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Friday, July 2, 2021
Vol. 96, No. 27
HOME & DESIGN
G.N. MAN ARRESTED IN MINEOLA
KAMINSKY DEM CHOICE FOR DA
PAGES 21-28
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G.N. North High grads reflect on past four years Class prez takes group selfie on stage BY R OB E RT PE L A E Z
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE GREAT NECK SCHOOL DISTRICT
Great Neck North High School held commencement ceremony at Hofstra University on Thursday.
Great Neck North High School’s commencement ceremony last Thursday was filled with accolades, inspiration, self-reflection and a 300-person group selfie. The ceremony, which was held at Hofstra University, was kicked off by a speech titled “Who We Are” from senior class President Melody Yazdan. She began by thanking all of the teachers, staff and families for their tireless work, not only throughout the coronavirus pandemic, but for the past four years of high school. Yazdan gave a special shoutout to
class adviser Daniel Moriarty. “I’d like to thank our teachers … who worked tirelessly to adjust their curriculum to meet the needs of their students,” Yazdan said. “A special thank you to Mr. Moriarty for accepting the role of class adviser for the past four years. We’ve been through it all with you, and we couldn’t have asked for someone better to experience it with.” Yazdan reflected on some of the memorable moments and accomplishments over the past four years, ranging from winning Battle of the Classes in junior year to the success Continued on Page 35
South High grads go with the flow BY R OB E RT PELAEZ
with words of encouragement and possibilities for growth as a group of seniors set off into a The Great Neck South High world recovering from a global School commencement cer- pandemic and facing social jusemony featured speeches filled tice issues.
The ceremony, held Thursday morning at Hofstra University, included a handful of class speakers who spoke on the challenges that the coronavirus pandemic presented, some silver linings classmates took away as the pandemic’s restrictions continue to be lifted and reflections on how everyone can make even the slightest bit of positive change in the
world. The obvious topic of discussion was the coronavirus pandemic. “Over the course of 14 months, the world has been put on halt, lives have been changed, but through it all we still persevered,” senior class President Spencer Lee said. “But now, here I am. Here we are. Moving slowly and steadily in the right
direction.” Valedictorian Ethan Jiang implored his classmates to take some time and reflect on how everyone can spur positive change to better their community, nation and world, after myriad social justice issues presented themselves since March. “No matter how much may be out of our control, we all have Continued on Page 34
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