 So hey everyone, my name is Gabe Groveman and I'm so excited to be up here today celebrating the class of 2022. I came into Montpelier School District as a new student in the beginning of my freshman year. I didn't know many people and was immediately welcomed into this class by so many of the people sitting by my side today that I'm now really proud to call my friends. I had never really felt this level of community before and I want to highlight the amount of love and support that I shared every day between this graduating class. It's clear today just how hard everyone has worked to get here. So to the class of 2022, I just want to say thank you for everything you've done for me and for the inspiration you've given to everyone else in this building. Thank you to everyone else who showed up here today. Welcome to graduation. The next speaker to start this off is Superintendent Libby Bonesteel. On behalf of the MRPS staff and school board, welcome to commencement 2022. It's been an incredible honor to serve this community and these graduates as superintendent during this unprecedented time. I'd like to extend a hearty congratulations to all the caregivers of these fine graduates. You have parented through a time where there was rarely a clear path as to what needed to be said or done or modeled. And now, success. Thank you for partnering with us to help these amazing kids get through this time period. Solans, get ready. People are going to be throwing all kinds of advice to you over the next few days and months and since I have the mic, I'll take my opportunity to. I can almost guarantee that you will hear find your passion. I'm always curious about what that means. It sounds so finite. Like once you find that passion, you're done. Good to go. It makes it sound like a passion is like a light switch. Once you flip it on, that passion is fully formed and ready to inspire you forever and if you haven't found it, you're somehow lacking in this key to have a happy and successful life. But here's the truth. Passion starts as a tiny nugget of an idea that you have very little information about and even less skill with. Passion comes from the work you do. They develop over time with a whole lot of determination and a healthy dose of resilience. They come from really digging into an idea or skill with good people surrounding you. They come from taking a risk, failing, and trying again with a different perspective. They come from having a curiosity to know more. And here's the best thing about passion. You aren't limited to just one. My hope for you is that you're not content with just one passion for life. That you use the skills you have learned in your time at MRPS and throughout this pandemic to confidently walk through the next doorway curious to know what's behind it. That you continually dig in and allow yourself to always be the learner we know you to be. That you have the confidence to know that your passions are limitless. A big congratulations to you, class of 2022. New choir members will now go over and sing Bridge Over Troubled Water. Thank you for that. That was really good. So it is my pleasure now to introduce the first youth speaker of this evening, Jesse Zinkowski-Giffin. Thank you. My name is Jesse and I'm very grateful to be chosen to speak today. And I'm also surprised. My whole senior year I was only here for about two hours a day and I worried that people had forgotten about me. And that's something I feared a lot. For a lot of my school career I felt separated from my peers. I had trouble communicating. I could never figure out how I was going to fit in with everyone else. And I was frustrated by this. The fear of being judged by others paralyzed me. And when I joined high school I expected it to be a lot of the same. I wasn't excited. I was in high school because that's where I had to be. But when COVID hit all of a sudden I was separated from all these kids I grew up with and I found I missed a lot of the people who I assumed I hadn't really had a connection with. The absence of people I'd been around for years hurt me in a way I never anticipated. And as high school was coming to a close I felt I had wasted all this time worrying about things that didn't matter. Even though I felt out of place people still talked to me. People were still respectful towards me. They would strike up conversation. They remembered little things about me. I was never alone. And the distance I had imagined between myself and my peers was never as far as I thought. So when school started again I made a conscious effort to reach out to people to give myself permission to speak freely. And it was worth it. People are responsive, accommodating, forgiving, everything I worried they wouldn't be. I gained a lot of faith in other people that I didn't think was possible. I felt good and I was happy and just connecting with others was more than I could have ever hoped for. For 13 years I was surrounded by a lot of good people who would give me a chance if I had just reached out earlier. That's not something you can find everywhere but I found it here. I'm endlessly thankful to have been part of such as caring and supportive class. There's a lot of amazing people here in Montpellier who care about me. You, the class of 2022, are all amazing people. And we've seen each of you accomplish great things already. I can't wait to see what the future holds. The wind's applauding today. I don't know. It was really good. Thank you, Jesse. I'm going to put that on later. The senior band and choir will now perform September. Please give them a round of applause. Again, to the senior choir and band. So at this point I'd like to bring on our second youth speaker, someone who I'm really happy is speaking. I'm excited to hear him. He's a very positive force in this class. Please welcome Sam Watson. Okay, hi. I'm Sam. I'm super honored that people asked me to talk. So my mom really nicely worded it that your gifts are the things that come so easily to you that you don't even realize they're happening or that you're doing them. The things that just flow out of you. For me, one of those things is seeing people. I never thought anything of it, definitely never thought it was a thing. It's just everyday life, just something that comes with existing, seeing people, getting to show people that they are seen. But you guys voted me most likely to brighten up your day, which is cool, because I hardly know most of you. But then I realized, yeah, I don't really know most of you. I mean, honestly, I'm so scared of being around about a third of you, but that isn't because of you. It's because by being who you are, you reflect my fears and my insecurities about what I'm not. I don't really know most of you, but I truly see each of you. And I thought that seeing people, and I've thought that everything I am, that all of that was normal, an everyone experience. Because of that, there are times when I'm scared and sad, because I think I'm just not doing it right. And I know I'll never be able to, because it's clearly not me, the things I'm reaching for in those moments, the things other people are that I'm not. And sometimes I think that's a fault. I might always have to work on that. But those times are becoming fewer and farther between, because now I understand that all of these things that are me, that I can't change, are my gifts. They make me the intricate and intense and genuine and whole person that I am. Once I really began to let that sink in in the last few months, I'm happier than I've ever been in my whole life. Nothing about what we're living as a threshold that we cross, and then suddenly we become something happy, whole, grounded. And graduation is definitely not the key that unlocks anything. This is all, this is all a process, and I've started mine. See, our gifts are going to shape our experience of the world. We can't do anything about that, just like we can't choose our gifts. But our understanding and embracing of our gifts will give us the assured knowing that none of us is one of the crowd in all of it. But none of us is falling short, because it's never accurate to compare ourselves with each other, socially, emotionally, mentally. Never accurate to disparage yourself on account of something in you or of you that you don't see in anyone else, because no one is experiencing it the way you are. Abby, where are you? Hi Abby. I don't really know you well, I really don't know you well, but I know very well that one of your gifts is kindness. No one else has that in the way you do. I have no idea how you see the world, what it's all like for you. I'm a massively empathetic person, but I couldn't put myself in your shoes if I tried. Malik, I don't know you at all, but I know very well that one of your gifts is passion, like right on the surface, fire, passion. No one else has that in the way you do. And I have no clue what life looks like and how it feels to you. Lily, I know you well, and I know that one of your gifts is diffusing any tension in a situation, immediately making it chill and comfortable just by being you. I know you well, but I do not know what the experience of life is for you. Edie, your heart on your sleeve, Zayn, your frankness, Greta, your boldness, Georgia, your gumption, Melissa, your curiosity, Obi, your creativity, Grace, your sheer willpower, Ben Skinder, your way of quietly taking in the world, clearly digesting everything in an incredibly nuanced way. Chloe, what some might call cynicism, but is really an incredibly raw and uninfluenced way of seeing the world. And this one was on there, but I was just sitting next to you. Rain, rain, you're awe, you're wonder, awe of everything. And the people who got hypnotized last night, your imagination, it's off the charts. So anyway, I can tell each of you about some of your gifts that I see, but I don't need to, you already know. Yeah, you already know. I feel like, yes, you know, you know. I can't fathom what life looks like and feels like to any of you, because I don't share your gifts. And that's great, because I have mine. So all I have to impart is a vow of mine that I hope for everyone. I won't pass off my life as something that doesn't deserve to be delved into, and be confused by, and be understood, and be lived outwardly, as much as inwardly. Something that doesn't warrant me constantly saying, whoa, huh. Oh my God, yeah, facts. No, I'm serious. Like, this ceremony is really cool. We've completed some cool stuff. And families, thank you for guiding that growth. And literally nothing about me is changing by graduating. But that doesn't matter. I'm starting like I've never started, wait, those two like prescribed. I'm starting like I've never started before today. So thumbs up if you're starting with me. So you could see why I was so excited to bring them up. That was really, it was really beautiful. Thank you. Wow. So the next people that I'm very excited to also bring up to this stage are two of the most talented people I know, just in general, but also to the nicest people I've ever met. Zayn and Lily, please come up. That guitar came out of nowhere, Zayn. This is a song. I'm Lily. That's Zayn right there. This is a song I wrote myself. And I asked Zayn to do guitar for me. And he graciously said yes. It's called Old Soul. Thank you. Your mother says she likes me a lot. I can't go with you to Camelot. I'm on a lot of quests to get folks out of there. I've got bread to make and leaves to rake on this sunny Sunday. There's coffee to brew and toast to loot from my garden. I got an old soul. I got a lot left to say, oh, watch you grow. Stay the same. They say I'm so mature for my age. I got a lot of friends hanging around the stage. So they start singing really loud. And they laugh at the cool kids in the crowd. Our music will play while we burn the stage. I got an old soul. I got a lot left in my brain. I'll watch you grow and make your mistakes. No one's here to help me, dear. I am ahead of my time. I've catered to you. Now you look right through, thinking I'm still behind. You know what they say. Oh, sorrow makes one gray. Yet you round and shallow. Then old soul say, I'll watch you grow, watch you grow. Thank you guys for that. It was really, really good. Love you guys. So next, my pleasure to introduce our keynote speaker. I cannot think of any teacher better to be picked than Ms. Squire. Honing on you. All right, let's go. I know some secrets. I'm an old lady, and I'm a teacher. So I've got secrets about you. I know them. I have a microphone, and you're in for it. So here they are. Four secrets from me to you. Secret number one, Sam and Jesse are right. We are all completely different, just like Sam says. And the world is ready. It's waiting for us to be our weird, glorious selves. Jesse nailed it. The people around us right now are going to have our back. That was number one. Number two, all year, every year, I see you. You think you're fooling everyone, but you're fooling not me. You're not fooling me. Between reading your college essays, watching your furtive glances when you make a joke, but you aren't sure if anybody got it, watching you try to swagger in with a daring new haircut, those times when you're waiting to see who bungles your pronouns again, but you're trying not to show that it hurt. I see the fear in your eyes when you turn in the first essay of the year, and I see the way your shoulders relax when you laugh with your best pals. I see you in there. And here's the big secret. Everyone thinks they're too messed up or too lonely or a little too strange or a little too loud or a little too something to be accepted by this giant herd. But that's who we are, it turns out. Look around. Look at the wild humans sitting in front of you or the other one to your left. We are all freakishly beautiful, weirdly talented, and a little bit empty in places where we wish we were full. We're lonelier than we want to admit. We're hopeful and we're scared and we're ready to be courageous with the slightest bit of encouragement. That's us. You're in. Your application has been reviewed and you have been accepted, hero. Come on in. Number three, and remember there are only four, so this is going to be okay. Sam mentioned thresholds and it's a requirement at graduation, people have to talk about thresholds. So we're going for it, there's more thresholds. I'm back to Sam's wisdom. And this is when I want to take you to take out your invisible highlighter. I want you to highlight that idea of thresholds in your life. They matter. They're complicated. They are blessed. And when you step over one, you change the way you function inside. Those moments when you go from being one way to being another way. From a student to a graduate maybe. Or from a mean girl to a queen. Or from confused and a little pissed off about it or simply curious, from pissed off to curious. Those moments change everything about the way we are in the world. And you are the ones who create them. That's the secret. It's not me teaching you something, not me making you learn something, that's never it. It's you, you decide when you're going to change the way you see the world. Jesse talked about feeling stuck, feeling worried that the way they'd been was how they had to be, but they figured it out. When you are ready, not when someone like me tells you to be ready. You are always allowed to shake off the junk that you don't want to carry anymore. To shake off how you used to be. You never have to be who you were. Just like Jesse said, the world is ready for the new version. We're going to have your back. So be brave, take charge, stand at the threshold, shake off what doesn't serve you and toss it to the side. Sometimes that tossing takes just one moment of clarity. Sometimes it takes therapy and time and commitment, whatever, you can muster all of that and we've got your back, say the word. We'll walk over the threshold with you and we'll party with you on the other side. Fourth secret, the title of this section is called Crap Advice. When I asked one class, Zane, what I should say in this ridiculous speech, the suggestion was be as good as McCaddon was last year. In the pantheon of bad advice, that one stands tall. My dear pal, Karen McCaddon, a gifted teacher, renowned poet style icon can do things that I will never be able to do. She's magic and you know it. And that's secret number four. Surround yourself with people who have magical gifts that you don't have and love them for it. That's the whole point of our collective weirdness and gifts and emptiness, we need each other. You don't have what the kid next to you has, you can't, you never will, it's theirs. But that kid is looking at you and seeing the same thing, seeing what you have that they don't. I admire my golden friend Karen to the moon and back and luckily she feels the same about me, God bless her. Old people know this and we keep trying to tell you that all the ranking and comparing you're doing is hurting your heart and you're probably doing it wrong. The things that are gorgeous about other people are the gifts that we should celebrate about them. Do that and then sit down and figure out what yours are. Don't try to be as good as McCaddon was last year. I can't do that, you can't do that, whatever. Be your own glorious weird gift itself and I'll try to do the same, it's all we've got. So those are my four secrets, beloveds. Listen to your smart friends, remember that you aren't fooling anyone and we just wanna welcome you the way you really are. You don't have to be who you were and you can't be as good as anyone else, give that up. Love them and be your own sweet, excellent self. So I need one more. Hey. Thank you very much. I love you, good job, go get them Solans, squire out. We love you. So next we have a special MHS tradition performing of Salon Solans with the help of Band Enquirer. This song was written by the fabulous retired Jeff Sather. We know that you are ready to sail on out of here. We know that you will hear our cheer as you march down. We look at you through our tears and our smiles and sing. Salon Solans. Solans, Salon Solans. The stage is set. The cast is assembled. The day you yearned for is now one to remember. This is the star is descending so. Village helps to craft each vessel to test the ocean. I really don't love crying publicly. Just want to make sure you all know that. Good evening, family, friends, community members. I am so thankful we get to be here today for a more typical graduation ceremony for this incredibly special class of graduates. They certainly deserve a beautiful day as do each of you. Thank you to our custodial family who has worked endless hours between the middle school graduation yesterday and today's graduation. They have made this happen for us. I can't go on without also recognizing the fact that we won boys state lacrosse back-to-back last night. We also won girls tennis back-to-back the night before. And we won basketball, boys basketball, back-to-back state championships. So thank you to our seniors who have been a part of bringing that joy to our community. We appreciate that. And last, before I speak a few words, I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge two very important people to this MHS community. Both have spent over two decades calling MHS their home and have dedicated countless hours serving the students, staff, and families of this community. I can already see one of their eyes appearing into my soul right now. I'd like to honor retirees, Nancy Fitzpatrick, MHS registrar for 23 years in our district, and my sidekick and friend, assistant principal, Jen Wall Howard, for 28 years. I'm going to ask the two of you to stand, and I think the rest of us should as well. Congratulations, you two. She's going to kill me on Monday. You all know that, too. Now a few words from me before we begin awarding diplomas. I promise we're going to get there. I've spent 25 years of my life loving my students, you, and doing what I can to make a difference in the people and places I've served. The students have been the greatest joy in this profession that I've held. And yet, along my journey, there have been whispers that began to emerge that the career I had chosen to pursue was no longer serving me in the same way that I did many years ago. After 25 years in education, I've chosen to take a significant leap out of my comfort zone and extend myself by thinking about ways I can create another life that will feel just as meaningful and impactful. I share this because from experience, there will be a good amount of pressure from different places for you to conform to what others want. My hope is that you choose courage, over comfort, and that you challenge the status quo. There will always be someone on the sidelines who has something to say about how you're navigating your journey, but in the end, you are what matters most. Surround yourself with the people who lift you up or, as Brené Brown says, are in your arena. You have all the tools to create the life you want and deserve. Think big and bold and maybe even head down the road less traveled. The world around you will always be changing and seeking, so I hope you do too. You, the class of 2022, will find your perfect path for you. I give gratitude to each of you for making the end of this chapter one that leaves me with a smile on my face and love in my heart. We have arrived at the awarding of the diplomas. MHS Student Council President Gabe Groveman, who's been an amazing MC, will read the first half and our Vice President, Noam Hessler, will take us to the finish line. Let's do this class of 2022. J. M. Austin. Abigail A. Bigelstone, recipient of the E. Dante Bagny Memorial Scholarship, James and Elizabeth Byrne Scholarship, Montpelier Rotary, Charles E. Gibson Scholarship, Vermont Scholar of the University of Vermont and the Washington County Retired Educators Association Scholarship. Alayna Blackburn, recipient of the David and Gertrude Cohen Scholarship and the University of Vermont Green and Gold Scholar. Lillian Bhutan, recipient of the Elizabeth Jackman Memorial Scholarship and the Roselli Family Scholarship. Louisa Braun, recipient of the Bagny Math Award. There we go. William S. Brazezi, Finnegan H. Cloward, Vermont Scholar of the University of Vermont. Andy E. Dates, E. D. S. Dinofrio, Sina Falahi, Lorenza Lily Fector, Celeste Maria Leandersta, recipient of the Governor Phil Hoff, Vermont Honor Scholarship. Gretchen Leslie Mills, Grace C. Murphy, recipient of the Pitkin-Westcott Scholarship. Carmen Richardson Skinder, Greta J. Sabo, recipient of the Harry R. Sheridan Memorial Scholarship, and the Roselli Family Scholarship. Sanya E. Sagan Dworki, recipient of the David and Gertrude Cohen Scholarship. Maxine A. Savard, Georgia Schiff, recipient of the Central Vermont Orthodontics Scholarship and the Roselli Family Scholarship. Nitya Sharma, recipient of the Harry R. Sheridan Memorial Scholarship, the Roselli Family Scholarship, and the Solon Student Council Scholarship. Eva Margarita Raven Stumpf, recipient of the Frank and Vera Corey Scholarship and the Roselli Family Scholarship. Emily M. Swenson, Braden A. Adams, recipient of the Debra Smith-Trieber Memorial Scholarship, Frank and Vera Corey Scholarship, and the MHS class of 1966 Ancestral Scholarship. Chelsea Badger, Adriana J. Barr, Alexandra E. Barr, Zoe Bella Barbero Menzel, Cassenia Benoit, Julia Maeve Caserta, Jonah Catanio, recipient of the Roselli Family Scholarship, Milo J. Centers, Riley Scott Chamberlain. Ronald James Davis Chazaux, Ben Collier, Obadiah DeLore, Katie Lee Cook, recipient of the Faculty and Staff Recognition Award, Brooks DePrey, Lillian M. Eklund Gustavson, Izzy Erlich, Aquina Madeline Fleischer, Aidan M. Forsythe, Malik H. Fulton, Jasper Gilbert, a Vermont scholar from the University of Vermont, Phoebe Lou Gingold, recipient of the Roselli Family Scholarship, Lola Bryn Herr, Jason Harris, Jeffrey T. Harris, Patrick E. Harris, Kabadar Hart, recipient of the Fathergill, Segal, and Valley Scholarship, Melissa Mae Jenkins, recipient of the Faculty and Staff Recognition Award, Daphne Marie Lassner, Anna Catherine Lure, Elizabeth Lee Maurice, KCM McCann, recipient of the Roselli Family Scholarship, Zella F. McMahon, Taylor Miller, Clotilde Monti, Eilwyn Morgan, Sadira Blue Mulcahy, Rashid Asaka Taylor Nakima, recipient of the 2022 Berry Auditorium Concessions Committee Scholarship, Taylor C. Nunnally, Zane Brown Odom, Xavier Ulbino, Zoe Yeshe Quigley, Juliette Hope Rappaport, Vermont scholar at the University of Vermont, recipient of the VFW Good Citizenship Award, Dr. Riley Rayay, Alexia Patience Najay Shannon, Evan R. Smith, Cedar Collier Salini, recipient of the Montpelier Women's Club Scholarship, and the Roselli Family Scholarship, Mara Stevens, recipient of the Roselli Family Scholarship, Liam Strange, Rain Lily Towns, Samuel McIntyre Watson, recipient of the Pitkin Westcott Scholarship, Bryce Yauk, Darcy Zinkowski-Giffin, Manu Crawford Curry, Gabriel Groveman, Noam Hesler, I would like to now present to all of you the Class of 2022.