The 139 members of the Class of 2021 and their families heard a commencement address from the legendary Cindy and Tony Lapolla, and a Charge to the Seniors from faculty speaker Oscar King. The choral program and chamber orchestra each shared recorded performances for the occasion.

Despite the challenging circumstances of this class’s senior year, Than Healy shared, “Today, the day of your graduation from high school, I have never felt more optimistic about our collective future.”

He described a senior class that, through the hardships of the global pandemic, had come to truly appreciate the value of community and focus on what was most important. “You’ve just had a unique and difficult set of experiences over the last fifteen months,” he said. “Unexamined, this can only be a rough period of your life. But taking the time to reflect affords us insight into the principles that may guide our lives and the assets we didn’t know we had to lean on in pursuit of the good life.”

“The pandemic has been far from a blessing, but you have adjusted your expectations of yourselves and of each other and honed in on what is most important to you,” he shared. “No longer is winning a state title your primary goal—but having a season together, or just enjoying the inspiration from Coach Smith is what you most pray for. Getting the ‘A’ has been replaced by being in the classroom with Mr. Spence or Ms. Orangio. Having a prom to rival what is shown on TV has been traded for simply being together for a night on the Quad, singing your lungs out to different songs at the same time during a silent disco. At any moment you could have chosen defeat over victory, but by discerning what really matters most, you have taught yourselves and the rest of us how to find what is core in a situation.”

Congratulations, graduates of the Class of 2021! We’re proud of you and will miss you.