludes, including a duet of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” performed by twins Eric and John Pace and The Calling’s “Wherever You Will Go” from vocalists Lauren Bonilla, Cecilia Delgado, Lesley Donelan, Victoria DiBella, Luke Escobar, Meghan Starkes, Amy Steinmann, Robert Steinmann and Nathaniel Williams with Sean Cha on piano.

“It’s graduation day and you and I are allowed to feel a range of emotions. It’s the end of high school and the beginning of the rest of our lives,” Salutatorian Abigail Sia said. “Thank your friends for the fun times and memories that you’ll always share. There are very few things that can be broken by time and a true friendship is one of them. Your friends have helped shape you into who you are today just as you have left your own profound impressions on them.”

While trying to avoid clichés in her speech, Jessica Shi found it was better to embrace them more as “universal truths.”

Having her speech entirely memorized, the valedictorian said that “we’ve all grown up in and have come to love the community we have right here, but we can’t forget that there’s literally a whole wide world out there. There’s more to life than just Mineola. I’m going to explore and discover and change my major all I want and hopefully years from now I’ll realize when I look back that by doing that I was actually following my dreams all along.”

Click  for photos of the entire Class of 2011!