LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — The senior portrait flags lining the main streets of the Sullivan West Central School District told the story of a local rural community’s pride in the graduating Class of 2025.

On Friday, June 27, that community turned out in force to honor the 75 graduating seniors during a commencement exercise convened in the high school gymnasium. The location was familiar to many of the grads, as it was the scene where they competed in indoor sports during their careers at the Home of the Bulldogs.

As the high school band performed Elgar’s traditional processional “Pomp and Circumstance,” the Class of 2025 entered the gym in orderly rows, one by one; they took their assigned places on stage, and along with the assembly stood as class vice-president Mariah Foster recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

Click here for more pictures from the graduating class. 

 A class with so much to offer the world                                      

The audience remained standing as the high school band performed the national anthem, then took to their seats as Dr. Kathleen Bressler, superintendent of schools, addressed the class.

“You have worked hard in our halls to be here tonight, dressed up in black robes with the special honor of wearing your pointy hat,” she said of things chapeaux. “Some of you have chosen to garnish your hats in amazing decorations, themes, quotes—most of them appropriate—thank you for that.”

“Today is the day I get to put on my hat and hear all the jokes that go with it: ‘fancy,’ ‘velvet,’ ‘worked hard’ and ‘that’s all you got’... to me it represents something I spent my hard work earning; it represents something I felt so passionate about, that I spent years of my life devoted to it… And my wish for you is that I hope you find your passion, something in life that you can put your own blood, sweat and tears into. Something that makes you proud of the person that you are.”

Bressler described the class as “incredibly talented… a very diversely talented class… some very strong athletes on the field, competitive in the classroom with a very high ranking in the top 10, student leaders on student council… and talents beyond the classroom, like photographers, equestrians, dances, vocalists, artists and musicians… You all have so much to offer this world, and we were grateful to have had you in the halls at Sullivan West.”

Learning and growing 

“It is with great pride and excitement that we stand before you here today celebrating the Class of 2025 and their achievements here at the Sullivan West Central School District,” said David Eggleton, secondary school principal.

He drew the audience’s attention to an event recently that paid homage to the school’s senior scholarship night; he noted some rather impressive financial stats: Sullivan West students were awarded a total of $2,493,514 from their respective colleges, and the Class of 2025’s overall amount of monetary scholarships that were received this year was $520,000-plus.

“Parents and guardians, we understand that this night is filled with a rollercoaster of emotions for you,” he said. “Take a minute to remind yourself that although we feel sadness in watching our children grow very, very fast, there are many more memories waiting for you all to enjoy in the future.”

“If life was nothing but green lights, and we didn’t have yellow and red lights, things that make us pause, hardships, crisis, time for introspection, then we would look quite dull in our life experiences,” said Eggleton. “We need those yellow and red lights; that is exactly how we evolve, we learn, we grow, and we become our best selves.”

In conclusion, he said, “We hope you and your classmates remember all of the achievements earned as Bulldogs, and the lifelong friends you have created… We look forward to big dreams, bright lights and seeing all the great individuals you will become in the world.”

‘The shining light’                                     

Matthew Scott DuBois served as valedictorian of the Class of 2025. “In the 13 years that I’ve been in school, I have written countless speeches and delivered numerous presentations,” he said. He called his valedictory speech, “the most difficult speech I’ve ever had the opportunity to write… It seems impossible to stuff 13 years into a small speech without coming off as either tacky or obnoxious.

“I decided that I would think of one singular thing that’s stuck out most to me throughout school,” he said. “One thing that I felt got me through school, got all of us through school.”

He cited confidence and arrogance. “In my experience, confidence is the one thing in life that is always there to motivate you… it’s there as the shining light where darkness starts to cloud our lives.”

“The harsh truth is that in order to truly succeed, you have to be arrogant; you have to be arrogant enough in yourself to believe that you can do anything,” he said. “We’re entering into a new unknown… We must have a way to shield ourselves against those who do not wish us success. That shield is confidence. Be arrogant in yourself. Believe that you can, and you can achieve anything.”

 ‘Smoothing the shape of your soul’

John Andrew Dworetsky was the Class of 2025 salutatorian and the class president. In kickstarting his address, he said to his schoolmates, “You guys filled my days with laughs and provided me with memories I will never forget. From late-night v-calls, where we played ridiculous Roblox games, to us being the loudest and most obnoxious people at the bake shop whenever we were there; from pulling together blood drives and fundraisers with minimal resources and time being the life of the Spanish club.”

Recalling the influence of a few notable teachers, Dworetsky said, “The only reason I ever learned how to embrace and overcome the unique challenges of high school government is because of the lessons you have taught me, and the rant sessions in which you let me explode. All of you helped me figure out who and what I wanted to be, and I will forever be indebted to each of you.”

As for being a young adult, he said, “Being a teenager is all about smoothing out the shape of your soul, or maybe trying out an entirely new shape. You contain multitudes… Contradict yourself; be the person you swore you’d never be and laugh about it, as long as that person is authentic and kind. To put it frankly, sometimes putting the square peg in the circle hole is the only way to grow, and I am honored to have been part of all your journeys.”

Greeting a new horizon

After the student speakers departed the podium, the Sullivan West high school band performed John Powell’s “How to Train Your Dragon”, and then it was time for the long-awaited presentation of diplomas to the graduates by Eggleton, assistant principal Sarah Mootz,  Bressler and Rose Joyce-Turner, president of the school board.

In the wake of the “turning of the tassels,” the high school band heralded the end of the commencement exercise with the traditional recessional, while the graduates later celebrated the occasion with their classmates, family members and the proud Sullivan West Central School community.