Story Archive

Speak from the Heart

According to a spokesperson for Sweetwater Union High School District in San Diego, Calif, valedictorian Nataly Buhr didn’t follow her pre-approved speech at her San Ysidro High School graduation ceremony. After thanking her parents, friends, and a few select teachers, she went off script. “To my counselor, thanks for teaching me to fend for myself,” Buhr said. “You were always unavailable to my parents and I, despite appointments.” She also thanked her school’s staff for teaching her to be resourceful by not informing her of scholarships until the due date, and an unnamed teacher for helping students learn about the dangers of alcoholism — by being “regularly intoxicated during class,” which brought gasps and applause from the other graduates. “While we definitely welcome the concerns of students and their families regarding any situation at one of our schools,” the spokesperson said, “doing so in such a manner without any prior knowledge of this situation by the school, is not the right way of handling this.” (MS/San Diego Union-Tribune) ...They taught her to fend for herself, so she did.