Friday, June 21, 2019
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Canfield High School senior Gregory Halley shook hands with principal Mike Moldovan as he accepted his certificate during the Parent Teacher Association Academic Awards Program on May 2.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Canfield High School junior Jacob Fay accepted his certificate from principal Mike Moldovan during the Parent Teacher Association Academic Awards Program on May 2.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Canfield High School junior Grace Mangapora accepted her certificate from principal Mike Moldovan during the Parent Teacher Association Academic Awards Program on May 2.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Jim Cossler of the Youngstown Business Incubator served as keynote speaker at the Canfield High School Parent Teacher Association Academics Award Program on May 2.
By ABBY SLANKER
The Canfield Parent Teacher Association hosted its 36th annual Academic Awards Program in the high school auditorium on May 2. The program honored junior and senior students with a grade point average of 4.01 or higher.
Canfield PTA president Julie Miller welcomed students, families and friends to the program.
“Good evening, and on behalf of the PTA, welcome to the 36th annual Academic Awards Program. We are pleased to host this evening’s event. This program is really special. It is the only program that honors Canfield students strictly based on academics. We can all agree that a 4.01 grade point average is a great achievement. The PTA is committed to rewarding hard work. You all will receive an academic patch to display however you see fit because you are now part of an elite group, We have 53 juniors and 53 seniors to honor tonight. Seniors, congratulations. You have really ended your high school career on top. Thank you to your families who have supported you throughout the years. To all of you, thank you for making it cool to be smart in Canfield,” Miller said.
Canfield High School Principal Mike Moldovan continued the program with opening remarks.
“Good evening parents and honorees. In the 19 years I’ve been here, this is probably my favorite event because it solely honors academic success. I’d like to thank the parents who send their kids to school wanting to learn. I’d also like to thank our marvelous teachers and staff. I am so very proud of all of them,” Moldovan said.
Moldovan then introduced Keynote Speaker Jim Cossler of the Youngstown Business Incubator.
“I am so excited to be here tonight to speak to you. I love working with students, especially the very bright and very talented students who fill this room tonight. Congratulations on your academic achievement,” Cossler said.
Cossler told the students their future is multi-dimensional.
“Your futures will be multi-dimensional. There will be unbelievable new opportunities for you and concerning threats in the workplace you will be entering. I want to help you understand them. There are two powerful disruptions that will change how and where you work. The first is a shift from W2-based economics to 1099-based economics. This will make a huge difference in the media field, the engineering field and even the finance field. My best advice to you is to become a lifetime student of entrepreneurship. The second powerful disruption is advancing technological innovations, which has erased the broad number of job classifications. You need to prepare for this. Artificial intelligence can do things faster, better and with less experience than a human,” Cossler said.
Cossler said he thinks entrepreneurship is one of the safest fields.
“An entrepreneurs with a brilliant idea who executes it perfectly will be safe. Every single student in this room has the ability right now to launch a successful start up company. Take advantage of the Youngstown Business Incubator. We have start up seminars and we can teach you how to come up with an idea. Please let me know if you need any help. Congratulations on doing awesome work and my very best wishes. We are here to help along the way,” Cossler said.
Rich Shields, Canfield High School assistant principal, then took the stage to present first the juniors, and then the seniors, with their Academic Awards certificates. As their name was called, each student walked to the stage, where they were handed their certificate by Moldovan.
Moldovan then turned the stage over to Traci DeCapua, Canfield Board of Education member, for closing remarks.
“Good evening. Students, you are all smart, talented, passionate, strong, outstanding human beings. You will make something of yourselves. You will live happily ever after. But, this is not the end. All great stories begin with ‘Once upon a time.’ We love stories. They bring us together. Your prequel has already been written. Your birth is your once upon a time. You are solely in charge of your life. Your dreams and aspirations perpetuate your story. Once upon a time is the beginning and the end is the conclusion. Your journey is book ended, neat and tidy, between those two. The middle is your journey and your story,” DeCapua said.
DeCapua told the students it is okay to make mistakes along their journey.
“As you continue on your journey, you may, and will, go off track and veer off the road. You will make mistakes and that’s okay. This will shape your character and make you, you. You are the author of your story. No one says your story is confined to one event. I challenge you to pick up a pen and write your story. And when you are writing your story, don’t let anyone else hold the pen. All my best wishes to you,” DeCapua concluded.
The Canfield PTA invited the students, families and friends to the cafeteria for desserts and fellowship following the program.