 to the graduation ceremony for the U32 class of 2020. I'm Stephen Dellinger-Pate, the principal, and I wanna welcome all of you to this broadcast and those who are viewing it later as well. Our program tonight includes speeches from our superintendent, Dr. Deborah Taylor, one of our graduates, Sylvan Williams, and our featured speaker, one of our own educators, Jen Ingersoll. We will also have a presentation of the Gehegan Award to one of our graduates. To begin our ceremony this evening, Kyra Adams will now sing the national anthem. Can you see by the dawn's early light, what so proudly we at the twilight's last gleaming, whose broad stripes and bright stars. And at this time, I would like to invite Dr. Deborah Taylor, our superintendent, to come speak. Good evening, everyone. It's with great pleasure that I address the graduating class of 2020 of U32 High School. Before I begin, I would like to thank our principal, Stephen Dellinger-Pate, administration, faculty, staff, graduates, and honored guests, and in particular, the members of the Washington Central School Board. I'd like to dedicate my speech this evening in the memory of my father and my mother, Joan and Jack Lee, for without them, I would not be standing here today. They overcame much adversity in their lives. They were caring and compassionate people who practiced and instilled in me a work ethic that has had a major impact on my life. Graduates, you have certainly overcome a great deal of adversity to arrive at this day. And I understand, of course, not only are you proud of your accomplishments, but you are giving your parents a very special gift today, the gift of having earned your high school diploma. The diploma you receive should not be thought of as a reward, but rather an opportunity, a commitment, an obligation to go forward and continue the lifelong process of learning. The elements you have learned at U32 should now be forged into that special compound we call excellence. Someone once said, the key to success is hard work and a little luck. I have found that the harder you work, the luckier you become. Each of us is born with the seeds of success. Our parents and our schools plant the seeds till the soil, nurture and nourish each one of us until we develop into that special someone who can compete with anyone anywhere at any level. Well, members of the graduating class of 2020, you have much to celebrate. Nearly 60% of your graduating class are planning on continuing their education immediately upon graduating, while others plan to take a gap year. Collectively, you have been accepted at nearly 100 colleges and universities and technical schools, locally, around the country and internationally. Members of the class of 2020, you have declared a number of exciting and challenging options for your plans after high school. Some of you have chosen to enter the workforce. Others will be joining the military to serve our country. Others will pursue career education and apprenticeships. The diploma you will receive is just the beginning. So if you haven't been told this before, let me tell you now, members of the class of 2020, wherever you want to go in life, you can get there from right here. I offer you a personal challenge, a challenge to do something remarkable, something more than ordinary with your life. If you accept this challenge, I have three gifts that I wish to give you and you may keep these gifts for your entire lives. The first gift is passion. You must have a fire in your belly, have a goal, a dream, and be persistent, remain determined with a laser-like focus on what you want. Keep trying and never give up because the only person that can stop you is you. Be passionate. My second gift to you is imagination. Invent your future. Neither you nor society can continue to survive or prosper simply by implementing what is already known. Someone is going to have to come up with meaningful new ideas, creative new approaches, and important new discoveries. Why can't that someone be you? Don't let anyone define who you are. Let your reach exceed your grasp. Let your aims be high, even though fulfillment may seem impossible. What you can conceive in your mind, believe in your heart, you can achieve with your efforts. Nothing is impossible. It's just the degree of difficulty. Dream your dreams. My third gift to you is the gift of compassion. Graduates, you have great friends and a loving family. Keep your friends and loved ones close. Make choices that demonstrate your love and compassion for your friends and family now and into the future. Be sure that everything you do in this world has a good and positive lasting impact. Make a difference in the lives of others. In closing, I want to remind you that the worth of any high school is measured by the achievements, accomplishments, and contributions of its graduates. So as you begin your journey into the future, remember your roots, nurture them, grow them, and build a legacy that U32 High School can be proud of. On a personal note, we are both saying goodbye to U32 in Washington Central School District. As you begin your new adventure, I will begin one as well as I take on a new challenge as superintendent in another school system. It has certainly been my honor to serve as your superintendent. Members of the Class of 2020, congratulations and my very best wishes to you. Thank you, Dr. Taylor. So good evening and congratulations to the U32 Class of 2020. I want to welcome parents, caregivers, grandparents, siblings, family, friends, and everyone else who is joining or viewing our ceremony. I particularly want to thank the wonderful staff at U32 who have worked with this graduating class to help them reach this milestone. Throughout my career, I have witnessed the graduation of many students who have endured countless challenges for reaching the graduation stage. When I started six years ago with this group of students as seventh graders, I could not have ever imagined the challenges that this class would face. And ultimately, Conker, there are no doubts in my mind that the graduating class of 2020 is ready to fulfill the vision of U32. You have the passion, creativity, and power to contribute to both our local and the global community. And I want to encourage each of our graduates to give back to the community that has supported you throughout your education. This community has attended your plays, your concerts, your sporting events, and served as your mentors and advisors. I'm a firm believer in traditions and the importance that they give people in their community. Traditions connect us to history through common celebrations and familiar routines. Traditions give us a sense of our place and time and our role in society. Traditions mark the passage from one part of life to another. Traditions exist because we find value and consistency. The circumstances that we find ourselves in now challenge our traditions. However, these circumstances do not destroy our traditions. They only make them stronger because they cause us to take pause and remember what makes the tradition important and worthy of our time. So we're celebrating in a different way this year and it's okay. I've had in my mind an image of graduating the first class of students who have only had me as a principal during their time at U32. We would celebrate together our shared memories of all you've done since we first met. We would reminisce about our trip to DC, implementing proficiency-based learning, the good and the not so good times. I had an image of standing in front of you with a new track surrounding us and the band playing pop and circumstance as you entered. All images that will forever be in my imagination. As I stand at this podium now, I have new images of who you are and what you will become. You are going to be the most resilient graduates that U32 has ever produced. You are going to enter a world that is struggling right now with issues of race, poverty and disease and you are going to make a difference. I know that there's no challenge that you are not ready for because you have faced and conquered all the challenges that you have faced so far. I can think of no better group of students to send into the world right now to make a difference. Remember what you've learned in the last several years, both in and out of the classroom. U32 in the greater central Vermont community prepared you well for your next challenge. As you enter adulthood through the tradition of this graduation, know that you have in you the passion, the creativity and power to make a difference. You are my favorite class and you will always hold a special place in my heart. Congratulations to the graduating class of 2020. Now I would like to introduce our student speaker for tonight, Sylvan Williams. Dear U32 graduating class of 2020, we made it. I've been thinking a lot about that phrase lately. We made it, we made it. We made it all the way from the front doors of U32 to our couches, but the it in that clause is a whole lot more than this nearly empty room than the crowd watching from home. It is so much more than a cap and gown that may never see the light of day or a diploma sent through the mail. This is only the ending result. It is so much more. Before stepping behind this podium, it was seventh grade. It was dating someone for max two weeks and he held hands once, texted every night for days and then just didn't. When breakups were as easy as our fleeting attention span. Before joining the mass of daunting upstairs high school habitat, it was eighth grade. It was cringy outfits and badly applied makeup living in the future of what you think high school will look like. In freshman year, it was losing someone you loved. It was love and heartbreak, first kisses and homework. Finding where you belong in the world, even if the world is no more than a 10 mile radius from your house. In sophomore year, it was all of the almosts. Getting your permit but stuck in the car with your anxiety-ridden parents, almost an upperclassman, almost everything you've been waiting for. In junior year, it was staying up until 2 a.m. to finish an advanced expo paper or staying up until 2 a.m. talking to your friend about how much work you had to do on that essay and then falling asleep in your desk chair five minutes later you got off the phone, promising each other you would actually do it. It was senior year, was senior year. In the fall, it was going to bed at 2 a.m. and waking up at five. It was night swimming with your best friends. It was not school. It was everything else. It was trying to figure out who the heck you are before you leave it all behind. And then, it was nothing. It was waiting. It was hoping and disappointment, wishing and breaking apart. It was crying into your pillow knowing that everything you worked up towards was gone. There's a lot of things that it could have been. It could have been senior game night, crying on the field of joy instead of fear. It could have been your senior show, your last concert or your last track meet. There was everything to leave behind. We didn't get prom. We didn't get a proper graduation, a senior prank or a senior trip. We didn't get to say goodbye to the faces we've grown up with, the people who've seen us through the best and the worst. We left behind teachers and parties and lockers, assigned seats because your class is too loud or your favorite lab table. But we didn't leave us behind and we didn't leave our it behind. Because we are still seniors. We are still the next generation. We will still change the world. We've organized walkouts and marches. We've won championships and titles and banners and trophies for the glass case of the ones who came before us. The glass case we walked past nearly every day and hoped our senior year would be displayed there too. Your names on a plaque, your pictures in a frame. But we will be there right beside them. Maybe not in metal and gold, but in the memories of camaraderie, adrenaline, ecstasy and glory. Maybe you didn't get to play your last game, perform your last show or go to your last music festival. I didn't either. We all were robbed of our turn. We watched everyone go before us and we'll watch everyone go after us. This is what makes us special. This is what makes us the best grade. Because we didn't get what we wanted, what we worked for, what we deserved. But I'll be damned if the senior class of 2020 is not in our children's AP US history textbooks. But all this is only a small part of your it. This doesn't define us. Our perseverance, dedication and our ability to keep going is what shapes our it. Not the confusion, unknown and loss we are surrounded by. So hold on to your it, whatever it is. Maybe you don't know yet and that's okay. But hold on to the memories that fill your it. Hold on to the feeling of gravel under your feet. Hold on to study nights at Buddies, and embrace over your AP bio-papers. Hold on to the disappointments, the heartbreaks, the goodbyes and the new beginnings. The loss and crying and holes in your wall because you can't have heartbreak without heart first. The disappointments are what makes us feel alive. It will get better. We will find new love and new life. New reasons to wake up and new places to belong. There have been so many ends that were abrupt, jarring and simply not fair. But you have to end to begin again. So here's to the end of this beginning and to the adventures that are waiting for us somewhere. Go and find them. I now have the great privilege of welcoming to the podium Jen Ingersoll. Jen grew up in central Vermont and from early on had an abounding love for words and knew she wanted to become an editor, writer and eventually a teacher. She attended U32 as a high schooler before going off to receive her BA in English at UVM and her master's in English at California State University. Her impressive resume also includes spending 22 years as a career journalist and communications professional before entering the teacher apprenticeship program studying under former U32 teacher Steve Barrows in 2011 and has been teaching here ever since. I myself have been very privileged to have her as a teacher this year and I'm so glad to have her as the representative speaker for my graduating class. As U32's teacher of the year in 2017 Jen is a master at what she does. She has the ability to work with each individual student as a learner and human separate from the class whole and makes sure each one of her kids feels safe, represented, appreciated and valued in her class. She is incredibly dedicated to her work graciously spreads her love for knowledge to all her students. She embodies all the traits that make a teacher amazing. She's kind, empathetic, dedicated, invested incredibly knowledgeable and all around an amazing person. Please help me from home and welcoming Jen Ingersoll. What an honor it is to stand here this evening having personally watched so many of you grow and flourish over the past four to six years at U32. I'm filled with some sadness too of course because we can't all be together tonight in this room but I do feel your presence here and imagine your smiling faces in these blue seats all gathered so many times before. An element that makes you class of 2020 unique is that each of you was born under the canopy of events that rocked our country in 2001 and many of your families were defined in some way by those events and now your lives are bookended by extraordinary times as you graduate amid a global pandemic the likes our world has not seen in more than a hundred years. The class of 1920 saw as much and like them, yours will be among the voices that tell the stories of how we joined together albeit in our separate homes and what happened when we didn't. We know from the great writer Chimamanda Ngoziadichi that stories can be used to empower and to humanize. Your stories have the capacity to eliminate our humanity they can shine a light for instance on the power of students to mobilize and counter structural racism here in our halls and in our community. Certainly each of your stories and each of your paths will be different but the gate to them is located here in East Montpelier and as you stride ahead into the world beyond Gallison Hill steer a path wherein your stories will help take others forward. As you leave this physical and virtual space I ask you to commit to finding your teachers in life. Seek out the mentors, role models, coaches and professors who will help you navigate when your path is uneven. Mentors with admirable qualities can teach, lead, guide us while people who we encounter with destructive qualities can remind us of who we don't want to be and motivate us to change. When we meet people who are kind, generous, inclusive and who want to teach us something we can use those people's words, actions and advice to inspire our own good paths in life. Take a moment right now visualize the face of someone who in the past six years has been a mentor, a coach, a role model or a teacher from whom you've learned something valuable someone who has enriched your life in some way. As you leave the stage with your diploma tomorrow, keep watch for the people from whom you can continue learning. There is nothing like the power of a passionate caring mentor. Build them by the excitement and the enthusiasm they possess for the work they do and their genuine interest in you. Find the mentors who can lead you closer to your purpose in life. For me, some of those folks led me to the path back to U32. For most of you though it will be something different. No matter your route be it directly into a job, to college, into the armed forces, a trades program, a gap year gravitate toward the people who are willing to invest in your growth as a human. I've come to understand that we learn from people we love from people who make us feel good who make us laugh, who make us feel valued. And love in this construct means someone who takes the time to listen to make others feel secure and to share what they know freely whether it be how to write a newspaper article that engages others, how to rebuild an engine or how to fine tune your kick and glide technique. And so it's in the spirit of seeking lifelong mentors and coaches that I share with you six valuable bits I learned from the mentors, coaches and teachers who believed in me. The first is learn to forgive. And know that forgiving doesn't mean forgetting. Forgiving after we felt anger towards those who wrong us empowers us and keeps us from becoming and trapped into bitter and lonely lives. Moving on from people who cause us pain sets us free and it allows us to heal and trust again. Two, don't be afraid to change gears in your life. Despite what people may say, it's okay to change your mind. During my four years at UVM and much to my father's chagrin, I changed my major three times until I found my first path to writing. And it came as a result of going in a lot of other directions first. Later, when I left a 22-year career in communications, there were colleagues and even friends who told me I was a fool to leave a high-paying job at the University of Vermont College of Medicine to change direction at age 41 and become a high school English teacher of all things. They warned me that I would not find a job and I did not listen. If you're unhappy or restless, make a decision to change whatever it is that you're doing. It is never too late for that. Three, this is for the perfectionist among you. Know that sometimes a B-plus is a choice. You'll find there are times when you can be capable of earning an A. But doing that, the cost of doing so is simply more than as reasonable or healthy. Strive for balance. And remember that perfectionism is lonely and it's not a foundation on which to build happiness or contentment. Four, seek equity and inclusion for those who have less privilege than you. Make way for people whose voices haven't been or aren't included at the table. Defend others' right to social and racial justice and listen to their stories. The great novelist Chinua Achebe once said that until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter. Five, speak up. Speak up. Be direct. And be kind while doing it. We all know what it feels like to be sucked into the whirlpool of negativity that is talking behind others' backs. Instead, speak directly with the person who's upset you. Trash talking has never made anyone's situation better and it certainly doesn't help change the person you feel wronged by. In those moments, when the power of negativity is tugging at you, you can address and employ compassion instead of criticism. And finally, and not surprisingly, I say for the love of God, read. And finally, I'm not just talking about fiction either, though for many of us, nothing could be better than losing ourselves in a copy of the Poet X, the Song of Achilles, or on Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous. Read about anything that jazzes you and what makes your heart race and your pulse jump. Read about fishing and baking cakes and jazz music. Read about diesel engines, building your own home and beekeeping. Read the front page of the New York Times and the blog posts of those you admire. Read about traveling to India, F1 racing and fashion. Read about climate change affecting the canon and how to be anti-racist. But I don't like to read. Believe me, I've heard that more than once in my classroom. To this I offer, read because it is the gorilla glue of our culture. Read because doing so means you will never be duped because of your ignorance. Ray Bradbury, whose work many of you know, once said, you don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them. It's true. Reading gives you the power to resist. It prepares you for activism and it ensures that you will never be under the thumb of the proverbial man or upon an unjust establishment. With mentors and those from whom we learn the manner with which we connect with each other is defining. And we're here together. While we know that much is being disrupted, we are experiencing it in unity. Yes, our lives have hit pause, but you get to choose who will help define you and your purpose and influence you in the future and how you'll live going forward. That is the gift of this extraordinary time. Thank you, Jen, and thank you, Sylvan, for your speech as well. This time I would like to introduce the chair of our school board, Scott Thompson, to award the Gehegan Award. Thanks, Stephen. Before I came here this evening, my son told me, nobody wants to hear you talk, papa. Just give out the award and set them free. But there's more to it than that. First of all, I'm here not just on my own account, but representing our entire board, who I know for a fact would have loved to have been here themselves. There are 15 elected members of us from all five towns, plus two student members, Mia Smith and Towns De Groot. They have put up with a lot to try to keep us from being too clueless, and we're grateful to them for it, and we'll miss you, Mia. There's another thing, too. This right now is the last ritual act of the ceremony before Stephen has a chance to wrap up and dismiss us. At 232 is the last chance to send you a message before letting you loose in the wild. So the Gehegan Award, what is this? Jackie Gehegan, a teacher and associate principal who was here in 1971, president of the creation at a time when Kathy Topping and Mark Chaplin were barely older than you are now. She left in 2000. What could possibly be the connection between U32 then and your experience with U32 now? The very messy, proverbially, historically messy, Zoo32 ancestor of present-day U32 actually got at least one thing spectacularly right. Consider, you spent your entire academic careers governed and measured by rubrics and indicators and proficiencies and whatnot. But what now, huh? What's the rubric for life? This is actually what the ancestral U32 got so right and what has been preserved and nurtured as a kind of eternal flame with this Gehegan Award. What Jackie Gehegan did, and I'm indebted to Leslie Fitch for having everything click into place for me in just a few lines that she wrote me, what Jackie Gehegan did was to show in her own life how a generous self-affirmation could not only affirm others in a positive way, but invite and welcome their own self-affirmation. And this is what this award is all about and the people who are about to be mentioned in it. The second thing that this award does, which in my mind is pure genius, it's an award essentially from one student, the giver, the artist, to another student, the recipient, the self-affirmer. And this is a beautiful, in my mind, beautiful condensation of how much of your education has actually come from each other, from your peers, from your classmates. We adults, of course, play a very important role, but largely as catalysts a lot of the time. We're there to direct, to magnify, intensify, but the transformative elements, that's you. Now, the Gehegan Award, what, again, is so wonderful about it, it's a creation of one student, the artist. And if you could give me. Actually, if the videographer, is the videographer able to just zoom in on the picture for a moment? I'll stop talking just for a moment. The audience can always freeze frame it, I guess, at a later date, but it's just an amazingly cool picture. And to me, I'm not going to describe it, but to me what it says is, embrace life, embrace it in all of its energy, in all of its abundance, in its strangeness and wonder. Embrace that squid and that lobster and those cute little cats. And have all you can eat. So, anyway, I have a text here, which will, I think, probably embarrass the artist, but delight her family and friends. In 2014, U32's incoming 7th graders immediately proved that the class of 2020 was filled with artistic excitement, with so many creative minds and so much talent. But this class has something else, too. A desire to create and a passion to learn. LAFAR, which one of these bright-eyed students, and in 7th grade visual arts class, she created a drawing of a cuttlefish that had a sophistication and beauty that was rare for such a young artist. And it's hard to make a cuttlefish beautiful, I think. It's undeniable that Ellie is not only filled with talent, but that she is an artist to her core. Ellie has continued to be consumed with her passion for making and has grown into an accomplished artist who will be attending Pratt Institute in the fall. Ellie's approach to art is one of experimenting and challenging herself until her work is completed to her high standards. Ellie's work is beautiful and conceptual, as is proven in this watercolor all you can eat. It has been said that you can be consumed by this painting as there is so much to find in it, so all you can see of all you can eat. The craftsmanship is stellar, and the composition is stunning. We're honored and excited that Ellie is allowed to bestow her framed, rather colored painting All You Can Eat to the recipient of the 2020 Gehegan Award. Thank you, Ellie, very much. Now, there's a giver and there's a recipient. The recipient, who in affirming herself opens up the possibility for others to affirm themselves while herself affirming them. So, it's our pleasure and my honor to award the 2020 Gehegan Award to Ginger Xiangning Knight. I'll let the record show wild and stormy applause as Ginger approaches the stage. I'll start with some... now it's your turn to be embarrassed, Ginger. I will start with some individual comments about Ginger from those who know her. Ginger does not just show up for anything. She pushes herself to the absolute limit and sometimes, even beyond, there is no such thing as half-effort with Ginger. Adrienne Wade describes Ginger as, quote, a righteous flame eager to change the status quo for the better of humanity. She is creative, athletic, and kind. When discussing important issues, Ginger is always willing to provide further insight to help all involved see the full perspective of a situation. She is grounded, thoughtful, and has limitless energy, unquote. Ginger has given much to you, 32, throughout her time here. Among her many accomplishments, she's a member of BLAM, BLAM, B-L-A-M-M. Can you remind me? But B-L-A-M-M? Black, Latino, Asians, and many more. Black, Latinos, Asians, and many more. The Green Team and Seeking Social Justice. She is a mentor and leader helping organize the race against racism in Montpelier and planning, organizing, and directing our Diversity Day in 2019. She's a three-sport athlete in cross-country Nordic and tennis. She's also a scholar who challenges herself with advanced placement classes. Steve Town, Ginger's TA, says it best, and I quote, It is an honor to be able to nominate Ginger for the Gehegan Award. Having been a student at U32 and Jackie Wiss, an administrator, I can attest to the character and leadership that is instilled in this award. I've had the privilege and honor to have been Ginger's TA for the past six years. During this time, I've seen firsthand how someone can have a positive impact on a group or a community. She has taken it upon herself to fight against inequalities both in our school as well as in our community. Through leadership and participation in rallies, marches, or in working with a legislature, she has always stood up for what is right. Her leadership goes beyond the classroom. What truly exemplifies Ginger for this award is the kindness and compassion she has shown for her fellow Raiders. I can testify first time to her willingness to support others or go out of her way to make our school a better place. I've learned a lot from Ginger over the years, but what will always remain with me is her tolerance and concern for others. You, Ginger, I believe he's addressing you, always want people to leave a place better than you found it. You have done just that for our school, so, Steve Town. So, Ginger, congratulations on receiving the award. Congratulations on your future at American University, studying international relations, and keep on affirming so constructively and positively yourself as well as others. Thank you. Thank you, Scott, for presenting the Gagin Award, and congratulations to Ellie and Ginger as well. I would also like to thank Nora Kennedy for providing the ASL interpretation for this evening's ceremony, and I would just like to say the words guerrilla glue, so I could see that one one more time, because that one was wonderful. All right. So, one of the recent traditions of U32 is to give cards to all the graduates as they walk the stage. But this year is different. We're providing e-cards, and so, graduates, you can access your e-cards at eight o'clock tonight by checking your U32 email. So, I encourage you to look at that. And so, in conclusion tonight, I want to thank all of you for joining us for the U32 graduation ceremony for the Class of 2020. Seniors, you have now reached the milestone of graduation, and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow for our presentation of diplomas. Be proud of this accomplishment and be thankful for all the people who have helped you reach this goal. Be well and stay healthy. See you tomorrow. Congratulations. Iris Mae Beatty. Megan... Okay, first one. Megan Lynn Comstock. Nicholas James Hood. Madeline Catherine Joslin. Xavier Lemieux. That should be Joslin's over there. This is Pollard. Joslin Taylor Pollard. Just leave with it. Congratulations, get off the stage. Kylie Antonia Sullivan. Hi, my name's Brian. I'll be glad to meet you. That should be yours. Thank you. You're welcome. Congratulations. Devin Jade Taft. That should be yours, son. Just check the name. Jesse and these others aren't coming up with you? Missy, Jim and Colton. They're not coming? Okay, I'm just reading. Jesse J. Wild. Accompanying Jesse or Missy, Jim and Colton. I'll let him touch it. Okay, I'll let you touch it. And then you can take it with you. Iris, how do you say your middle... That's your bag, honey. Iris, how do you say your middle name? Mabel. Iris Mabel Gardner. We haven't seen her in a year. Oh. And then Ellen, come over to the podium. Please, as soon as Mark backs up. Yes, you're really good at this. Thanks. You're having a good time? I am. I'm not going to touch it. You can touch it. Bring your card out, put it on top. Well, that's good, because I'll put my book in there that I want to get done. All right, here you go. Charlotte Juliana Bowden. Hi, Charlotte. I love you. Charlotte, come here. Here's your name. Smile for the camera. Oh, Charlotte, it's so lovely to see you in person. Okay, darling. July 5th, my house. Molly Brown. Hi, Molly. I love you. Look at you. Hi, honey pie. Yes, we watched the shoes. Nora Isabel Dillon. Right there. Hello, Nora, darling. I love you, Nora. Read your name. Don't say that. Don't say that. I love your go-go boots. Get a good picture of the go-go boots. Don't say go-go anymore. There you go. Nora, this is not a photo shoot just for you. Right on it is. And why you bound. Show the outfit. Micah Smith. I love you, oh. Nora, get off the stage. Do some modeling like Nora. What, do you have something nice under there? No. James Pacheco. I love you, James. Read your name. Where's your bow tie? Read your name. Don't you have a bow tie? I know, I saw that. So good to see you. I'm going to stop. Get up there. Be careful. Mia Isabella Smith. I love you, Mia. I love your family. Congratulations, Mia. This one is yours. Check your name. Hi, I'm a sob. Get up there. Do some modeling. Nice shoes. Nice socks. Show the socks for the camera. Show them. Get the socks. What are they? There's like an ax on them. Matthew Christian Wills. I love you, Matt. I love your face. Look at you got a haircut. I did get a haircut. Wow. Get up there. This is Ben Hopkins. He's supposed to be on this. This is Brian. Brian's first and Brian Flynn. Ben Hopkins. Right here, he's right here. I know, but where is Brian? Right here. Brian? So I guess there you go. I'm going to put you up. Ben is not here. Yep. So as soon as... Call me one. And then I'm going to have you take this with me, Brian, when you walk away. Okay. Benjamin Michael Hopkins. Say Ben. Right up on stage. And then can you take that card out and put it on top, please? What would you like? Oh, no, that's on it because never mind. If you take this... In the back, we're on top. Oh, my God. Thanks, Brian. Sorry for the confusion. Savannah Nicole Anthony. Accompanying Savannah, are Steve Fisk and Karen Anthony. Sophia Louise Hines. Accompanying Sophia, are Philip, Ivy, and Esther. She is joined on stage by her mother Jessica, a Berlin elementary school teacher. Colby Max Hudson. Accompanying Colby, are his dad Brad, mom Marcia, and both sisters Bailey and Jaden. Olson. Congratulations, Ben. Madison R. Roberge. Congratulations. Congratulations, Madison. Thomas Shanley. Congratulations, Tom. Congratulations. So you head on up and now you pause. Brayden D. Steele. Congratulations, Brayden. Claire Elizabeth Thompson. Congratulations, Claire. Pause. Pause there. Pause. Yep. Zoe Rain White. Accompanying Zoe, are Megan, Mary, Jason, Caroline, and Bristol. Congratulations, Zoe. Camille Cheney. Too early to cry. Too early to cry. Emily Arrett. Oh, no. It's right. Jackson Robert Flynn. You can take your mask off, too, bud. You're welcome. Congratulations. I'm crying. I'm crying. Brody C. Frazier. Accompanying Brody, are his parents Tim and Diane and brother Mason. Let's give you a big hug, okay? One wave, right? The livestream just broke. Excitement. Was too much. Zye Indigo Gluck. Hold on one sec, buddy. James Hickman. Rachel Jo Lawson. Accompanying Rachel, are her mother Jennifer Lawson, father Tom Lawson, and brother Brandon. I, Rodina Moulton. Carter Olin Pelzel. Max Perry. Congrats, bud. Paige Linais Stevens. I didn't even. Anna. You're incredible. I was like, you're gonna work? Yeah, she is. Anna Young. Joining Anna on stage is her mother Amy, a Berlin elementary school teacher. Take this. Here's Brian's time. Yeah, take it, because it's already done. Okay. Now let's breathe. Hope you're not. Thank you. Good job, Lexi. Cameron J. Edson. Ryder David Hoffman. Accompanying Ryder are David, Lindsay, Carter, Blake Lee, and Harrison. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks everybody. principle. I think so, yeah, yeah, yeah. Jennifer Ann Meyer-Emmons, accompanying Jennifer R. Bernie, Nicole, Greg, Rosie, and Ruthie. Justin Taylor Tedeschi. Erica Ray Williams. Max Donato Baskind, accompanying Max, our Bruce, Eileen, and Sid. Abigail Elizabeth Boyd. Congratulations. Yeah, when you go. Amanda Lynn Brown. When you're ready. Logan Richardson Carbo. North Eric Gordon Hodgson. Joining North on stage is his mother, Lisa, a Calus elementary school teacher. Kailin Kirkpatrick. Dylan Anthony Lawrence. Connor Joseph Noyds. Renee Chantel Robert. Patrick John Town. Sylvan M. Williams. Joining Sylvan on stage is her father, Christopher, a U32 teacher. Cassidy Mae Bennett. Accompany, me and Cassidy are Heidi Madison. She is joined on stage by her father, Eric, a U32 employee. Troy J. Bullduck. Avery Georgiana Brown. Joining Avery on stage is her mother, Kimberly Sarah Brown, an East Montpelier teacher. Try not to. Shay Krodo. Shaina. Congratulations. Allison Ann Lague. And Annika Lynn Lague. Congratulations. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Your text. Your text was really nice. Thank you. Come back and visit me. Yeah. Jillian Grace Mosier. Sharp. Sebastian M. Tangwed. I'll see you later. Oops. William Henry Austin. Okay. Abigail Robin Chevalier. Charles Merlin Darmstadt. Brianna Nicole Day. Dorothy Far. Emily Violet Frazier. Rose Joyce Jingress. Jenna Lynn Meckleson. Dylan Joseph Moyer. Mikaela Renee Zinn. Thank you. Thank you for Kyra Adams. Fantastic, buddy. Gary Frank Arlith. Zoe Lee Beauregard. Maya Castongue. Lindsay Nicole Ducat. Accompanying Lindsay are her mom, Danielle Ducat, and her dad, Jason Ducat. Evan Matthew Hinchliffe. Emelyn DeWitt. Shabbat Skoy. John P. McGinley. Travis James Chapin. Eva K. Jessup. Julia Christine Oliver. Ginger Jowning Knight. Dane Rowan Osborn Lieberman. Accompanying Dane is Thomas, is father Thomas Osborn. He is also joined on stage by his mother Karen Lieberman, a U32 teacher. Quentin Scott Mashcurry. Charlie N. Stroh. Dylan Ross White. I didn't go up either. It is about you. Benjamin Scott Wader. Haley Marie Wilcox.