毕业典礼是我们作为一个社区在一年开始时聚集在一起的时刻, to welcome our new students, 教师, 和工作人员, 重申我们所坚持并努力遵循的价值观. On 9月 15, 索莱伯里学校迎来了90多名新学生来到我们的菲利普斯磨坊和学校巷.
今年，拉斯·卡里克被选为学院发言人. 请注意，他的绝大多数观众还没有像往年一样来过索伯里, 他分享了一些关于索伯里学校如何运作的见解, what our values are, and what we expect of one another.
When I was new to Solebury, 14年前, 我已经习惯了在校园里听到这种老生常谈, “We don’t really have cliques at Solebury.“对此，我总是礼貌地点头，同时想，这听起来真的很好，但别这样. I’ve been teaching at a public school. I know teen behavior. I’ve been there myself. 这是自然规律，结伙是青少年的自然状态.
With my skeptic’s hat on, I started my first year here and watched, 寻找并期待着我确信会是狂野青少年的迹象和统治仪式. 学生们穿着独特的方式来传达他们的部落, 学生聚集在某些空间，而排斥其他空间, 还有所有青少年电影的主题——学生让其他学生觉得看了不好, 代理, or otherwise being different.
But that was the fundamental flaw in my thinking. 索伯里没有什么“不同”，我很快就亲眼看到了这一点. 走在校园里，在宿舍里，或者在食堂里，我没有看到部落的制服. I saw coat and tie sitting with nose ring, sitting with soccer uniform, sitting with girl dressed like a pirate. I saw no exclusive spaces. I saw magic in the quiet lounge—open to all, 在摇篮边的篮球赛——对所有人开放, 以及万圣节的火坑会议，人们分享他们真实的鬼故事——对所有人开放.
Everywhere I went there was laughter. Laughter in the dining hall, laughter in front of the Crib, and most importantly of all, laughter in the classrooms. Are there exceptions to this rule? Sure, humans are still human. But that’s just it. 在索莱伯里，刻板的青少年行为是个例外. 试图表现得像个高手，或者试图在索伯里独享，这是反常的行为. Don’t believe me? 等待. Watch how someone at assembly, announcing about their new club, 谁显然很紧张——相信我，我们在大会上发表声明时都很紧张——看看他们每次是如何得到掌声的. 看看在“咖啡屋”，当有人站在观众面前，第一次试图在公共场合唱歌时，会发生什么. It doesn't matter if they kill it or not. They will get cheered. 有时, the more nervous they are, and the more difficult it is for them, the louder the cheers will be.
They have let me—a short, shiny-headed, 古怪活泼的老家伙——在学校的戏剧里独角戏，和摇滚乐队一起唱歌. 如果我在索伯里也能这样，想象一下你也会怎样.
所有新来的同学，我们讲完后，到圆圈里来见我，敲锣. Ring the gong to declare you have arrived. Ring the gong to declare that you are one of us now. 敲锣宣告你已经准备好留下自己的印记了，不管你想怎么做. Because I promise you one thing. At this place, you will be supported.
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