Class of 2016

A new beginning for Wantagh grads

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Graduates were all smiles after getting their diplomas.
Graduates were all smiles after getting their diplomas.
Andrew Hackmack/Herald

Although last week’s graduation ceremony marked the end of high school for 269 Wantagh students, many chose instead to look at it a different way.

Speakers, from school district officials to those representing the class of 2016, noted that the ceremony is actually called a commencement, which means beginning. “Today is not only about what we’ve done,” said valedictorian Lauren Bednor, “but what is to come. Friends are going off in different directions to pursue new lives.”

Bednor merged the past with the future in her speech. The Stony Brook Honors College-bound graduate spoke of the success of Wantagh’s sports teams, its musicians, scientists, actors and artists. She noted the choices the students have made over the last fours years picking classes and extracurricular activities, all with an eye on the future.

“Life after high school will help us discover the best of what’s inside of us,” Bednor said, reminding her fellow graduates not just to focus on their goals, but also to make time for activities that are just for joy.

The hour-and-a-half-long ceremony on June 23 was moved from the traditional location on the football field to the gymnasium at Nassau Community College, but it did nothing to dampen the excitement of the day. Before the ceremony, the graduates, boys in black and girls in gold, helped one another with their caps and tassels, and snapped selfies. There was just as much pomp and circumstance as if the ceremony was held in the shadow of the high school.

It was the 61st class to graduate from Wantagh. “You have left a mark here,” Principal Carolyn Breivogel told her now former students. “You have all added to the rich history of students who have passed through our halls.”

Superintendent Maureen Goldberg noted that this was a big moment for the students who entered kindergarten in September 2003. She, too, focused on graduation not as an end, but a beginning. “The world is full of wonders and delights,” she said, “and it is full of countless choices to be made.”

The No. 2 ranked graduate in the class, Sophia Liu, said she was “blessed and humbled” to have grown up and been educated in Wantagh. She discussed how education is a valued principle in the community, full of parents who care about their children’s success, and the schools filled with teachers whose passion is evident. “Every day is spent with people who care,” she said.

Liu, who heads to Barnard College in the fall, said that she and her fellow graduates are ready to take the foundation built in Wantagh and turn it into success in the real world.

After the speeches, the graduates received their diplomas and medals. They moved their black-and-gold tassels from right to left and threw their caps in the air. Whether they are heading off to college, the armed forces or the work force, it is truly a new beginning for all.