Upon righting himself from his headstand, he proceeded with his gist — that the grads should go out of their way to befriend those who don’t have many friends, to take stands against hurtful pranks and to rail against demeaning language leveled at genders and races.

In short, to do the right things even when those right things aren’t cool.

Schotzko doesn’t know how well his message sank in with the teens, though some parents told him it was appreciated.

He prefers to shun any publicity about the approach he took, and hopes he didn’t overstep the bounds of propriety in delivering a conventional message preceded by buffoonery.

But then he said something that absolves him completely.

“I can’t recall my own graduation, or who spoke at it,” said the 1968 high school graduate.

Who can? And that’s the point.

Clown on, Father Schotzko. Your medium is the message.

Brian Ojanpa is a Free Press staff writer. Call him at 344-6316 or e-mail bojanpa@mankatofreepress.com.