The Ridgewood News Superintendent’s Corner June 2019 by Daniel Fishbein, Ed.D.
Congratulations to the Class of 2019!
The following column appeared in The Ridgewood News on June 21, 2019.
On Thursday, June 20, Ridgewood High School graduated the Class of 2019. Following are the superintendent’s remarks at the commencement ceremony.
Thank you Dr. Gorman.
Good evening parents and guardians, families, staff, community members and the Class of 2019. Tonight we are here to celebrate a significant achievement in your young lives and to take a moment to note your hard work and the challenges and determination it took to get here, as well as the many good times you enjoyed along the way.
This graduation is a special moment for you, as well as for your families, friends, our school district staff and the whole community. The diplomas you are about to receive symbolize a significant chapter and moment in your lives. Your graduation tonight marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of another.
I am sure you are very excited about that next chapter, and perhaps you are a bit scared, too. That is natural. But remember that you are also courageous. And as you step into the larger world, that courage will take you far.
As you’ve no doubt learned from the risks you have taken in the classroom, on the athletic field, on the stage and in the art studio: Courage is an important part of success.
I want to remind you that June 2019 marks the anniversaries of some eventful moments in history that, like most meaningful events, took courage. One of these historic events is the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 voyage to the moon. In July of 1969 our nation and the entire world watched in awe and collectively held our breath until that mission was accomplished. Apollo 11 reached its destination in four days and on the fifth day Neil Armstrong became the first person to step on the lunar surface, followed by New Jersey native Buzz Aldrin.
Buzz and Neil were well prepared for this mission. They were also very brave. Think about it: Two astronauts flew to the moon on a mission that had never been attempted. And they did so in a spaceship that was built by the lowest bidder. Actually, that is beyond bravery.
June 2019 also marks the 50th anniversary of Woodstock, a significant generational cultural event that I remember watching on the news as a youngster. Watching Woodstock on tv — the traffic jams, the mud, the mass of people – was actually a bit scary to me as a child, but it must have been particularly frightening for any parents whose kids risked attending. Who knows, perhaps some of you may attend the 50th anniversary Woodstock concert planned for this summer. That might scare your parents more than you going off to college in two months!
On a more serious note, June 2019 marks the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of the Allied forces in Normandy, France. It is also the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York City that spurred the gay rights movement around the world. These two very different yet profound historic events required enormous bravery by those who stood up for their beliefs, ultimately leading to charting the course of democracy and civil rights freedoms that we enjoy in our country today.
What will be the historical and defining moments of your generation, I wonder?
Parents and guardians, the educators here in the Ridgewood Public Schools are as heartfelt about tonight’s courageous graduates as you are. Your children are like our children. As educators, when we see your children take their seats following the elegant graduation procession, it is as if we are watching our own children walk onto the field for the last time. It is wonderful to see the graduates all dressed up, and equally joyous to watch family and friends beaming with pride and excitement. We educators are beaming with pride, too.
Your children’s teachers, mentors, coaches, directors and administrators have been with your kids through good times and rough times, through victories and defeats, through performances, trips, discussions and tests. Today we share your pride over their academic successes, having followed them in their pursuits and seen their growth into mature young men and women who are ready to enter the larger world.
You, the Class of 2019, are ready to face your next challenges. This year has been one of “last times” – the last time playing a sport for RHS, the last performance, the last art show, the last exam … you fill in the blank. Those many experiences have developed you into the person you are today and have prepared you to face the new challenges that await.
Like your very first day of Kindergarten, soon you will be entering a new realm of firsts – perhaps your first time living away from home, your first boss, your first school loan, your first …again, you fill in the blank. For all of you, though, your diploma is the first step towards your success and independence as a responsible adult. Please know that we are cheering for you, we are still here for advice and we look forward to hearing about your accomplishments as you go along your life’s path.
You are about to receive a diploma from one of the best public school systems in this country. I offer you my personal best wishes to you graduates, and to your families. I wish you much deserved future success as you work towards your independence.
I also want to thank the entire Ridgewood community for supporting the Ridgewood Public Schools. As Superintendent, I hereby certify to the community that the students before you have met the rigorous Ridgewood and State of New Jersey requirements for graduation.
Congratulations to the Class of 2019!
Daniel Fishbein, Ed.D., is Superintendent of the Ridgewood Public Schools. Dr. Fishbein can be reached at 201-670-2700, ext. 10530, or via e-mail at dfishbein@ridgewood.k12.nj.us.
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Sodom if you got ’em, right supes?
Any reference to D-Day is good by me.
I have Normandy, Burgandy, Utah and Omaha Beaches on the Bucket List.
Good job Dan !
Ridgewood District Superintendent Dan Fishbein: June 2019 marks the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of the Allied forces in Normandy, France. It is also the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York City that spurred the gay rights movement around the world. These two very different yet profound historic events required enormous bravery by those who stood up for their beliefs, ultimately leading to charting the course of democracy and civil rights freedoms that we enjoy in our country today.
Enthusiastic supporter of the Ridgewood District Superintendent: Any reference to D-Day is good by me. I have Normandy, Burgandy, Utah and Omaha Beaches on the Bucket List. Good job Dan !
Every American soldier who got blown away by the Germans on June 6, 1944 on Normandy, Burgandy, Utah and Omaha Beaches: Yeah… I never got the chance to write out “bucket list”.
But if I had, and if it is what I think it is, it damn sure would not have included: “Fight to the death to defend New York degenerates’ right to engage in an aberrant sexual practice that cries out to heaven for vengeance.”
Useless and disappointing to the end.
What a real dud this guy has been.
Nothing this guy brings to the table we couldn’t eaily get from a thousand other run of the mill administrators.
But as the recent documentary on PBS shows, the supposed gay rights event called “Stonewall” is an invented farce. The documentary, without meaning to, discloses that the police were there trying to arrest men who were engaging in sex acts in public. The crowd that formed and eventually rioted was not there to stand up for gay rights, it was there because in the 60’s, it was fashionable to hate the police and call them fascist pigs and want them out of the neighborhood. So the riot was not conducted by fervent gays, deciding to stand up for themselves. It was mostly conducted by super liberal straight village hippies, who decided to riot against the police being in their neighborhood. The riots had almost nothing to do with gays.
Like most fantasies of the homosexual movement, this was pure PR, probably dug up and repackaged in the 90’s as pure mythology. It’s just made up fantasy, spread thick by the compliant media.
A homosexual writer gives some of the squalid details behind the Stonewall legend:
“Stonewall is a legend, and the mythology keeps evolving. Back then, all the gay bars in New York were owned by the Mafia. In 1966, ‘Fat Tony’ Lauria of the Genovese crime family purchased Stonewall, then an unassuming family-friendly restaurant, and converted it into a festering dump for gays. The toilets constantly overflowed. There were no fire exits and no soap to wash the glasses. The liquor was watered down and stolen. Employees trafficked prostitutes, and dabbled in blackmailing patrons with threats to ‘out’ them. The cops constantly raided Stonewall and other mob-owned businesses in the area but, because the mob paid off the police, the cops usually gave warnings or came in the middle of the afternoon when no one was there.”