DCA Commissioner Tells Robert Treat Academy Graduates to Aim High and Work Hard

Although he is a member of Gov. Christie’s cabinet, State Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Richard Constable acknowledged that most of the graduates of Robert Treat Academy Charter School in Newark probably never heard of him.

“I’m sure when you heard I was going to be your graduation speaker, you had one reaction: Who the heck is Rich Constable,” he said. “The real answer is that I am you 20 or so years from now.”

The former federal prosecutor was the keynote speaker at Robert Treat’s eighth annual commencement exercises held at Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark on June 28.

The cavernous cathedral was filled by 550 students from Robert Treat’s north and central campuses, the staff of both schools as well as some 600 family members. 

Constable told the Class of 2012 that his rise from poverty to one of the top positions in state government was made possible because his parents valued education.

Growing up in East Orange to the parents of Jamaican immigrants, Constable said he lived across the street from the neighborhood grammar school. But his parents would not allow him to attend the school and instead enrolled him in a Catholic grammar school on the other side of town.

“Your mom, your dad, your grandparents, whoever is responsible for you attending Robert Treat Academy, they made that decision and committed to involve themselves in your education, to ensure  that you -- like me many years ago – are in the best position for the future,” said Constable, who received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and his law and master’s degrees from University of Pennsylvania.

“Robert Treat and your families have provided you with the tools to accomplish those goals, but it’s up to you to go out and work hard and achieve them,” Constable said. “My academic achievements did not occur simply because I have some intellectual superiority that my classmates did not. But one thing that I did do, that most did not, is work real hard.”

In addition to working hard, the Commissioner told students they must also aim high.

“Most people hit what they aim for,” he told the graduates. “When you aim high you have two choices, either give up on your dream or work for it. No one that you think of as having ‘made it’ aspired for mediocrity, for average, for OK, and neither should any of you.”

Robert Treat’s graduates are well acquainted with the notion of working hard and aiming high. This year’s class earned a record $6 million in scholarship offers to attend high schools, including some of the most prestigious boarding and private schools in the nation.

Founded in 1997 by North Ward Center Founder Stephen N. Adubato, Robert Treat Academy is a nationally recognized Blue Ribbon charter school of excellence. In 2010-11, eighth grade students received a perfect 100 on the New Jersey ASK mathematics and language arts test and 98 on the science portion.

“Robert Treat Academy proves that urban children can excel,” said a proud Adubato, who was presented with a gift of a life preserver by the Class of 2012 with the inscription S.S. Robert Treat Academy. Adubato is an avid sailor and each year pays for sixth and seventh grade students to take sailing lessons on the Shark River in Belmar.

Dorothy He, a 10-year old Robert Treat student and accomplished violinist, played “Summertime” as a gift to the school's founder as well.

Adrianne Davis, the vice president of the Robert Treat Board of Trustees, said she is confident this year’s class will achieve whatever goals they have set out for themselves.

“Robert Treat has provided them with an excellent fundamental education,” Davis said. “They are well prepared to confront whatever challenges they should face in the future.”

Principal Theresa Adubato, in a tearful sendoff, said it hasn’t become any easier to say goodbye to the graduating class as the years go by.

“I will tell you the same thing that I have told every graduating class who has come before you,” the principal said. “You will always have a home at Robert Treat Academy.”

Joshua Medina, who graduated from Robert Treat in 2007 and currently attends Rollins College in Florida, returned to Newark to give the Class of 2012 some advice.

“There will be some challenges that Robert Treat has not prepared you for,” Medina said. “Those challenges can be anything from dealing with your first C on your report card to not making the varsity team for your favorite sport. Whatever the hurdle, the only advice I can tell you is, jump at the opportunity and accept these challenges with open arms. You are never truly sure of what you can do until you push yourself to that threshold. You can succeed as long as you believe you can.”

Valedictorian Nicholas Scott-Hearn, who will attend St. Paul’s School in Concord, N.H., said Robert Treat has provided every one of its graduates with an opportunity to achieve greatness.

“We are given opportunities, but it’s what we do and what we make of those opportunities that define us,” Scott-Hearn said. “We must fight for the things we desire, we must make the tough choices, accomplish the difficult tasks, walk the long steep road to the peak where we will find success. It won’t be easy, nothing in life ever is.”