State teaches plagiarizing principal a lesson
West Boca graduation speech largely cribbed
Ask not what happens when you plagiarize a speech.
Ask instead what creative writing class you will have to attend.
The state this month ordered former West Boca Raton High principal Mark Stenner to pay a $750 fine and take a college-level course on creative writing after he admitted lifting large parts of someone else’s graduation speech.
Stenner, who also received a reprimand, agreed to comply. He could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Stenner was principal at West Boca in 2015 when he gave an address that sounded suspiciously like one given by David McCullough Jr. in Massachusetts in 2012.
It was the second time he had copied a speech. His 2014 graduation speech copied much of a 2000 address by a University of Texas professor.
After the South Florida Sun Sentinel pointed out those similarities, the district in 2015 removed Stenner from the school and transferred him to the char-
ter school office.
“By your actions, you have lessened the reputation of all who practice our profession and have diminished your position as an educational leader,” Nicholas Pietkiew, presiding officer of the Education Practices Commission, wrote in letter to Stenner on Feb. 1.
Stenner had borrowed heavily from McCullough’s “You Are Not Special” commencement speech. McCullough, an English teacher at Wellesley High School in Massachusetts, had exhorted students to learn for learning’s sake and think less about financial rewards.
The speech was viewed several million times on YouTube.
During the 2015 graduation ceremony, Stenner tweaked parts of the speech, saying, “You are not special, yet,” and replacing a reference to “ice cream” with a reference to “chocolate.” Most of the speech, though condensed, was verbatim.
Stenner told investigators in 2015 that “I did so much chopping it up that I didn’t think it was plagiarism. I did not use the entire speech, I took large portions and I should have known better.”
His 2014 speech copied much of an address by professor Mark Lewis that told the stories of a tightrope walker and an Olympic ski jumper.
Stenner retired from the district in June, according to an official in the charter schools office. But he must attend the creative writing class and pay the fine in order to keep his state educator’s license valid. He will be under two years’ probation until he can return to good standing.
Excerpts from McCulloch’s 2012 speech and Stenner’s 2015 speech
McCulloch: Fitting, for example, for this auspicious rite of passage, is where we find ourselves this afternoon, the venue.
Stenner: Fitting, for example, for this auspicious rite of passage, is where we find ourselves this afternoon,
the South Florida Fairgrounds Expo Center, this wonderful venue.
McCulloch: Whether male and female, tall or short, scholar or slacker, spray-tanned prom queen or intergalactic Xbox assassin, each of you is dressed, you’ll notice, exactly the same. And your diploma … but for your name, exactly the same.
Stenner: Whether male and female, tall or short, scholar or slacker, spraytanned beauty or intergalactic Xbox assassin, each of you is dressed, you’ll notice, exactly the same. Aside from the cords draped around your neck and your diploma, aside for your name, exactly the same.
McCulloch: Contrary to what your U-9 soccer trophy suggests, your glowing seventh-grade report card, despite every assurance of a certain corpulent purple dinosaur, that nice Mister Rogers and your batty aunt Sylvia, no matter how often your maternal caped crusader has swooped in to save you … you’re nothing special.
Stenner: Contrary to what your Boca Hoops or SABR Soccer trophy suggests, your glowing seventh-grade report card, despite every assurance of a certain plump purple dinosaur, that nice Mister Rogers and your batty aunt Sylvia, no matter how often your maternal caped crusader has swooped in to save you, you’re nothing special yet.
McCulloch: You’ve been nudged, cajoled, wheedled and implored.
Stenner: You’ve been nudged, cajoled, coaxed and implored.
McCulloch: Why, maybe you’ve even had your picture in the Townsman. And now you’ve conquered high school, and, indisputably, here we all have gathered for you, the pride and joy of this fine community.
Stenner: Why, maybe you’ve even had your picture in the Sun Sentinel or the Palm Beach Post. And now you’ve conquered high school, and, indisputably, here we’ve all gathered for you, the pride and joy of West Boca Raton.