High school students are held to a high standard of honesty in their academic work. It stands to reason that teachers and principals are held to an even greater standard. This was not the case for principal Mark Stenner at West Boca Raton High School. For his commencement address to his 2015 seniors, he borrowed a speech from David McCullough, popularly known as the “You’re Not Special” speech. Stenner failed to credit his speech when he should have and openly admitted this to a Sun-Sentinel reporter. However, he stands by his claim that he didn’t plagiarize because “he made changes.” Director of forensics at University of Florida, Kellie Roberts, compared Stenner’s speech to McCullough’s speech and noted “there was hardly any editing.”
