Today, I felt a responsibility to speak to you-the student body. I wanted to encourage and uplift the student body following a horrible episode in American history that will never be forgotten.

However, today, I am not here to encourage or uplift you. I am not here to tell you it is going to be ok. Actually, I don’t even want to talk about what happened. You’ve probably heard enough of that type of talk these past two days, as well as this past year as a whole.

Today, for the next minute and a half, I just wish to remind you the words of former President Barack Obama:

“One voice can change a room. And if one voice can change a room, then it can change a city. And if it can change a city, it can change a state. And if it can change a state, it can change a nation, and if it can change a nation, it can change the world. Your voice can change the world.”

Regardless of your political views, regardless of anything really, if you are an American, then you should care about the state of our country right now. It is unacceptable and unamerican.

For a while now, I have been trying for our school to show solidarity and be leaders in the struggle of our country. I want to be a leader for social change. While I know not all of you care, I know many do. However, it is not easy. In fact, at D.C., a lot of our country’s leaders are  clearly struggling with that. So, I know we will not save the world or bring world peace, but I do believe the words of our former president: “one voice can change a room”.

With that said, I don’t really care if you remember this speech. But please listen to this. I have a public service announcement for the student body. Whether boy or girl, freshmen, sophomore, junior, or senior, whether you are the loudest person or the quietest, please contact me if you want to take action and be a leader in our community. I have not done a good enough job with this as President, but from now until my term ends, I will pursue meaningful ways for our school to be the agent for change. Why not us? Please email, text, call or contact me anyway you can.

Again, like former President Obama said,

“if one voice can change a room, then it change a city. And if it can change a city, it change a state. . And if it can change a state, it can change a nation, and if it can change a nation, it can change the world. Your voice can change the world.”

Thank you and Shabbat Shalom.