at Horace Mann ScHooL

news of the school
Keeping comfortable through the benefit
of a breeze circulated by powerful fans that
HM’s maintenance department had set up
to subdue the effects of a heat-wave that
had New Yorkers head-locked in the days
before commencement, it was only through
the hearty thanks that Dr. Kelly extended to
“Maintenance” that the hundreds of graduation
guests became aware of efforts made
throughout the night to clear the area of fallen
branches and to upright chairs tossed around
the field by the previous evening’s sudden
violent storm.
Instead, those gathered were able to focus
on the reflections offered by HM Trustee Board
Chair Steven Friedman ’72, Class of 2008
Dean Randall Castleman, Dr. Kelly, and by the
uplifting sendoff of Benjamin Kirschenbaum’s
’08 valedictory speech.
For Dean Castleman, whose daughter
Laura Castleman ’08, was among the graduates,
the day represented a culmination of the
Class’ serious dedication to its studies, their
activities, and the friendships they had formed
at Horace Mann. Above all, said the Dean,
this Class had learned to be responsible—to
themselves and to the world around them.
He urged the graduates to take that sense
of responsibility with them to the colleges
and universities they would attend, and on
throughout their lives.
Pride and passion
For Steve Friedman ’72 the day had a particular
significance: He delivered his address
to the Class both as HM’s Trustee Board
Chair and as the father of graduate Jennifer
Friedman ’08. The father/alumnus/Trustee had
thus come to know many graduates and
their parents through Class friendships.
Sharing deeply the experience of every
parent under the tent concerning the
emotional ups and downs of raising
children and seeing them through the
adolescent and teen years, Friedman
spoke of the parallels between rearing
and educating children.
“All graduating classes are special
and this one is truly special to me as
I have watched many of you grow
throughout the last 15 years to make
an indelible mark on this institution,”
Friedman said, going on to describe the
journey from infancy to independence.
Thanking the Class for the “intellectual
challenges, excitement, the energy, and
spirit” its members brought to Horace Mann
he urged them to use their “hard-earned autonomy
wisely.” Wishing them much success
in their future endeavors he expressed the affection
all at HM have for each graduate, and
asked them to stay involved with their School.
For Dr. Kelly the occasion was one of great
pride, a moment to not only acknowledge the
unique personality and promise of this year’s
graduates, but to show them the strength and
caliber of the support that Horace Mann will
continue to extend to them—“for a lifetime.”
Acknowledging the teachers, administrators,
and staff members, the parents,
grandparents, siblings and extended family
members who had accompanied each
graduate on their journey to this day Dr. Kelly
recalled many of the memorable experiences
the Class had created together—on their
performance stages, athletic fields, in science
labs, classrooms, art studios, and at Dorr.
Acknowledging the uncertainty of the times he
concluded, “Gloomy predictions aside, with
the many challenges that await your concerns,
you can, because of who you are, make significant
contributions. Your sense of fairness,
good citizenship, tolerance, compassion, and
celebration of the quirk in all of us is a fine
tonic for our world’s ills.”
photo by Eleni Jiavaras
A valedictory wish
Finally, for the graduates, the day’s most stirring
moment was surely the march through
memories along which valedictorian Benjamin
Kirschenbaum guided his classmates. Horace
Mann’s valedictorians are selected by the vote
of fellow classmates, and represent the Class’
choice of a peer they feel will best represent
their ethos. Introducing Kirschenbaum Upper
Division Head Dr. David Schiller described his
many academic accomplishments, and the
personality of all-around good character he embodies—with
more than one nod to this grad’s
acute sense of humor. True to form, it was
“Benji’s” generosity of spirit that presented itself
first, as he began by dedicating his address
to Michael Fisher, a cherished member of the
Class who became ill and passed away when
the current graduates were middle schoolers.
“Although today is one of celebration, we
also remember those who are not physically
with us but who shaped our lives and are
sorely missed,” Kirschenbaum began. “This
was also to have been the graduation day of
our classmate, Michael Fisher, and I would
like to dedicate my words to his memory.”
Kirschenbaum concluded his speech,
the full text of which follows, by recalling the
compassion and passion that “no one brought
to life more than Michael Fisher… Michael
believed in this School.
“He believed in the potential of every one
of its members. He was right. I leave here today
with full confidence that each person on
this stage can and will accomplish any major
goal they mark for themselves, that they will
continue to live a life centered on passion
and compassion.”
A Hope for the Future
And for yet another commencement guest the
day represented the culmination of one enriching
Horace Mann experience—and the start
of another. As a former HM parent, and as a
member of Horace Mann’s Board of Trustees,
Mort Olshan has watched numerous HM graduations
from a seat on the stage. Moving in
June into the role of Trustee Emeritus he wrote
of this transition: “My service to Horace Mann
began in honor of my children and their wonderful
experiences there. Through the years I
have formed many dear and lifelong friendships
with my fellow board members, faculty,
staff and school leaders… This Wednesday,
I will sit on the stage at Graduation and look
out over the crowd of incredibly accomplished
and promising graduates confident that Horace
Mann is one of the finest schools in the nation
with a beautiful campus, an exemplary faculty,
and a wonderfully capable and dedicated staff.
I hope to sit in the graduation tent again soon
and watch my grandchildren cross that stage.”
36 Horace Mann Magazine Fall 2008