The city’s list of graduation speakers this year includes Obama advisor David Axelrod (Stuyvesant High School), singer Mary J. Blige (Women’s Academy of Excellence), and news anchor Katie Couric (Edward R. Murrow High School).
But the most interesting information comes at the very end of the list, where Department of Education officials have included some information on this year’s high school valedictorians:
Additionally, the Department of Education for the first time collected data about the valedictorians at the City’s public high schools. Of the 339 valedictorians, 63 percent are female, 49 percent speak languages other than English at home, and 66 percent are eligible to receive free or reduced-price school meals
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS FOR NEW YORK CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS’ GRADUATION CEREMONIES REPRESENT THE ARTS, BUSINESS, AND GOVERNMENT
Writers, entertainers, business leaders, politicians, and government officials this month are coming to New York City’s public schools to congratulate and offer words of wisdom to the graduates of 2010.
Graduation keynote speakers this year include:
White House Special Advisor David Axelrod, Stuyvesant High School, June 24
U.S. Representative Edolphus Towns, PROGRESS High School and Science Skills Center High School for Science, Technology and the Creative Arts, both on June 28Mary J. Blige, recording artist, Women’s Academy of Excellence, June 28
Leonard Lauder, chairman of the Estee Lauder Companies, Inc. and Gene Weingarten, Pulitzer-Prize-winning reporter for the Washington Post, Bronx High School of Science, June 21
Katie Couric, CBS News anchor, Edward R. Murrow High School, June 24
Darnell Martin, director and screenwriter, A. Philip Randolph High School, June 25
Lynn Nottage, Pulitzer-Prize-winning playwright, La Guardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, June 25
Anthony Ponturo, Broadway producer of “Hair” and “Memphis,” Talented Unlimited High School, June 25
Chancellor Joel I. Klein, IS 228 in Brooklyn, June 22; Williamsburg Preparatory High School, June 23; Newcomers High School, June 24; and New Dorp High School, June 25.
Deputy Mayor Dennis M. Walcott, Benjamin N. Cardozo High School, June 21; District 79’s GED Plus, June 23; and High School of Art and Design, June 25.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, High School for Law Enforcement and Public Safety, June 24
Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano, FDNY High School for Fire and Life Safety, June 24
Jon Sands, poet, Bronx Academy of Letters, June 25
Dr. Irwin Shapiro, award-winning Harvard University professor of astrophysics, Brooklyn Technical High School, June 24
Curtis Sliwa, radio talk show host, Concord High School, June 28
Ingrid Hoffman, Food Network host, Food and Finance High School, June 24
Daisy Martinez, Food Network host, High School for Media and Communications, June 25
MTA Chairman Jay Walder, Abraham Lincoln High School, June 28
Deputy Chancellor Laura Rodriguez, Millennium Art Academy, June 26
Deputy Chancellor Santiago Taveras, School of Performing Arts at PS 315 in Brooklyn, June 21; JHS 13 Jackie Robinson, June 24; International School for Liberal Arts, June 24; The High School for Contemporary Arts, June 25; Gregorio Luperon High School, June 25; and Roberto Clemente Intermediate School, June 25
Deputy Chancellor Marc Sternberg, Bronx Lab School, June 28
New York University Professor Dr. Petro Noguera, Bayard Rustin Educational Complex, June 25
Steven Cohen, general manager of the Brooklyn Cyclones, High School of Sports Management, June 24
Rev. Calvin O. Butts, III, Thurgood Marshall Academy for Learning and Social Change, June 24
Art McFarland, Channel 7 education reporter, Francis Lewis High School, June 21
City Council Education Committee Chairman Robert Jackson , The Mott Hall School, June 25
Public Advocate Bill DeBlasio, Secondary School for Law, June 24
NYC Comptroller John C. Liu, Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School, June 28
Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, Queens Vocational and Technical High School, June 25
Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, South Shore High School, June 25
Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., In-Tech Academy, June 23; Fordham Leadership Academy for Business and Technology, June 24; and Frederick Douglass Academy III Secondary School, June 29.
Additionally, the Department of Education for the first time collected data about the valedictorians at the City’s public high schools. Of the 339 valedictorians, 63 percent are female, 49 percent speak languages other than English at home, and 66 percent are eligible to receive free or reduced-price school meals.