MS Science Teacher William Bander Addresses the Class of 2029
Students and family members from the Class of 2029 gathered in the MAC on Thursday, May 29, 2025, for their Eighth Grade Celebration. Middle School Science Teacher William Bander offered his thoughts, which you can read here.
Hello, friends. It has been quite a journey, hasn’t it? And I don’t just mean this past academic year.
As I have told many of your parents, as well as your other teachers, I feel particularly blessed to have taught you science, not just as eighth graders, but to a fair number of you back when you were in sixth grade. It seems like only yesterday when we were growing fast plants, dissecting worms and owl pellets, and going down to the creek to look for macroinvertebrates. Then I got to see many of you again in seventh grade, during our Winter Term program. And let’s not forget the coolest students amongst you, who were two-year members of the Anime Club—the best club.
Yes, our time together has certainly been fun. Filled with recesses out on the turf, sporting events, OctiRam challenges, laptop gaming when you thought no one is looking, performances in music and drama, ‘splosions in science class, more ‘splosions in science class, how about Henry Verdine absolutely KILLING it at the talent show, and if they have “Just Dance” contests in the Upper School—THIS class is READY!
But while I would love to go on and on, down this euphoric road of nostalgia, I’d be remiss if I didn’t remind you all of the following: Friends, mistakes…have been made. Quite a few of them actually. Assignments were done poorly, if done at all. Shortcuts were taken. Rules were ignored. Quiz and test grades may not have reflected our true abilities. Directions to the labs were overlooked. Arduinos were short-circuited. And Spider Webs…well, we don’t talk about spider webs for fear of triggering episodes of PTSD.
With all that being said, I have just one thing to say to you all: GOOD.
I’m glad your middle school career has been fraught with mistakes. After all, it is only by making mistakes that we are able to learn and grow into better human beings.
Take science, for example. How many times did you “fail” at making bioplastic? How many times did you have typos in your Arduino code? And yet with every mistake, you got one step closer towards reaching your goal.
Despite what your English teachers may say, “science” is a verb, not a noun. When you DO science, you make mistakes. If you don’t make mistakes, you’re not doing science. If you don’t correct those mistakes, you’re REALLY not doing science. And if you can’t admit that you were mistaken in the first place, then you were never doing science at all.
Thomas Edison once said, “I have not failed, I simply found 10,000 ways that don’t work.” Your time in middle school has been spent finding 10 million ways that don’t work. But by learning from your mistakes, by striving to not repeat these mistakes, you have proven that you are ready for the next part of your academic journey.
And you want to know the best part? There are many people who have made plenty of mistakes themselves, who are ready and willing to guide you through all of your future mistakes. Some of them are in this room right now. Some are waiting for you in the Upper School. But every single adult you have met, or will ever meet, got to where they are by making TONS of mistakes, and learning from every single one of them.
Parents, this is why we are here. The job of a teacher isn’t simply to teach math, or history, or science. It’s to help young boys and girls become young men and women. When people ask me what I do for a living, and I tell them I teach middle schoolers, they often look at me like I have to tame wild and dangerous animals. But middle schoolers aren’t scary. You want to know what’s scary? A person in their 30s who still acts like a middle schooler.
That’s why teachers get scared when parents insist that their student is perfect; their student doesn’t make mistakes. While you may not have enjoyed receiving those quick comments, they are proof that your child has the ability to grow, and learn, and become a better person tomorrow than they were today.
So with that, I would like to offer our students some rather bizarre advice for a commencement ceremony: Friends, continue to make MORE mistakes. Continue to CORRECT and LEARN from those mistakes. And continue to become a better person tomorrow than you were today.
And remember, there are a lot of adults who are here to help you. And maybe, just maybe, you might come back to visit some of those adults here in the Middle School. We ARE within walking distance of the Upper School. Anime Club, you know where to find me on Fridays after school. You are more than welcome to pop in.
And so, I’d like to leave you with some words I have borrowed from the ending theme song to a popular anime (because of course it’s an anime. Did you really think I’d get through this speech WITHOUT making an anime reference?). The anime is called Kaiju No 8, and its ending theme song is unique in that it is sung in English rather than Japanese. And it goes like this:
Nobody got you the way I do
Whatever demons you’re fighting through
When you need somebody to turn to
Nobody got you the way I do
I’d take the fall
If you ever feel like there’s no one at all
And I’d stay through the night
When you got monsters trying to take you alive
There ain’t no people or lines
That I wouldn’t cross if you need me to
I’m out here steppin on mines
And I think it’s finally time that you knew
Nobody got you the way I do
Whatever demons you’re fighting through
When you need somebody to turn to
Nobody got you the way I do
Class of 2029, it has been an honor and a privilege.
Thank you.