• Contact Us
  • Events calendar
Entering Swellesley
Pinnacle, Wellesley

The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

  • Advertise
  • Business index
  • Contribute
  • Wellesley Square
  • Private schools
  • Camp
  • Eat
  • Schools
  • Top 10 things to do
  • Embracing diversity
  • Kids
  • About us
  • Events
  • Natick Report
  • COVID-19
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Athlete of the Week
  • Seniors
Needham Bank, Wellesley
Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend

Florida principal accused of swiping Wellesley’s “You’re Not Special” graduation speech

June 5, 2015 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

The principal of West Boca Raton Community High School in Florida is being accused of giving a commencement speech last month that is basically a condensed edition of Wellesley High English teacher David McCullough, Jr.’s 2012 “You’re Not Special” graduation speech.  Principal Mark Stenner changed a few references, to localize them, in a weak attempt to cover his tracks. (You can get a flavor of the overlap in the video below.)

The principal, who apparently doesn’t get what plagiarism is nor understand the fact that pretty much everyone in the US can see what’s on the Internet, is quoted in the Sun Sentinel (Mr. Stenner, this is what we call “attribution”) as saying he did not plagiarize the McCullough speech because he shortened it “quite a bit” and changed some wording.

“That was my mistake,” he said. “I liked his idea. I should have said this was in part taken from him.”

Apparently students at this school are not allowed to plagiarize, but perhaps they can shorten and re-use. (We were going to include a photo of Stenner with this post, but the page on the school website with his bio on it no longer exists.)

The Palm Beach County School District is investigating the Stenner situation, according to Florida’s WPBF 25 (there it is again, “attribution”). And in fact, Stenner is being investigated as well regarding whether he “borrowed” another speech last year from a University of Texas professor, according to the Sun Sentinel.

While McCullough’s speech went viral, knocking out our site after we published the transcript (with McCullough’s permission!) and piling up 2.5 million YouTube views, it appears that Stenner’s actions won’t become quite as well known. Though the UK’s Daily Mail did pick up the story (and the Townsman might be sad to know that Stenner changed the reference to the local newspaper in McCullough’s speech to “the Sun-Sentinel, or the Palm Beach Post”).

McCullough, who converted his speech into a book and just this week had an op-ed about speeches published in the Globe, has taken the high road regarding Stenner’s mess.

McCullough’s speech has proven to be a convenient find for more than one school higher-up in recent years. In 2013, a trustee for a northern California school district apologized, sort of, after cribbing McCullough’s speech.

Wellesley High holds its graduation ceremony today.

print

Share

Filed Under: Education

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You have to agree to the comment policy.

Linden Square, Wellesley
Wonderful Wellesley
Riverbend School

Tip us off…

Please send tips, photos, ideas to [email protected]

 

Advertisements

Wellesley Square
Wellesley, Jesamondo
Edge on Science
Sexton test prep
Feldman Law
Fay School, Southborough
Wellesley Theatre Project
Volvo
Cachet, Wellesley
Lyn Evans, Wellesley
Cheesy Street Grill
Admit Fit, Wellesley
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Never miss a post with our free daily Swellesley Report email
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

You can subscribe for free, though we appreciate any contribution that supports our independent journalism.

Click on Entering Natick sign to read our Natick Report

Entering Natick road sign

Most Read Posts

  • Restaurants in Wellesley, Mass.: more than 50 dining options
  • Wellesley Business Buzz—E.A. Davis to change ownership; OISE looking for host families; Linden Square sidewalk sale coming up
  • Sneak peek: We visit Wellesley's Laughing Monk Cafe
  • Wellesley Business Buzz: New parklets popping up; Papa Razzi taps GM; Babson Beaver Bite
  • Wellesley POPS senior profile: Caroline Mack takes on theater both center stage & behind the scenes

Upcoming Events

May 16
6:30 pm

Rotary Club meeting

May 17
10:30 am - 12:30 pm

Friendly Pool Tournament

May 18
6:30 pm - 7:30 pm

In the Beginning: Glaciers, Agriculture, and the Origins of Civilization

May 21
9:00 am - 10:00 am

Centennial Reservation trail walk

May 21
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Wellesley Pooch Parade

View Calendar

Popular pages

  • Wellesley’s 2022 Boston Marathon charity runners

  • Wellesley’s 7 official scenic roads

Recent Comments

  • Steven scott on Wellesley, football world mourn death of longtime Patriots star Gino Cappelletti
  • Eric on Wellesley Business Buzz: New parklets popping up; Papa Razzi taps GM; Babson Beaver Bite
  • Herb Gliick on Wellesley Business Buzz: New parklets popping up; Papa Razzi taps GM; Babson Beaver Bite
  • Dianne Dowling on Wellesley POPS senior profile: Caroline Mack takes on theater both center stage & behind the scenes
  • S Hawkinson on Sneak peek: We visit Wellesley’s Laughing Monk Cafe

Links we like

  • Great Runs
  • Jack Sanford: Wellesley's Major League Baseball Star
  • Taquitos.net
  • Tech-Tamer
  • The Wellesley Wine Press
  • Universal Hub
  • Wellesley Sports Discussion Facebook Group

Categories

  • 2021 Town Election (24)
  • Animals (411)
  • Antiques (49)
  • Art (575)
  • Beyond Wellesley (45)
  • Books (364)
  • Business (1,492)
  • Camp (11)
  • Careers/jobs (48)
  • Churches (79)
  • Clubs (225)
  • Construction (291)
  • Dump (127)
  • Education (3,083)
    • Babson College (250)
    • Bates Elementary School (16)
    • Dana Hall School (33)
    • Fiske Elementary School (9)
    • Hardy Elementary School (42)
    • Hunnewell Elementary School (40)
    • MassBay (55)
    • Schofield Elementary School (24)
    • Sprague Elementary School (19)
    • St. John School (2)
    • Tenacre Country Day School (11)
    • Upham Elementary School (34)
    • Wellesley College (608)
    • Wellesley High School (944)
    • Wellesley Middle School (201)
  • Embracing diversity (69)
  • Entertainment (780)
  • Environment (741)
  • Fashion (140)
  • Finance (14)
  • Fire (159)
  • Food (341)
  • Fundraising (608)
  • Gardens (156)
  • Government (550)
    • 2020 Town Election (47)
    • 2022 Town Election (14)
  • Health (842)
    • COVID-19 (198)
  • Hikes (2)
  • History (386)
  • Holidays (401)
  • Houses (152)
  • Humor (47)
  • Kids (843)
  • Law (7)
  • Legal notices (6)
  • Letters to the Editor (61)
  • Media (68)
  • METCO (4)
  • Military (9)
  • Morses Pond (108)
  • Music (561)
  • Natick Report (29)
  • Neighbors (272)
  • Obituaries & remembrances (70)
  • Outdoors (637)
  • Parenting (62)
  • Police (754)
    • Crime (386)
  • Politics (551)
  • POPS Senior Profile (2)
  • RDF (6)
  • Real estate (328)
  • Religion (131)
  • Restaurants (328)
  • Safety (149)
  • Scouts (1)
  • Seniors (120)
  • Shopping (140)
  • Sponsored (5)
  • Sports (973)
    • Athlete of the Week (6)
  • STEM (107)
  • Technology (164)
  • Theatre (392)
  • Town Meeting (23)
  • Transportation (223)
  • Travel (16)
  • Uncategorized (1,229)
  • Volunteering (345)
  • Weather (177)
  • Wellesley Election 2019 (21)
  • Wellesley Free Library (276)
  • Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend (14)
RSS Feed Icon Subscribe to RSS Feed
Wellesley Pooch Parade

© 2022 The Swellesley Report
Site by Tech-Tamer · Login