Page 11 - Priorities #44 2009-July

On Saturday, June 6, at 10:00 am, the Class
of 2009 became the 49th graduating class
of Woodside Priory School. As they made the traditional “long walk” from the classrooms to the commencement tent with the school faculty, ad- ministrators and trustees, the sound of the bagpiper leading the way filled the air. Campus Minister Molly Buccola led the Invocation and said, “May we share with the world our individual talents” and remember the Benedictine adage, “Always, we begin again.”
During the graduation ceremony, the five Bene- dictine values were evident throughout. Head of School Tim Molak’s Welcoming Remarks reminded us of another Priory tenet that is important to the school: a sense of humor. Addressing the “amazing graduates” of 2009, Headmaster Molak recounted to the audience three other amazing things on
his mind. As parents, grandparents, siblings and friends listened under the tent on the main soc-
cer field, Molak told of the invention of the “Dixie Chopper,” Priory’s new technologically-advanced lawnmower, with a top speed of 35 m.p.h. and can cut 9.2 acres, the equivalent of 9 football fields, in an hour. As Stanford President John Hennessy sat listening, Tim also recounted another amazing feat: October 16, 1974, the day that Priory’s soccer team beat Stanford. Ending his remarks with some ad- vice for the graduates, Tim also reminded them to “send your kids here, because they’ll then know too what an amazing place this is.”
As is also a tradition, two seniors gave gradu- ate addresses. This year, Yao-Chia Chang of Taiwan and Christopher Harlem of Woodside spoke of their years at Priory. Known as “Jimmy Chang” (Yao- Chia Chang) throughout the school and on his way to New York University, Jimmy said it was hard to graduate and that “Priory will miss us, and we’ll come back, because there is no place like home.” He told the story of getting appendicitis here and how supportive the whole Priory community was to him during that time, making him feel so loved that he “felt like a rock star.”
Christopher Harlem’s poignant story decribed
“Priory will miss us, and we’ll come back because there is no place like home.”
Yao-Chia “Jimmy” Chang
Christopher Harlem
Yao-Chia “Jimmy” Chang
Above left: Commencement speaker Dr. John Hennessy, President of Stanford University Above right L-R: Nora Botos, Margaret Bussman
Laurel Detkin, Claire Dennis, and Colin DeMartini
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