NHS holds 116th commencement
Monday, June 18, 2018
405 Graduates
Katerina Karaiskos and Chaz Bethel-Brescia Co-Valedictorians
Ryan Stelly Salutatorian
NORWALK — The graduating class of Norwalk High School this year has achieved many milestones.
The group of 405 students accomplished the highest graduation rate than any other in recent history, at 94 percent, with the greatest number of students who took Advance Placement and dual-enrollment classes and participated in the arts.
Additionally, the class of 2018 boasted the first group of students to receive the Connecticut State Seal of Biliteracy and the first graduating class of the Norwalk Early College Academy that earned an associate in applied science degree in software engineering from Norwalk Community College in May.
Such energy, drive and commitment characterize the academic successes and philanthropic spirit of the class, Superintendent of Schools Steven Adamowski said Monday, and have inspired the community to follow suit.
“We have benefited from your expectations, pursuit of rigor and your refusal to accept the status quo. In that sense, we now take our inspiration from you,” Adamowski said at Norwalk High’s 116th commencement.
The graduating class heard similar remarks from Mayor Harry Rilling, Board of Education member Heidi Keyes, and principal Reginald Roberts.
Roberts charged the graduating class with “being the one” to change the world, comparing their quest to a female eagle’s search of the right mate.
“Are you the one who’s going to come back and make Norwalk the best city in this world?” Roberts asked. “Class of 201(8), you are the one, just like the female eagle searches for the one. You are the one.”
While the hundreds of students, donning white and green caps and gowns, spent Monday looking forward to their futures, senior class president Colin Baker encouraged them also to celebrate and reminisce about their four years at Norwalk High.
“We have something priceless. Something that can’t be bought or artificially replicated: diversity,” Baker said. “Our class is composed of a diverse set of individuals and this is not best exemplified in our personal identities but rather our wide array of successes.”
These successes include creating new clubs, winning the national band competition in the fall, and earning more than 100 scholarships.
But the real measure of success is whether one did their best, salutatorian Ryan Stelly said, which defined his previously expressed attitude amid a debate about school rankings.
“Doing your best is more important than being the best. So don’t measure your success against the success of others,” Stelly said. “Measure your success by your satisfaction with your own efforts and your own enjoyment of the journey.”
Co-valedictorians Chaz Bethel-Brescia and Katerina Karaiskos echoed similar sentiments, speaking of lessons they learned from the role models in their lives. Bethel-Brescia thanked his two moms for raising him to be the young man he is while Karaiskos thanked her immigrant parents for emphasizing education as the key to excellence.
“Many people in Norwalk come from humble beginnings. Many of us will have to work diligently to achieve greatness,” Karaiskos said. “But this diligence that we exhibit in the face of these obstacles is what makes us stronger.”
This year's commencement also included the presentation of class gifts — $750 for the class of 2022 and five sports banners for the football stadium to boost school spirit — as well as congratulatory and farewell remarks to the school’s seven retiring teachers.