 Class of 2017, welcome, congratulations, parents, family members, faculty, staff, leadership of the school, everyone's congratulating you on making it through. Remember who put you there. Remember your parents, the admissions counselors, the counselors at your school, the science teacher or the math teacher, or the English teacher who saw something in you. As we go through today's ceremony, think about that person, write them a note. It's such a joyous occasion and I love seeing the regalia. One of the students was getting out of their car this morning and they said, do I bring in my honor cords? I said, bring it, where are you earned it? It's so wonderful to see everyone's regalia and everyone's honors that they're given. So thank you and welcome. And at this time I'm going to introduce our Chancellor, Chancellor Todd Roberts to give opening remarks. Dr. Tebow, appreciate that. And again, let me welcome you to the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, all of the families and friends and our faculty and staff, members of our Board of Trustees that are here to celebrate the Class of 2017 and you're truly accepting the greater challenge. I say that because I mean it. The work that you've put in over the past two years as part of our online program, while excelling at your busy lives at home is truly extraordinary to me. So congratulations for all of your hard work. Graduates, we're all here today with a feeling of great pride at NCSSM. I know our faculty and staff are proud to have had the opportunity to work with you over the past two years and it's been a great honor and pleasure for all of us to get to know you. Parents and families, I know you're filled with great pride in your son or daughter or your brother or sister who's worked so hard to achieve so much over their school career. Students graduating from high school marks one of the major milestones in your young lives. I hope you have or will take a little time to reflect back just two years ago when you decided to enroll at NCSSM. This was a bold decision. Each of you was a new member of a class of 150 strong from 57 counties from all across North Carolina. Most of you did not know each other at that time and here we are today two short years later and think of all you've done, all you've accomplished and how you have grown and how the NCSSM community has grown with you. Today's a time to celebrate your achievement and your accomplishments thus far. As I've heard about all you've accomplished over the past two years, I am most impressed. It takes an extremely motivated, self-directed and incredibly driven individual to be successful in our online program. Most of you take in the very rigorous courses that we offer here at NCSSM over and above the normal rigorous course load that you have at your home high school. You've been involved in research opportunities, service to other clubs, you've come to NCSSM on weekends, you've helped with discovery days and welcome days and countless other activities at NCSSM while doing the same and more at your home high schools. You've been the most involved class to date in the history of NCSSM's online program. So congratulations and thank you for all your involvement. So with all you've done and the many successes you've had, I'd just like to say it because you're probably too modest to say it but I do hope you know it. You're truly amazing young people. So thank you for your dedication, your drive and congratulations on your success. Challenging yourself through the courses in our online program, I hope has benefited you in many ways. The new opportunities for learning you've had have not only increased your competitiveness for the college admissions process but have helped you prepare for success once you get there. As we see major changes in how education's being delivered at the post-secondary level with virtual learning becoming more a part of every student's education, your hard work and experience in our online program has given you, I believe, a leg up in understanding how to successfully navigate and take advantage of the learning opportunities you'll experience as you continue to pursue your education. According to a Pew Research Center report, more than 50% of university presidents have said that within the next few years, that's during your time in college that all students, every student will take an online course as a part of their college experience. You're well prepared for that. In general, when people ask me what's special about NCSSM, one of the things I always mention is the NCSSM community. And people often think that's being related to life on campus. But community's not confined to a place, it's the place that you help create. A place where you feel you belong, a place where you make others feel they belong in a place where you all collectively make each other better than you would have been on your own. That's the community that you've all helped create, one that spans virtual and face-to-face spaces, a community that I believe is reflective of the world in which we now live. As you leave NCSSM, I encourage you to take this spirit of community with you and please share it with others because wherever you'll go, I guarantee what you have will be needed. Each of you here today, it was a great deal to others who are here to celebrate your accomplishment. I'd like to recognize those who've helped you along the way to our outstanding teachers and staff and administrators who've contributed in so many different ways over the past two years to your success here, I wanna applaud all of you and thank you for your great work and caring. To all of our parents and guardians and family members who are here who've nurtured and supported all of you for a great deal longer than two years, I applaud and I wanna applaud you and thank you for the love and support you've shown them and the foundation you've laid for this day, so thanks families and parents. So Class of 2017, I hope that as you go forward throughout the years to come, you'll remember as well the opportunity given to you these past two years by our great state and the many alumni who've come before you. Remember your responsibility as they have over these past generations to the future generations of North Carolinians so that they have even greater opportunities than those that you've had. It's been a wonderful two years and as you leave NCSSM, I hope that you take with you new friendships and your memories, your great intellect, your passion and your drive and your ability and desire to make those around you better than they would have been on their own. Once again, I wanna take this opportunity to thank everyone for being here and most particularly congratulate and thank the Class of 2017 for a job well done. Congratulations. So this time I'd like to invite up Chris Thomas who will introduce our student speakers. So good afternoon and good afternoon to our live stream audience who hopefully includes this guy. So Mr. Gottwals is actually at a chemistry research conference today and I wanted to start off by thanking and recognizing Bob for receiving the Board of Governors Excellence in Teaching Award. So each UNC campus can nominate one faculty member to receive the award. I and Dr. Meyer Halpin in chemistry had nominated Bob for this award this year and our nominating committee recommended Bob Gottwals to receive this prestigious award and as Bob calls it a big check for $12,500. And on the screen here is Bob receiving the award last week at our residential commencement. So Mr. Gottwals has had a significant impact on both the residential and online program. So we're kind of lapping around the decade mark. I was hired in September 2007 as the first person to help start this program and Mr. Gottwals was waiting at the door with some advice on what that program should look like. But he's had a significant impact on the design of the online program and its initial focus on computational science. So when I was hired, quality was a key concern of starting an online program. And Bob Gottwals played a very important role in the start of the program ensuring that as we're passing our 10th year that we offer a quality academic experience. So let's give a round of applause so hopefully you can hear it on live screen. For those of you who had Mr. Gottwals that's probably enough of him staring at you so. So Bex, if you would like to come up here while I explain our student speaker process at School of Science and Math. So I'm pleased to have the privilege of introducing our first honors student speaker this afternoon. Before I do that, it is important that you know that we at NCSSM consider each and one of our students an honor student, that we don't rank our students. For our residential commencement and our online recognition ceremony, we choose our student speakers as a result of an essay submission open to all seniors and no matter how much they flatter us in the essay, it does not affect who we pick. So our first student speaker is Rebecca or Bex Nelson. So Bex is from Meben, but has lived at the UNC School of the Arts for the last four years. Bex is graduating from the UNC School of the Arts. Bex family includes Beth Nelson and Kirk Nelson and siblings Linnea, Sonia and Irma Nelson. So Bex received the UNC School of the Arts Senior Award and Scholarship based on academic performance and positive contributions to the high school community. And she also received the Nikita S. Green Outstanding Community Member Award, a student-nominated award, which is presented to someone who consistently gives the best of everything they have to their peers to the UNC School of the Arts and the greater community. Bex will be attending Massachusetts Institute of Technology this fall to pursue degrees in applied mathematics and business analytics. So we have an unusual difference to the online recognition ceremony speaker, which is two years ago. We asked our students to film a video where they envisioned their future self. And the speech they would give at graduation that reflected back on their accomplishments and challenges they overcame. So most of our students made one of these videos. It's a focus of our online program that's not just taking specialized courses, but giving students a platform and tools to envision their future self. And it was a focus of their scholar development course and orientation, which started off their experience at NCSSM. We're first gonna play Bex's video from 2015, and then she'll give her 2017 speech that reflects back on her actual experiences. Our skills will be justified. Take a deep breath, look around at your awesome home, and relax. Everything will turn out all right. You have the whole rest of the semester drawing those points back. And I know you were motivated to. Also a heads up, getting an A minus won't kill you. Even a B won't kill you. Just wait, you'll see. Get off your feet, go study, and do your best, just like always. You are not defined by your grades in history, much less your grades anywhere else. You are not defined by your performance in master class when your memory slipped and you skipped a whole passage. That embarrassing moment when you forgot your books in English and got a lecture from Mr. Morgan, or even when you accidentally slept through wind ensemble. You are only human, you make mistakes, and that's okay. The important thing is that you get back up and try again. Go practice hard to ace that next performance. Go study for English and put your books beside the door so you won't forget them. And for good mistakes, don't forget to set your alarms before you take a power nap. I know that's the first thing you want to do is sacrifice sleep to finish that assignment, to practice those last few bars before your lesson, or to help out your friends at their algebra home. However, you have to take care of yourself. Keep going to the gym with Sarah, keep talking to your best friend about your feelings, keep up with your family, and get enough sleep every night. Okay, maybe Fridays you could stay up an hour later. And eat well, you're going to be okay. If you have to, go chat with a counselor in the wellness center. Get a chance to pour out your stressing thoughts and feelings to someone who is meant to listen. Have fun already, you're only 16 once, and you better make it a good year. Also the next one too. Go out to the dances and dance like no one is there. Sing your heart out in the shower and laugh until you cry. Tell those you love how you feel and stay close to your friends and family. Wake up every day and go out into the world to make a difference. Soft More Self was uncomfortably enthusiastic about my preparation for junior year. And to be honest, I failed her. I did stress about my A push grades. I did run across campus late to rehearsal once or twice and I definitely did not get enough sleep. When I made this video, I had no idea I would ever have to see it again. I was just completing an assignment. I have not thought about it at all these past two years, though I guess I was supposed to watch it junior year to gain some advice. If I knew I would show it at the ceremony to all of my classmates, my teachers, my family, and strangers, I certainly would have at least put on some makeup and done my hair. Regardless, here I am after listening to myself tell me all the things I should have done and did not do over these two years. I did not remember to set my alarms before I napped. I did not practice to warm up for all of my lessons. And I did not relax when I entered Calc BC. Yet, looking back now, I realized I accomplished the most important things mentioned in the video. I told myself to go out to the dances and dance like nobody's there, sing your heart out in the shower and laugh until you cry. Tell those you love how you feel and stay close to your friends and family. I'm terribly cheesy, yes, and much more fantastical in my imagination than in reality. Plus, while I was composing the speech, my sister did not hesitate to inform me that dance like nobody's there isn't even the proper saying. But my many memories of dancing, laughing, and crying, regardless of the circumstance, I would have made these past couple years so wonderful. My local school, the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, is not like a typical high school. Besides the whole boarding school thing, our senior class was only 122 seniors and we all graduated last month. Being a part of a small class size is something special. Every face is familiar and every person wears a pickle of pride with honor. I think this is the right moment to explain the spectacle that I'm wearing. You see, UNCSA students do not wear robes at graduation. We wear what we want, from artistic creative costumes to simple formal outfits. Our clothing is a symbol of our individuality, but I could not show up to the ceremony looking like I'd woken up late and forgotten to get my own graduation robe on the way here. So I asked if I could create one. My only limitation was to keep it tasteful, but I'm not even sure if I accomplished that. When I entered UNCSA, the school colors were blue, purple, and green as I have tied it on this rope. And that is how they will always remain in my mind. These metallic pink splatters represent my happiness and an arts community and the explosions of joy that seem to be always present. And as our Chancellor Bierman points out wearing his specially designed, more well-made robe, copper is the color of an arts doctoral degree. My cap is NCSSM blue and gray and the top transitions into my new school colors for next year, which I didn't know we couldn't wear today. On the back, I've melded the NCSSM logo and the UNCSA seal, but I'm sure I broke a few rules by doing that. Just as I ran into trouble trying to heed all of the advice for myself more self, I ran into plenty of trouble trying to create this robe. First of all, it's insanely difficult to dye polyester. And I have my parents to thank for helping me handle giant pots of boiling dye in the process. Secondly, graduation caps are hot glued together and in boiling water, hot glue melts and sticks to all of the fabric around it, which is why there's a new fastening device. And thirdly, paint with the same brand, but not necessarily look the same across all of the colors. All in all, it was a pretty crazy process trying to pull this together. But just like my crazy years full of plenty of mistakes at UNCSA and NCSSM, I made it. UNCSA did not change much during my time there. I showered at least a thousand times in the same shower, ate in the same cafeteria every day for every meal and walked the only hallway of the high school every single morning. Yet, I like to think that I changed tremendously while at UNCSA. To name a few things, I learned how to do my own laundry, how to perform Stravinsky's three pieces on my clarinet, how to make cookies at a sparsely equipped kitchen, how to appreciate those who matter in my life, and how to balance two high schools at once. Joining NCSSM my junior year was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Before I started regular courses, I made wonderful friends at my then called summer accelerator for cryptography and crypt analysis. I will never forget playing spike ball until we ran into walls, hiding secret messages in code and navigating the weirdly connected buildings here. I made amazing friends in my online classes too and even managed to see them outside of school. One of the best things about NCSSM online classes are the brief weekends we spend together here. Even if we just do calculus we respond to questions for six hours. It's a blast to finally match faces with the names I see on my computer screen each week and to talk without worrying about our microphones messing up. While those weekends are short, they make the NCSSM online experience unique from any other program. Over these past two years, I have learned more than I ever thought was possible in high school courses. I learned how to code in that logo, how to argue with ancient philosophers and how to communicate and work with people many miles away from me. I could not have made it to where I am today in my education without NCSSM. My past self may not have known how hard A push would be or how many essays I'd write past midnight, but she was certainly right about the love I would feel for the friends I have. I love my friends at UNCSA and I love my friends at NCSSM. An online class may not seem like much to most people or even less than enjoyable, but at NCSSM, online classes are an amazing experience. To be honest, I do not know all of you and I might not even know most of you. More specifically, of the people I do know, I would probably more easily recognize your name on my computer screen than I would recognize your face. Yet, that doesn't change the fact that when I look at all of you, I know we did this program together, regardless of the crazy experiences our past self set or didn't set, excuse me, expectations that we set or didn't set and regardless of the ones we actually managed to meet, we all made it here today. I'm proud of us and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Thank you. Okay, Daniel, if you'd like to come up. So this year's second student speaker is Daniel Schoesch. Daniel is from Elkin and is graduating from Elkin High School. Daniel's family includes parents Judith Tomas and Tomas Schoesch and siblings Bianca and Patrick Schoesch. Daniel will be attending NC State beginning this fall and he'll be majoring in engineering. He has also been accepted into the scholars program at NC State. Again, we'd like to play Daniel's video that he filmed in 2015 where he envisioned his future self but Daniel deleted the video because he said, quote, I didn't think I would need it again. For the record, I still have my high school math homework in my attic, so always keep your work. So I'm not letting him off the hook to play a movie and that's okay that he deleted it because it reminded me of a quote from the movie Back to the Future 2. And I'm not sure why I remember this quote but we've mentioned the future self a lot in the online program in the last few years and there's actually a warning in Back to the Future part two of the dangers of encountering your future self. So I'm gonna play that clip instead. And of course, great shock. Jennifer could conceivably encounter her future self. The consequences of that could be disastrous. Doc, what do you mean? I foresee two possibilities. One, coming face to face with herself, 30 years older would put her into shock and she'd simply pass out. Or two, the encounter could create a time paradox the results of which could cause a chain reaction that would unravel the very fabric of the space-time continuum and destroy the entire universe. Granted, that's a worst case scenario. The destruction might have had me very localized, limited to merely our own galaxy. Welcome home, Jennifer. So we thank Daniel for taking the safety precaution to delete his video so it wouldn't cause those type of safety concerns. So I give you now Daniel. The proper thing to do during my speech would be to tell you a story. I'll try to make mine as long and as boring as possible just for you all to sleep so you don't have to hear the rest of the ceremony. Just make sure someone wakes you up before your student walks across the stage. We all remember our first visit to this school as NCSF students. On a mid-to-student's day, we walked up the sidewalk in front of Brian Lobby and took the first steps of the journey that we now conclude two years later. As we entered the auditorium lobby, our eyes were wide with nervous anticipation. We had finally done it. The arduous process of SATs application questions, essays, all of it was finally over. It was really happening. We were becoming NCSF students. A flurry of emotion coursed through us. We were anxious, excited, nervous, and eager. All of it was finally over. A flurry of emotions, we were anxious, excited. All of us were in a state of quiet awe, taking it all in. As I cautiously stepped in through those golden double doors, I thought this place is enormous. There's so many strangers. Too shy to talk to anyone yet. We sat alone in a distant silence, still coming to terms with the weight of this moment. Now this auditorium seems so cozy and intimate, as it is packed full of familiar faces. What was once a tense and shy silence broken only by whispers to our parents is now filled with the course of friendship. We have become the regular faces and voices that we have looked forward to, seeing during week-long events. The people we are happy to catch up with during online weekends and the friends we will cherish for the rest of our lives. We have built relationships that will never expire. These last years have brought us together in a way I would never imagined. We have become a family. Those quiet kids from welcome day would go out and discover what it truly means to be an antsy student. They work in labs creating genetically modified glowing cells and gold matter particles, type of projects, and 20-page final papers on vitamin C, map twin key ingredients, and learn computational science with the infamous gotwalls. We'd also have a fair share of mishaps, such as accidentally cooking a pink and volatile soap that dissolved aluminum foil and building bridges that couldn't support more than a penny. From all of our successes and failures, we have learned to prevent victory in the feet alike. Defeat my defeat, my self-knowledge, and my defiance. Through you, I know that I'm yet young and swift afoot. Through the years, antsy system has given us something that we have never been able to gain from high school back home. Confidence. We've learned to try no matter how impossible a task seems. Nothing is unattainable enough to keep us from the goals we set our eyes upon. Today, I know that antsy system students see no challenges, only obstacles. My bad, challenges. As you can see, I've met another obstacle. As we can cause in the fall, take with you the strength and courage. You'll stand out because you'll dare to take on the greatest of challenges and push farther than anyone else. The timid Daniel that walked into this auditorium two years ago had no clue what antsy system had in store for him. Little did I know I would one day be on stage in front of you all giving a speech at graduation. From here, I see the incredible group of bright scholars that you've become. Lawyers, doctors, engineers. Time has flown by. It was only two years ago when I came to this school for the first time. And now, I drove here from last time. All I can think about was that this was my final visit. Usually I sleep the whole way, but today I stayed awake. To make the moment last a little longer. We have all converged upon this school for one last time. From the mountains, the foothills, the Piedmont, the coast, and the Outer Banks. Antsy System has returned for one last Sunday on campus. We now share an unforgettable experience that will forever bring us together. From webinars to online weekends. You've survived it all. We had no longer the timid sophomores that we were two years ago. Yet, the same emotions coursed through us. We are anxious, excited, and eager as we take our next steps into the future. We've come a full circle, starting another dividing chapter of our lives here at NCSISM. To the class of 2017, congratulations. You've made it. Thank you. So Dr. Garrett Love will now come up here and he's gonna present our first ever Pan-Off Award for Excellence in Computational Science. So, on behalf of the NCSISM online program, I am honored today to introduce the first recipient of the Dr. Robert M. Pan-Off Excellence in Computational Science Award. This award comes with a certificate of excellence and a $250 scholarship. Dr. Robert M. Pan-Off is the founder and executive director of the Shoder Education Foundation, which is a Durham nonprofit that serves as a national resource for computational science education. And the reason why we're here today is because it is where I and other NCSISM faculty members, including Linda Schmalbeck and Mr. Gottwals learned and were mentored in the art of teaching computational science. Dr. Pan-Off's work is the foundation of what became the computational science program here. A number of NCSISM students have also bolstered their computational skills as summer apprentices at Shoder. Dr. Pan-Off received his MA and PhD in theoretical physics at Washington University in St. Louis, undertaking both pre and postdoctoral work at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University. His work in the computational science education began as a faculty member at Kansas State University and at Clemson University from 1986 to 1990, where he developed a fully interdisciplinary computational science and engineering course. His work has won several major awards, including a 1990 Craig Gigaflop Performance Award in Supercomputing, 1994 and 1995 undergraduate computational science education awards from the U.S. Department of Energy, and a 1995 Achievement Award from the Chicago Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication. His interactive simulations have been used as a basis of international science collaboration for which he received a letter of commendation from the Department of Defense, and in recognition of his efforts in undergraduate faculty enhancement and curricular development, the Shoder Foundation was named the 1996 Foundation Partner of the National Science Foundation for the revitalization of undergraduate education. So as you can see, Dr. Pan-Off has done a lot of things. He's a consultant at several national laboratories, a frequent presenter at NSF, continues to serve at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois in Arbanashampane. If any of you ever want to be involved in any of these really cool places, talk to Gottwells, he'll talk to Pan-Off, okay, just as a note. So Dr. Pan-Off also continues to an active research program in computational condensed matter physics while defining and implementing educational initiatives at the Shoder Foundation. A Shoder, the Shoder Education Foundation, a Shoder is a small hammer used to pound precious metals into a thin shining layer. And as any participant in a Gottwells course knows, and an NCSM can tell you, computational science can sometimes feel a bit like being hammered until flattened. Dr. Pan-Off preferred an analogy of distributing limited but valuable education resources to get the most from them. And indeed, he himself is one of those valuable resources. In the interest of honoring Dr. Pan-Off's continued legacy, the NCSSM online program has selected a scholarship recipient that we believe not only exemplifies Dr. Pan-Off's talent and work ethic, but also represents the shine that every teacher hopes to see in their students once the hammering is done. This year's award recipient is Tessia Bobrowski, and I invite Tessia to join me on stage. Tessia is a graduating senior from Woods Charter in Chapel Hill and from the NCSSM online program. She excelled in four computational science courses, introduction to computational science, computational biology and bioinformatics, computational chemistry and computational medicinal chemistry. I hear some of you drawing a deep breath at the sound of any one of those. Her paper for computational chemistry, determining the geometries of methyl transferase reactions in DENV using model of my electoral systems, I'm glad I got through that title, was accepted for publication in NCSSM premier scientific publication, Broad Street Scientific. Tessia will be attending UNC Chapel Hill in the fall with support from the UNC Chancellor's Science Scholars, which provides 10,000 a year in financial support. Will you join me once again in congratulation? Tessia Bobrowski, we're sitting in the National, Dr. Robert Nipin and I extend the congratulations. As the new director of North Carolina School of Science and Mass Distance Education and Extended Programs, I have had the honor to spend my first year as a bright-eyed observer of the amazing individuals that make up our North Carolina School of Science and Math online program. Today I have the honor of presenting NCSSM's online's highest award, the Golden Catalyst Award. This year, NCSSM honors four students as its golden catalysts in recognition of their exceptional personal academic growth and performance, significant contributions to the NCSSM community, and outstanding use of NCSSM's programs to lead in their local communities. This year's golden catalyst awardees represent the many ways in which our online students choose to shine, whether it's serving as an online ambassador, chartering the International Club, being published in Broad Street Scientific, or developing enrichments through our side program. I ask these students to join me on stage. Tessia Brabrowski, Woods Charter School, Chatham County, Bex Nelson, North Carolina School of the Arts, Orange County, Maria Raymond, Athens Drive Magnet High School, Waite County, and Daniel Schoesch, Elkin High School, Surrey County. Once again, I present to you the 2017 Golden Catalyst Award. Now, NCSSM online class of 2017, it gives me great pleasure to turn our attention to all of you. To recognize your accomplishments over two years, today we've traveled here in the gowns of your home high schools to celebrate an exceptional achievement. My predecessor explained to the North Carolina online program much like belonging to a secret society. Many of your peers back home probably didn't even know you were leading a double life as an NCSSM student. Or if they knew, they probably didn't understand. Lacking the secret handshake or ritual, bizarre rituals, NCSSM online is really more like an invisible network. It's a network you formed with your classmates and fellow unicorns. It's a network where every node has something powerful to contribute, a network with the potential to transform everything and everyone around you. Members of the class of 2017 include student body presidents, participants in North Carolina's governor's school, summer ventures in science and math participants, academic all-stars, more than 30 members of the National Honor Society, presidential scholars, more than 20 AP scholars, multiple all-conference, all-state and all-American athletes, and Eagle Scouts. That doesn't even begin to scratch the surface in the honors and awards of the members of the class of 2017. At this time, I would like to ask you to rise if you are valedictorian at your local school. In the fall, they will attend UNC System schools like North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where 78 of you will be attending. Out of state public universities such as Virginia Tech and UC Berkeley, service academies with three of you attending the US Naval Academy and private schools such as Duke University, MIT, Stanford, and Princeton. Many will attend on scholarship. In fact, the class of 2017 has accepted over $4.5 million in scholarships. A number that seems impossibly large for such a small class. It's my great honor to recognize the class of 2017 for earning the chancellor's medallion and to congratulate those who earned a concentration in an academic area by taking four or more courses in a specific field of study. As we recognize these students, we ask that you please hold your applause until all students' names have been called so that everyone's name can be clearly heard. Jacob D. Albert. Grayson I.E. Franks Assal. Catherine Bailey. Langdon Edward Bailey. Jacob Charles Balea. Aidan Nicholas Barras. Jessica Bavard. Tessia Bobrowski. Jailon Brooks. Gable Rauschenplot Brown. Spencer Buble. Lindy Bustabog. Natalie Ann Shizzo. Christopher Henry Chow. Amanda Ray Crisco. Morgan Brooke Coughman. Lauren Collins. Lauren Taylor Collinair. Chase Costin. Whitney Elizabeth Cranford. Alexander J. Dower. Cameron Davenport. Cynthia Dong. Mary Bennett Doty. Andrew Randall Draper. Christopher Logan Drum. Delaney Dunlap. Lydia English. Rihanna Evans. Matthew Fletcher. Brynn Garner. Brady Thomas Gingrich. Nina L. Grant. Dallas Olivia Gilliams. Nazia Hall. Joseph Hanum. William Patrick Duffy Hayes. Mariah Karen Hewitt. Austin Russell Hidden. Anna McCallum Humphrey. Anna Adrevena Ioseva. Ashwin Inala. Chanpreet Singh Jezal. Cody Wayne Jefferson. Kier Jenkins. Lucas Ian Johnson. James McGuire Jones. Diksha Joshi. Emma Catherine Comrie Kelsey. Azlan Khan. Daniel Lamens. Tyler Antonio Laws. Harrison Longano. Paige Lowry. Carly Martin McFarland. Noah Christopher Mansfield. Dara Kelly McCluskey. Jonathan Parker McCormick. Don McTaggart. Catherine McLean McVeigh. Kenneth D. Mitchum. Sophia Rose Molina. Brianna Monroe. Michelle Mujica. Rebecca Hart Nelson. Chidubum Naomi Wakuchi. Adora Paige Wushu. Ian Richard Ovenden. Avery Owen. Joshua W. Pack. Bella Patel. Jarrett Peterson. Whitney Mikayla Pierce. Donna Pinnocks. Elander Reeve Pittman. Carson Pledger. Faria Ramon. Emily Ray. Marissa Beth Rine. Mikayla Kira Richardson. Andrew Manning Jackson Rivers. Hannah Ross. Rachel Sanja. Madeleine Jane Sauer. Kevin Scott. Emily Grace Sears. Skyler Dalton Singleton. Daniel Patrick Istvon Schausch. Carissa Ting Tai. Benjamin Sturdoven Warlick. Bailey Elizabeth Watkins. Teresa Catherine Weber. Mary Margaret West. Tristan Tyler Westover. Luke C. Wheeler. Matthew D. Wheeler. Solomon K. D. Wiggins. Jameson Brinkley Willis. Jonathan Stewart Wickstrom. Robert Connor Wood. Michael Xing. Katie Yang. Elizabeth Zazar. Irene Zhang. Congratulations, class of 2017. As we close this afternoon, thank you to our incredible musicians, Scott Laird and David Stuntz, for providing musical accompaniment this afternoon. We also need to thank so many more people, not just those people I talked about in the beginning that got you in this chair, but not just the people that Dr. Roberts talked about, who carried you here and back many, many times, but facilities, housekeeping, our admissions department, our student life department, all of the people behind the work that goes on here. It's incredible how many people have contributed today and you are all a product of a whole lot of people's energy, enthusiasm and just brilliant, brilliant faculty and administration that keep this place the premier high school, some say, in the world. There's a reception following the procession of faculty and students from the auditorium. Food is available in the music room, which is on this floor in this direction, as well as in Brian Lobby. There's picnic table seating outside in the courtyard as well as on the front lawn. Thank you also to our junior marshals who have so adeptly carried our children in and out and helped us to stay in order. We appreciate their guidance and we'd appreciate you families and friends. If you would stay seated until the faculty and the class of 2017 have recessed from the auditorium. Thank you and have a great afternoon.