Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Delivers Remarks at DOE Valedictorian And Salutatorian Reception

July 9, 2015

Mayor Bill de Blasio: I want everyone to join me in thanking Ellen for her leadership, and everyone here at the museum for all they do for all of us. Let’s give her a big round of applause.

[Applause]

You being valedictorians, and salutatorians, and teen intellects, and observant students, you will note at this point in time, there is a whale hanging over us. 

[Laughter]

I had looked up and said, wait a minute, it’s a little unsettling to be at a party and there’s a whale hanging over you. But I believe it will stay there for the remainder of our event this evening.

[Laughter]

I want to congratulate all of you. We are all – I mean the people of this city – we are all so proud of you. You have done something extraordinary. And I imagine you have had more than few moments to reflect upon what you’ve achieved – your graduation ceremonies, and other events around the end of school, and parties, dinners with your family, and everything else. But I really want you to take a moment right now – every one of you who’s achieved this level, I want you to take a moment right now in one of this most important sights here in this city. This museum is really one of the epitome places of New York City – one of the places that we think of as truly New York. And I want you to remember this moment, and I want you to remember all the great people around you, and remember that it took a lot of work for you to get here. It took a lot of commitment. It means there’s something special about you. And there will be moments of doubt – let me offer this to you – there will be moments of doubt along the way. It is normal. It is human. You have to have those things that you use as a bit of a home base.

So to all the students here who got this far – take this moment, take a picture of it in your mind – not just with your phone – 

[Laughter]

Take a picture in your mind and remember this moment as one small signifier of how truly special – I don’t use that word in the way it’s sometimes overused, I mean that word literally, according to its definition. You are truly special. You are truly exceptional. And when life throws you a curveball, or when the road seems tough, think back to this moment as an example of the fact that you are being honored because of something that you truly worked for and achieved. So now, with that, you have to give yourselves a round of applause, please.

[Applause]

You are going to hear from our fantastic schools chancellor in just a moment. I also want to thank – we have a couple of elected officials who are here who wanted to join in this wonderful occasion – Michael Blake of the New York State Assembly and Helen Rosenthal of the City Council. Let’s thank them.

[Applause]

And Vicki Been, our commissioner of housing, who’s helping us build lots more affordable housing for New York City for all of you who want to stay in New York City.

[Applause]

Now, I want to say to the students, but I also want to say to the parents and family members who are here – I am having a bittersweet moment just these last weeks because Dante graduated a few days back from Brooklyn Tech. And for Chirlane and I, that was like the last act in our time as parents of public school students. And Dante has a wonderful future ahead, and Chiara has a wonderful future, but we had that bittersweet moment at graduation. It was the end of an era. And it was the culmination of something amazing. So we were incredibly proud, and we were happy, and it was a great moment, but we also had that feeling like something really beautiful was ending.

And I think everyone in this room probably feels a little bit of that bittersweet feeling. The fact that it’s bittersweet is not only normal, it is a reminder of that extraordinary reality in life – one door closes and another one opens. For all of you, for all the students here tonight, exciting doors are opening right now, because you’ve worked so hard to get there. 

And so we wanted to gather you together. We wanted to let you know that we felt a lot for you. We wanted to let your parents know that parents have a lot of reason to be proud as well. So, students, please clap for parents and family members.

[Applause]

And, you know, there’s over 1.1 million students in our school system – the biggest by far in the country – and you stood out. In a school system that there’s so much to be proud about, there’s so many wonderful young people in, you have stood out as the best of the best. 

And I know you’re going to be doing a lot for New York City – whatever happens next.

Now, I hope a lot of you will get great educations wherever it is, or great experiences in work next, whatever you choose, and make sure that those skills and those talents come back to New York City at some point so that you can help us make this place even better. 

Or, if you go elsewhere, bring your New York City swagger with you. 

[Laughter]

Is everyone ready to be swaggerful?

[Laughter]

Yes?

Remember – remember you will be ambassadors. If you go someplace else for work or for study, you will be ambassadors of this city. So show them what you got, be proud, and show people how great this place is. 

Now, you worked very hard, and I know. I have to tell you, Dante, in the final year, junior year and going into college applications and all, did not seem to sleep a lot – and I bet a number of you had a similar experience. Am I right?

Audience: Yes.

Mayor: Yes. So the good news about your profound lack of sleep is it has prepared you for college. And for those of you who go to college, you are pre-certified in the lack-of-sleep category. 

But a lot of you worked really – I think all of you – worked really hard. You put up with a lot of challenges. It was not easy. And you all share a great habit of persistence, which will serve you throughout life.

I want to mention two among you, who really, to me, epitomize the whole group. Sometimes we use the stories of individuals just to point out how special the group is, and I want you to hear these two stories. 

First of all, Delicia Dunkley, from Metropolitan High School in the Bronx.

[Cheers]

Is Delicia here?

[Applause]

All right. She came to the U.S. from Jamaica – not Jamaica, Queens – from the island of Jamaica in 2010 – that recently – in 2010 – with her mom and her brother. She went to school, but she also had to work two jobs to help support the family. And she had a lot of responsibility, but she not only made time for her studies, she made time to serve on the student council and on the soccer team; graduated as salutatorian; and in the fall, will be attending Wells College, with a scholarship to study computer science. Let’s congratulate her.

[Applause]

And this next story is absolutely beautiful and someone who I’m certainly inspired by – Johileny Meran Alamonte, who came to the United States from the Dominican Republic at the age of eight. Now, this young lady had a lot of challenges. And I want to just tell you that there are some stories that make you humble, and this is one of them. She has cerebral palsy, and has dealt with that challenge; for a period of time was homeless and living in a shelter with her grandmother and brother, but still persevered; graduated valedictorian of Juan Morel Campos Secondary School in Brooklyn; now on the way to NYU – 

[Cheers]
[Applause]

– and wants to study pre-med to help other people through their challenges. That is beautiful and inspirational to us all. 

[Applause]

So, I’ll leave you with this – you have given us all a reason for some extra hope. Sometimes you go through life and you watch the news and you look at what’s happening and you get a little dragged down, but tonight, you all have given us a reason for some hope and some reminder of what’s possible. You’ve made us very, very proud. And we can only imagine the great, great things that lie ahead for each and every one of you. 

So congratulations, salutatorians and valedictorians. Job well done!

[Applause]

And now it is my honor to present a woman with a big job – running this school system for over 1.1 million children and doing a great job at it – Chancellor Carmen Fariña.

[Applause]

[Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña speaks]