Ceremony at Troy High School extends diplomas to 47 graduates
If their teaching styles are as diverse as the presentations of the two Honorary Speakers during the Troy High School Commencement ceremony Sunday, the 47 graduating seniors can look toward the future with confidence in knowing they are prepared for the challenges of life ahead.
Honorary Speakers Jim Dasios and Tony Smith offered graduates — and a packed Troy Activity Center — words of encouragement from their accumulated knowledge as they bid farewell to students they have known most of their lives.
They may both be history teachers, but that is where the similarities, their personalities and their words of encouragement end. Dasios — dressed casually in slacks and a short-sleeved shirt with loafers sans socks — said he “hasn’t worn a suit in 18 years” and “couldn’t find one to purchase at Pamida,” so he came as he was.
Dasios offered a comedic reflection of his years affiliated with the senior class and his casual mannerisms had the crowd — and students — laughing at themselves, at each other and life as they recalled with him everything from gym-class stunts, to pizza parties marred with all the dramatics of a high school breakup to a now-renowned gaffe during a recent stage production of “Groovy.”
“I’m certainly not the best person to give advice, and I find those who do are often the most-troubled,” Dasios said. “That is, unless you’re Dr. Phil,” he said as the estimated 400 people showed their approval with laughter.
“Life is about learning. Don’t make the same mistakes over and over again, or people will call you …,” Dasios said, pausing. “… an idiot.”
Smith, on the other hand — contrasting Dasios — was dressed in a three-piece suit and offered a gentlemanly reflection of his time spent and shared with each graduate. Smith recalled students by name, reflecting on quality time savored with each, even apologizing to those who he had not come to know personally.
“You are as respectful as any class that has graced the halls of Troy High School,” Smith said. “I give you my heartfelt thanks for allowing me to know you.”
For these students, the Dasios-Smith presentation was the perfect one-two punch to send young minds afloat on life’s journey. Dasios showed all the bravado of a confident standup comic and Smith offered the solemnity and sincerity of a preacher in a confessional booth.
It was the perfect joker vs. straight act combination — a two-cop scenario — to pique and capture the interests of students and audience.
During Dasios’ presentation there were tears of laughter; during Smith’s, tears again — of emotion and reflection.
“That’s what we had in mind when we asked them to be Honorary Speakers,” said retiring Superintendent Brady Selle. “We thought their contrasting styles would work. It’s like the bad-cop, good-cop thing, although we really don’t think of Mr. Dasios as a bad cop. They were perfect together.”
From the moment Lucas Jones offered up the gaffe by saying Dasios was of Italian lineage during the Speakers’ introduction, the evening was rolling. Quickly and humorously, Dasios took to the podium and corrected the young Jones, by saying he may look Italian — and his heritage may be “Greek” to Jones, but his ancestors came from the storied isles of the Mediterranean.
The Dasios-Smith presentations followed commencement addresses first from Salutatorian Sara Helmrick and then Valedictorian Alyssa Olds.
Helmrick, who will attend Montana State University in Bozeman this fall, reflected on the 12 years spent with her classmates.
“It’s been a great 12 years, 7-1/2 hours a day, five days a week. That comes to 8,550 hours. It’s been a great story,” Helmrick said. “We are all witnessing a story, our story. It has been a great beginning for a great many more.”
Olds, who has amassed almost $47,000 in scholarships, relayed a changing story of a boy and a girl growing up and how their dreams for life and career preferences change as they age.
She witnessed how at first they wanted to be a cowboy and a ballerina and ultimately realized their dreams later of being a mechanical engineer and a nurse.
“It’s a story of broken hearts, of winning and losing and life in phases,” Olds told the audience. “It’s about where we come from which we’ll always be the same. … Make something beautiful with a fresh start … Create your own stories,” she said. “Congratulations, Class of 2011. Let’s begin the next chapter.”
The ceremony was punctuated with presentations by the Reflection Singers of “Lean on Me” and “We Will Not Pass This Way Again” and a slide presentation that showed seniors as young children and then again as the graduates they have become.
Principal Jacob Francom and Superintendent Selle also addressed the students.
Selle and Board Member Joe Pepiot presented graduates their diplomas.
Band Director Sara Goerke and a small contingent performed “Pomp and Circumstance.”
Devynn Cummings and Tana Grant, young girls, presented graduates with lilies upon exiting the platform.