Shorecrest Preparatory School Blog

The Adventure Begins: Shannon Haskell

Posted by Shannon Haskell on May 22, 2017 4:24:37 PM

The Shorecrest community has watched Shannon Haskell grow up on the stage of the Janet Root Theatre - from her early days in "Oliver" and "Annie" to her riveting final Upper School thespian performance as Fantine in "Les Misérables." When the 76 members of the Class of 2017, along with their families and friends, gathered for Baccalaureate on Saturday, May 13, 2017, the room was welcomed by Shannon. Shannon's family has strong ties to the history of the school, and she is a Lifer - having attended Shorecrest since age 3.

shannon haskell Shorecrest class of 2017

Hello everyone! My name is Shannon Haskell, and I would like to welcome my fellow classmates, the Shorecrest faculty and administration, and our wonderful audience of family members and special guests to today’s Baccalaureate ceremony. I have to say, I found it ironic that I was chosen to speak today, for I have never actually given a formal speech in front of a large audience before. I have a sneaking suspicion that the members of my class thought to themselves, 'Oh, she does theatre, she’ll be fine.' However, usually when I’m on this stage, I am anyone BUT myself. But in all seriousness, I am so honored to welcome you all to today’s ceremony as Shannon.

shannon Preschool singingLooking up at the members of this class, I find it hard to believe that we are all about to move on to the next chapter of our lives. I personally have been at Shorecrest since I was three. The first memory I have of some of my classmates is playing dress-up with them. I think it is safe to say that this school and the people within it have become like a second home and family to me. It has been such an amazing experience watching my friends grow up alongside me into the impressive adults you see before you.

I know we all have waited for what seems like an eternity for this weekend, but here we finally are, and I hope I can speak for some of you when I say that I want everything to slow down just a little bit. I’m not saying that I don’t want to graduate or go to college, it’s just that I don’t think the importance of what’s happening this weekend has hit me until now. We are all heading off to 46 different colleges and universities, but a big part of this weekend is to celebrate all that we have accomplished up until now. I know I can easily say that I am extremely proud of each and every one of my fellow students because each person is so successful in so many different areas. We literally have everything from a National Champion sailor, to a Morehead-Cain Scholar, to an en-pointe ballet dancer in this class.

I cannot wait to see where we go in life, especially within these next four years. Some of us know what we want to do, some of us are still searching and bound to find something they fall in love with. No matter what, I wish you all endless happiness throughout your lives. I will never forget you and the impact you have made on my life, my family of 15 years. Also, a special thank you to the incredible, life-changing teachers that care enough to help us find ourselves and our potential paths throughout our time here.

We have a wonderful set of speakers this afternoon, and I hope you all enjoy the words they have for you. Again, I am so excited to welcome everyone to this celebration of what was, what is, and what is yet to be for our class. To my fellow students: and so the adventure begins.

Meet the Class of 2017 and read more of their stories at: www.shorecrest.org/2017

Topics: Student and Faculty Perspectives