brooklyn Friends School Newsletter
Vol. 9, No. 4 summer 2013
Aiming for Magnificence Commencement for the Class of 2013
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by Joan Martin
embers of the Class of 2013 received their Brooklyn Friends School diplomas on June 11 at a joyous ceremony in which the graduates were exhorted to dream big and aim for magnificence.
There were three student speakers for this class of 40 graduates and each of them captured the essence of their class as a group and the ways in which their BFS education had shaped and influenced them. Jake Reiben came to BFS as a ninth grader from Berkeley, California, who, he joked, “knew all of the world’s problems and was fully enlightened.” At Brooklyn Friends – where intense discussions are the order of the day – he and others “found enrichment by eagerly listening to the perspectives of our peers.” Amara Granderson, a BFS student since kindergarten, said the level of closeness among her classmates may have created tension and rivalry, but “we aren’t afraid to lean into discomfort.” She likened the Class of 2013 to a family. “There are those who might be closer to some than others,” she said. “We argue, have disagreements, and have awkward interactions, just as we laugh, weep, and bond like a family.” continued on page 2
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Photos from top, l to r: Kathryn Isaac, Leneil Roderique, Herron Hutchins (banner); Larry Weiss, Abraham Axler; Sidney Aleandre, Asia Kaul, Victoria Santiago Olabanji Shoyombo; Alex Doerfler-Ludwig, Madeline Edwards, Amara Granderson, Danielle East, Azuri Jenkins, Mimi Goldstein; Jenna Goodman.
See more photos and read speeches at brooklynfriends.org/commencement2013