Edmonds-Woodway High School graduation attendees June 13 were in for a surprise when teacher David Quinn took the stage.
If every adult in the audience donated $1 to charity it would make a real difference in the world, Quinn told the crowd as part of his speech. He exhorted people to “be the change they wanted to see in the world” rather than just talk about the change.
He also couldn’t resist the chance to try to repair the world when given the chance to speak to over 1,000 people, he said. He held up an orange plastic bucket and told audience members to look for the buckets outside.
He closed his speech by saying that graduation is a celebration and people should always dance at celebrations. Within a moment, Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” was blasting and students, teachers and much of the audience danced for several minutes.
After the ceremony, community volunteers stood in the public right-of-way and collected money for three charities: Food Lifeline, Pathways for Women and the Charity:Water project, which digs wells for clean drinking water in Africa.
About $3,000 was raised in just 20 minutes. The funds were divided among the three charities and sent anonymously.
“I just hope it got people to think,” Quinn said this week. “You can’t send graduates out into the world if it’s broken.”
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