In April, six of us from Island Grown Schools were able to travel to Austin, Texas, for the seventh National Farm to Cafeteria conference. We joined 1,100 other farm to school advocates from across the country to share stories, triumphs and challenges in bringing school gardens, healthy food and farm-based learning to children.

As you can see from this photograph, despite all the badmouthing about Beach Road, it does have its charms. And those charms lay mainly in the trees that provide shade and greenery and enhance the experience of drivers, pedestrians and cyclists.

We are lucky, whether we call the Island home for a week, a year, or generations at a time. This feeling was refreshed as the Vineyard Conservation Society launched an art contest for high schoolers.

Graduates, take this moment to think about the extraordinary people who have helped you along your personal journey. And if you haven’t already, sometime today tell those people how much you appreciate their love and support.

Today marks our last day in high school, and in my case, the last day in public school as well. After 12 years of being in an “everyman’s school,” an experience I’ve found invaluable, I’ll be heading to private school for the first time this August. While I’m extremely excited about this next step in my life, the transition has made me stop and consider what this change from public to private means, and what an extraordinary thing free public education actually is.

We live in a special place, but you all know that. I have no cliched advice for you today, no insightful message or sentimental speech about a childhood on this Island. Instead, I’d like to recognize some of the kids who have made this class exceptional.

I didn’t become a teacher till I was 36 years old, and I believe we are never too old to transform ourselves. Life isn’t about finding out who you are or discovering yourself, it’s about making yourself into the person you want to be. Every person is always a work in progress.

Our dear friend, Capt. Danwin Purdy died today in south Florida. He will be forever missed in our hearts and remembered as a big part of our lives. Our arms reach out to his family and most especially his beautiful bride, Sherry.

The family of JoAnn deBettencourt would like to thank everyone for the love and support shown to us during the loss of our loved one.

With sadness, Bodhi Path Buddhist Centers announced that founder and spiritual leader Shamar Rinpoche passed away suddenly on June 11, 2014, in Renchen-Ulm, Germany. Shamar Rinpoche, who was born in 1952, was the 14th Shamarpa, or Red Hat Lama of Tibet. Until his death, Shamar Rinpoche was the lineage holder of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, along with His Holiness Karmapa Trinlay Thaye Dorje.