Eighth Grade Pen Ceremony

In October, Brad Zacuto presented each eighth grade student with an engraved pen at the second annual Eighth Grade Pen Dedication Assembly. Here is an excerpt from his speech:

Leadership and the Power of the Pen
Why a pen, you may ask? Power, leadership and the written word have long been connected. Ben Franklin once implored his peers to “Either write something worth doing, or do something worth writing”. Class of 2010…We want you, as the leaders of our school, to do both.

We want you to write the words that tell the story of important events, or create a tale that thrills our imagination. And we want you to be doers, take action and be involved in events and opportunities throughout our school and community that make a difference. Joseph Pulitzer, after whom the Pulitzer Prize is named, offers us all wonderful advice on writing powerfully and persuasively: “Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it, and above all, accurately so they will be guided by its light.”

The ability to read and write had long been equated with power and prestige. The right to attend school, to receive an education, to learn to read and write, was a right that had to be fought for - by the common people, by the workers, by the oppressed throughout our history. Do not ever take this opportunity for granted.

Today, the power of communication remains a big part of leadership. As with choosing what we write, leadership is what you make of it.

• It can be used for good as well as for bad.
• It can be used to elevate people or to suppress them.
• It can be used to advance the sense of possibility or to spread ill-will and untruths.

As I told our eighth graders on the first day of school, "You are all leaders of our school whether you want to be or not. You don’t get to choose. What you do get to choose is what kind of leader you will be."

So, today we continue a new tradition at WNS: the presentation of an engraved pen to each eighth grade student as a symbol of two things:

• The value of an excellent education. Never take it for granted. Cherish it. Squeeze every drop of value out of it that you can.
• The value of being a positive leader at Westside Neighborhood School, and in life.

Class of 2010, may you use your pen to illuminate, entertain, explain big ideas and create new possibilities. The power is in your hands.

REMEMBER… A good pen in the hand of a person with a good mind and a good heart is a tremendous power to reckon with!