Hall of Fame speeches and big feelings of gratitude

It is done. I am a Hall of Famer now. Please don’t treat me any differently. I’m still just a man. A regular man. Who puts his Hall of Fame pants on one Hall of Fame leg at a time. I will not let the fact that society has deemed me superior to others ever go to my head. No special treatment. Just think of me as regular old Joe, whose myriad accomplishments shall now be remembered for as long as there is a high school in Mayfield Heights, Ohio. May its reign be eternal. 

As promised, I’m sharing my high school Hall of Fame induction speeches. Yes, speeches. Plural. Two different audiences mean two different speeches. One speech was given at a school assembly of juniors and seniors. The other speech was made in the evening to friends, family, the alumni association, school supporters and free appetizer enthusiasts. 

At both events, I was introduced by a young man of great poise named Alex Hliatzos. He is a musician, a gentleman, and a scholar, and it would not surprise me if he one day achieves the same honor I’ve been given. I was impressed with Alex and all of the students I met. Each alumni being inducted was introduced by a student who will someday run a Fortune 500 company. Their average bio was like: “She has a 4.48 grade point average, plays varsity tennis, track, basketball and volleyball, is the president of student government, volunteers for Doctors Without Borders, is a member of the National Honors Society, runs a food truck to feed the homeless, and is weighing offers from Harvard, Oxford and Oprah…” 

I could also go on about my eye-opening visit to the old high school and how it has made dozens of great physical additions since I graduated – things like a science wing and bathrooms that aren’t scary – but we’re here for the speeches. 

A couple weeks before the ceremony, I wrote my biographical introduction for Alex, which he dutifully read. Let the record note this was me mocking myself.  

Joe Donatelli is living his dream of being a journalist. As a student at Mayfield, he was an editor for the student newspaper, and a writer for the yearbook and the school literary magazine. While at Mayfield, he took the Creative Writing class for an unprecedented four straight years because no one in a position of power could stop him. In addition to his writing activities, he played football, but not very well. From Mayfield, he attended Ohio University, where he spent four years at the student newspaper, rising to become its managing editor. After college, he worked in Washington, DC, as a sports reporter and covered the Olympics and the Final Four. He later moved to Los Angeles, where he worked at several startups as an editor, performed improv and sketch comedy and spent several years as a "brand humorist," a job whose very existence justifies the excesses of capitalism. In 2014, he was hired to work at Playboy and edited "the articles." After Playboy, he worked as the senior writer at Los Angeles magazine. When their children were born, Joe and his wife Jen made the decision to move back to Cleveland, and he took the job he now holds as digital director at News 5. His team has won several prestigious Edward R. Murrow awards, including for digital journalism and for innovation. He has also won an Emmy, and Cleveland Press Club awards. His work has been shared worldwide, including on the Joe Rogan Experience and the John Oliver show. It is my honor to introduce Hall of Fame inductee Joe Donatelli.

This is the text of my speech to the students:

Thank you, Alex.

When I sat down to write this speech, I thought about you. If I was sitting where you are, as a student, what would I want to hear? If I was 16, why would I listen to me? Why would I care? So. I put myself in your shoes. Think of me as your classmate, sitting next to you right now, coming back to you from the future, who has something to tell you.

Now, you should know a few things about this time-traveling classmate of yours. When he came to Mayfield, he barely knew anyone. He ate lunch on the first day of school, in the cafeteria, all alone. He was mortified. He wanted to run out of that room and never come back. As the year went on, your classmate struggled to make friends in a school where it felt like everyone knew each other already. He’d go home at night, completely miserable. How did that guy get from there to here?

Your classmate knew he wanted to be a writer. He signed up for Mr. Siedlecki’s Creative Writing class. In that class, he could express himself. He took his sadness and turned it into beauty and humor. He had a teacher in Mr. Siedlecki who encouraged him. His teacher asked him to share his gift out loud with his peers. He made a friend in that class. And then another. Slowly, he became himself again. He met people, went to dances, was elected to student government and even performed comedy at school events. He followed his dream to Ohio University, and he followed his heart and became a writer and a journalist. He sat right where you’re sitting. And he brings you a message from the future.

Here’s what he says: if you use your education, in pursuit of a dream, the world will open up for you. He really wants you to hear this, so he’s going to repeat it again: if you use your education in pursuit of a dream, the world will open up for you. It can feel like school is a thing you are supposed to do. An obligation. It can also be what unlocks everything. Tonight, in the cafeteria, surrounded by the people I love most in this world, the school will celebrate our entry into the Hall of Fame, in the same room where I once ate lunch alone. 

[PAUSE]

That’s the value of education in pursuit of a dream.

Thank you, Principal Linn, and Alumni Association, and thank you for listening to this story.

I kept it short and sweet because high school students are terrifying, and I’d rather leave them wanting more than groaning for less. In addition to being terrifying, teenagers are also relentlessly self-interested, so I knew I had to make the speech less about me and more about them. I’m happy with the way it turned out. The response from the room was positive. 

For the evening speech, I knew I’d have a friendlier, more sophisticated audience, which meant I could have a bit more fun. My main goal was to express gratitude for those who’ve helped me along the way.

My cheering section, except for my wife, who took the pic.

Thank you, Alex. 

Yes, I am at News 5, and yes it’s true that in a past life I worked at Playboy editing “the articles.” I would hereby like to thank the alumni association for completing the second line of my obituary.

My friend and classmate Melanie GiaMaria nominated me for this honor. Hi, Melanie. She does not know this, but I will be nominating her when she least expects it in a revenge nomination. After I was nominated, the school reached out to see if I wanted to move forward. That question made me think. Why should I be considered for this honor when so many others deserve it? I thought about it until I found my answer. The reason I said yes. And this is the truth. I knew I might get the chance to stand in public and brag about some pretty great people.

I have a life I enjoy because at critical moments, I had people in my corner who helped me receive an education in support of a dream – the dream of writing words for a living. My first teachers were my parents, and they are here today. Please join me in thanking them and give them a hand. My parents valued education and reading. As a kid, my mom read a lot. She loved Stephen King. One day my brother Tom begged her to read us Cujo – a book about a killer St. Bernard – and she looked at him like, “You asked for it.” My dad, who is a Mayfield grad, studied cars and became a master mechanic. He can fix anything mechanical, whereas I can break anything mechanical.

My parents wanted my brothers and I to have a good education, so they sent us to St. Francis. Any St. Francis people here? I loved St. Francis. The school is next to a church, a hospital, and an old-age home. You get an education, and a constant reminder, that you will die. It was at St. Francis I discovered a love of writing. The teachers cared, but none more than Miss O’Malley, our fourth grade teacher. We WANTED to go to school, just to see Miss O’Malley. She was kind. She was patient. She read us Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, every day. Then we made chocolate on the last day of school. Imagine being 9 years old and disappointed it’s Saturday. Imagine the thought of summer break filling you with dread. That was Miss O’Malley. I speak of her today because the first time I wrote something and read it in front of other people and got a positive response was in Miss O’Malley’s class. The environment she created made me believe writing was something I could do. She’s here tonight, please join me in giving her a round of applause.

Like all St. Francis graduates whose parents don’t own a construction company, I went to Mayfield. At Mayfield, I signed up for a class called Creative Writing, taught by Mr. Siedlecki. I don’t think Creative Writing was meant to be taken four straight years, but I took it four straight years.That class was crucial. I wrote short stories, top ten lists, poems and sketches. The weirder I got, the more Mr. Siedlecki encouraged me. He encouraged us all. That man knew something the best teachers know – with the right amount of encouragement and freedom, teenagers are capable of producing wonder. Mr. Siedlecki is also here tonight, please join me in thanking him.

I graduated from Mayfield, and like anyone who didn’t have the proper wardrobe for Miami of Ohio, I went to OU. I chose OU for the journalism school. At OU, I learned about writing from Professor Bugeja, who taught me how to tell a story. His class, just as importantly, gave me an excuse to stare across the room at the woman who would eventually become my wife. Hi, baby. It was from Dr. Bugeja that I learned the concept of subject and theme. Subject – what is the story about? Theme – what is it really about? The subject of this speech is a Hall of Fame induction. The theme is the value of an education in support of a dream.

You can draw a line from the fourth grade to Creative Writing to OU to my wife and my children to my job at News 5. I am thankful for all who made that possible.

Mayfield High School has educated countless students who became pillars of their communities – as business owners, public servants, doctors, educators, first responders, in the military, as artists, parents, coaches and as workplace leaders. To stand here today, as someone who reflects this community’s values, is truly an honor. Thank you, Principal Linn, and the Mayfield Alumni Association, for inviting me to be here today, and thank you to my friends and family and teachers who have given me their loving support.

Photo courtesy of MHS. I blacked out during the speech, so it’s good to see I was enjoying myself.

I’m happy with how this one turned out, too. What I’ll remember most from this is getting the chance to acknowledge the teachers who kept me on the writing path. If they had not been there at some formative moments — who knows? Maybe I would have been fine. Or maybe I’d have a career where I eyed the clock all day until 5. I’m thankful I’ll never know.

I appreciate everyone who made this week happen — the administrators and staff and students at Mayfield — and everyone who showed up to the events, waved at the parade or sent me a note of congratulations.

I promise you all, this changes nothing.

-Joe Donatelli HOF ‘24