I put off writing the actual "principal promotion" speech until a week or so before the actual ceremony. I knew the main concept as I had been collecting inspirational and thought-provoking quotes for the last few years. I also had an idea to weave in the concept of middle school seemingly going so fast, seeing how quick the time has gone over the past decade as UMS principal. Hard to believe it's been ten years.
I really liked this year's promoting class. Yes, there were a bit more silly and slightly more time-consuming than some of the previous classes, but I don't know if we've ever had just such a good natured group of kids who could look back and just laugh at some of their mistakes. I don't know if there's every been a class who has matured as much in a single school year as this year's 8th grade students. We are all going to miss them.
As always, thank you parents for your support over the past three years, thank you staff for your continued dedication to our students, and thank you students for just being you.
Here is the graduation speech. Enjoy.
-Todd
Good Morning Everyone,
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Todd Feinberg, and I have been privileged to have been the principal of Union Middle School for the past ten years. It is an honor to stand in front of you all today and means a great deal to me. I truly care about each and every one of my Union Tigers. I hope you all will keep in touch.
I’ve written nine promotion speeches. This, if you’re following along, will be my tenth. Ten years; that is a long time. Ten years ago, none of our promoting students had even started kindergarten yet. Also ten years ago, my wife and I just had one set of twins. Ten years is a long time.
Someday, Union Middle School class of 2022, you’ll reflect back and wonder where all of the time went. Your children will be attending school and have a spirit day where students dress up like it’s 2022. They’ll wear yoga pants and sport a weird shaved-on-the-side-with-curls-on-top hairstyle. You’ll be worried about your parents, stressed out by the decisions of your children, longingly miss the ability to take a nap on a Saturday afternoon, and, as I’m sure your parents in the crowd can attest, you’ll need a vacation just to recover from the family trip. And yet, all of this will happen in a blink of an eye.
Knowing how fast these days will feel, I’d like to share a few words of advice. Over the past decade, I’ve collected a variety of quotes, some of which I’ve come across in the oddest of places and said by a variety of individuals. Of those I’ve found, I’d like to share five of these quotes with you. What better time to do so than here, at your middle school promotion. I’m hoping that these workds speak to you, just as they’ve spoken to me.
From Maya Angelou: “We do the best we can until we know better. Then, we do better”
As you move through high school and beyond, please remember that your mistakes are forgivable. Don’t beat yourself up for your youth. We all have so much to learn. No one knows everything there is to know. Figure out how to forgive yourself, especially in those moments where you truly tried your best. And afterwards, once you know better, simply do better next time. There will always be a next time.
From Kyle Higgins, the writer of the comic book Darkhawk 4: “If you’re so worried about who you’re supposed to be, it’s real tough to appreciate who you are.”
One thing that is common about our early teenage years is how hard we try to not stand out, especially at middle school. Perhaps we’re unsure of ourselves, worried that we might become the center of whatever conversation is being said at the lunch table across campus. I’ve found that middle school students are often afraid to branch out from their relatively small social circle. Know that you aren’t alone when you feel a little bit lost on who you were supposed to be. My advice is this, Class of 2022: Know that you are loved, as evidenced by everyone who came to see your promotion today. Try to celebrate the littlest of victories, each one counts. Worry less about who you are supposed to be and appreciate who you are, because you are anything but invisible.
The third quote is: “What do you think about having more children?”
This was said by my wife two years ago. We have just recently returned to on-speaking terms. Moving on here.
Here’s one of my favorite quotes I’ve ever heard: “Some of you need to stop listening to criticism from people you wouldn’t ask advice from.”
This quote came from Phil Brooks, a professional wrestler better known as CM Punk. With the increase of social media in our lives and the ability for anyone to anonymously troll another individual on the internet, one skill that many of us have lost, assuming we ever had it in the first place, was the ability to deal with the noise. Not the noise that a passing train creates but instead the noise that others bring into our lives by their hateful, mean, spiteful comments, often online. Please know that the negative words you may encounter say more about the person writing them than they may about you. Don’t give their words any oxygen. After all, why care about any criticism from those people you wouldn’t ask advice from? Trust who you are and don’t listen to the noise. Be you. That’s who you are meant to be.
And lastly, from educator Kylene Beers: “The right thing at the wrong time is the wrong thing”
For the past few years, I’ve reflected on this quote more than a couple of times. I know the year of distance learning was hard on our Union Middle families, just as it was for the UMS staff, and just how hard it was for me. We collectively missed out on spirit games, field days, the UMS blasts, and so much more. I truly wish that your middle school experience could have been different. But, throughout the pandemic, I kept on coming back to this quote: the right thing at the wrong time is the wrong thing.
There are going to be moments in your life where the right opportunity comes along, but you know it’s the wrong time. Perhaps it’s a possible love interest while you’re involved with someone else. Perhaps it’s a trip around the world, right before the interview for the job you’ve always wanted. Perhaps it’s as simple as participating in an all-hours Elden Ring tournament the night before your ELA belt test. Don’t beat yourself up, thinking your moment has passed. There is always another trip, another tournament, another opportunity tomorrow.
There might even be times where you need to make what might be an unpopular and even disappointing decision. These will be challenging moments because you know what the right thing might be. When the timing is right, you’ll know. Trust your instincts and your heart. When the timing isn’t right, for whatever reason that may be, it truly isn’t the right thing to do anymore; it’s the wrong thing.
And the right thing to do now, and yes, I do think it’s the right time as well, is to wish you, the class of 2022 the very best. I thank you for being a part of my life over the past three years and thank you for being a part of each other’s journey. You have each brought something very unique and special to Union Middle School. You will be missed but I look forward to what happens next and what quotes you create along the way, for the next ten years and beyond. It goes fast. Savor these days.
Congratulations, Class of 2022.
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