CONCORD, NH — Two new names were placed on the Concord High School Wall of Fame on Monday, highlighting graduates who accomplished great things in their lives after graduating.
One inductee was not well known, while the other is a household name, especially if you are a sports fan.
Fanny Minot was the school valedictorian of Concord High School in 1865. She attended Wheaton Seminary, where she was also valedictorian, became a social reformer, advancing the cause of women. She was also a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and was president of the Woman’s Relief Corps — the oldest national women’s patriotic organization and Grand Army of the Republic. Minot also served on the Concord school board.
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Matt Bonner was valedictorian in 1999 and led Concord High School to three Division 1 state basketball championships. He attended the University of Florida, played for four seasons of NCAA basketball, held a 3.96 GPA, and earned a business degree. After being drafted by the Chicago Bulls and playing one season in Italy, Bonner played in the NBA for 13 seasons, including with the Toronto Raptors and San Antonio Spurs.
Tim Herbert, the school’s principal, said the wall revealed to students that anything and everything was possible, as shown by the outstanding accomplishments of the inductees.
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“We thank them for the difference they have made and the inspiration they have provided us,” he said.
Kim Bleier-Woods, a social studies teacher at the school, a member of the Class of 1992, and a member of the wall committee, introduced Barbara Higgins, a school board member and also a graduate, who accepted the honor on behalf of Minot, who died in 1919. Bleier-Woods said any students graduating later this week could be a future Wall of Fame recipient.
“Concord High has a long and rich history of producing some incredible graduates like all of you,” she said.
Higgins thought she was invited to present the award, but learned Monday she would accept the inductee. She found out just how often Minot passed through her life as she researched.
“She’s everywhere,” Higgins said.
It went beyond just being a graduate of Concord High School and serving on the school board. As an example, unbeknownst to her, Higgins drove by Minot’s gravesite at the Calvary Cemetery several times a week for the last nine years. She said Minot worked for change she would never see in her own life, like working to ensure women had a voice in public discourse and policy. Higgins did not know what she would say about the award, but believed she would have been pleased to be honored for her tenacity and charitable work. Minot’s class was also only the sixth class to graduate from the school and the class was all women.
Higgins said she was one of several women in her family who graduated from Concord High School. She felt Minot “set the stage for us, for us all. Not just to lend our strong voices but also to use them unabashedly.”
Daniel Breen, another social studies teacher who also graduated from the school in 2007 and serves on the committee, introduced Bonner and compared their times at school. However, Bleier-Woods playfully interrupted him, saying their yearbooks showed they had different goals. Breen was ribbed for wanting to leave Concord and get rich, whereas Bonner wanted to get a degree at college and play in the NBA. Bonner fulfilled his dream, but Breen had not. He countered his life was still “a work in progress.”
Bonner said he had “an amazing time” at the school, gave it everything he had, and made the most of it. He thanked his parents, who were in the audience, teachers, great teammates, and everyone who supported him. There were great families, too, in the community who supported him and others.
For the graduates, he had three pieces of advice.
The first, which he had heard from parents, coaches, and others, was, everything starts with hard work and being a good person.
“I don’t need to say that, right?” Bonner said. “You’ve heard that your whole lives.”
Dealing with adversity is an obstacle for everyone as they move into adulthood.
But, Bonner said, it is going to keep coming at you, and “you have to take it head on.” He has made many mistakes, but he has always tried to face everything and learn from problems. Adversity comes in two forms: things you control and things out of your control. Either one, he said, has to be taken on.
“Face it,” Bonner said. “Feel it. Accept the adversity into you … it will make you tougher and stronger moving forward.”
The second was not to focus on the result but on the process. The result should not dictate how you feel about yourself, he said. One coach he played for always faced a loss by acknowledging it and then going out to eat.
Lastly, Bonner said, the graduates had to stay true to themselves, especially today, with all the smartphones and social media, something he did not have to deal with growing up. He called it “crap” and said people should not be looking at social media and judging themselves based on what everyone else is doing.
“You cannot compare yourself to other people,” he said. “To what other people are doing; to what they have. You cannot let that influence you. You need to stay true to yourself.”
Bonner said everyone in the auditorium was their own person and you’re the only one. And, he added, “You’re awesome, in your own way, and that is enough … so if you work hard, you’re a good person, you deal with adversity the right way, and you wake up every day and are getting better today at whatever it is you’re trying to get better at, that’s enough. You’re winning at life.”
Bonner closed by saying, while his advice might seem easy enough, it would take an entire life to learn it, and that was OK, too.
Editor's note: I also serve on the CHS Wall of Fame committee.
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