Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) has just concluded a delightful milestone with 65 graduation ceremonies and more than 22,000 students receiving their high school diplomas. Congratulations to the 2019 graduating class.
Graduation is the conclusion of a voyage that began some twelve years ago. Throughout that time, our students have worked and studied, practiced and played, and grown both mentally and physically, and now they are ready to begin their lives as members and productive citizens of the adult community.
To our graduates, now you stand at the entrance of a journey of a world with all that it offers and all that it demands. As you say good-bye to the past, you now say hello to tomorrow. Take full charge of that tomorrow, and using what you have learned in the past, build it into a bright and shining future. It is the hope and prayer of everyone who has supported you throughout the years that your pathway will be truthful and real and that your destination will be golden with happiness and alive with energetic and vibrant possibilities.
For some of you, this new chapter in your life will mean a job and the responsibilities of family living. For others, this will mean college and further years of study, research, and preparation or joining the military to serve your beloved country. Whatever passage the future takes you, it is our genuine and sincere hope that you will look back on your years at M-DCPS as having prepared you to meet and deal with the challenges that life will encounter.
To the parents and families of the 2019 graduating class, throughout the years you have been concerned with the total growth of your children. I say children because no matter how old or young they are, they will always be your children. You have set learning and social boundaries, as a child without limits is like a wildflower that will grow without any idea as to form or shape or direction. You have also made a great effort to develop individuality and objectivity of thought and action in your children. By allowing them to make intelligent and reasonable choices within the limits you have set, you have developed in them a sense of independence and freedom, which will aid them all of their adult lives. You have guided your children toward their futures; you have steered them rationally and judiciously toward the objectivity of choice and direction that will assure that their futures will be happy and productive. Thank you for supporting your sons and daughters. Thank you for guiding them, for loving them, and for supporting their learning experiences.
To our teachers, thank you for your dedication and commitment to the teaching profession. You have diligently and successfully met state standards incorporating collaboration, communication, critical thinking, new technologies, and creativity in the curriculum and in your teachings. You deal with all of your students with love and affection. You have seen students who breeze through school without a bit of trouble, and you have seen students who struggle through torturous and complex school experiences. You have met students overflowing with good health and you have met those who were so ill they could hardly walk or even hold a pencil. You have met and dealt with all of them. You have also come to understand that there is extraordinary hope for the future; that along with fear and despair, there is also courage, bravery, and hope. You have seen courage manifested time and again in your students and you have seen the hope of the future in their faces. You believe in the future because you believe in your students. You believe in the future because you have been fortunate to live and work with those who will make up that future. They have filled you with joy and hope and persuaded you that tomorrow will be the best that the human race can make of it.
The School Board of Miami-Dade County, Florida, has always had a deep and abiding concern for education. With the complexities and pressures of today’s society, the work of the Board requires a diversity of qualities not the least of which are understanding, compassion, dedication, and commitment. The Board is faithful in inspiring excellence and achieving progress and the 2019 graduating class has enjoyed the actions of policies implemented to ensure academic success and a brighter future for our graduates.
In conclusion, to our 2019 graduating class, as you start this new journey, the knowledge and experiences you have gained during the past twelve years have become a part of you forever and will be with you always. It is a rich legacy that has added knowledge, experiences, and prestige to your lives. Your task is to apply what you have learned and will learn in the future to make your community, your country, and your lives better than they are today. Our future depends on your ability to face innovation and complexity, and to work together to create a better world for yourselves and for the next generation. You will face challenges in jobs that have not yet to visualize and work alongside more intelligent machines than you could have ever imagined. Progress is coming so fast and there is no better time for graduates to make a difference than now and the future. You can do it!
Congratulations! You have now joined the honor of being a graduate of Miami-Dade County Public Schools.
Mari Tere Rojas, School Board Member
Miami-Dade County Public Schools
District 6
