From left, Mia Benkert and Cassidy Kinkade
BLOOMFIELD — Bloomfield High School had its 171st commencement ceremony on Tuesday, June 24. There were 548 student names in the program and graduation, because of a torrid heatwave, took place in the gym. Nonetheless, the spectacle of students in caps and gowns moving in pairs to “Pomp and Circumstance” is always affecting and it was here.
BHS Principal Chris Jennings welcomed the distinguished guests, which included Superintendent of Schools Sal Goncalves, Board of Education President Kasey Dudley and Bloomfield Mayor Jenny Mundell. He also asked graduating seniors entering military service to rise and these students were given a loud applause from their classmates.
The class president, Madeline Giguere, spoke. She thanked class advisors Anthony LaTorre and Anthony Todaro for their fundraising efforts in the previous four years, which paid for class activities. Giguere noted that Todaro was retiring this year.
She said that the cCass of 2025 has the distinction of being the first class, after the COVID-19 lockdown, to have four complete years at the high school.
“Our journey has shown us the power of community,” she said. “The world is waiting. Not for a perfect version of us, but for the version brave enough to keep growing. This is our beginning. Let’s make it unforgettable.”
The next student to speak was Teresa Nole who presented her salutatorian address. She mused about looking at selfies taken in the last four years. Growth, she said, did not happen over night.
“Growth takes losing and struggle,” she said. “It’s only the struggle that shows us the people we are meant to be…with people able to pull us from the water, or better, to teach us how to swim.”
Those people, she said, were there with them now.
Nole closed with lyrics from a favorite song, “A Benediction,” by The Arcadian Wild: “When it seems you’re all but drowning/May the water quench your thirsting/When the sun is nearly blinding/May you, by it, see everything.”
The valedictory address was given by Windel Manalansan. Windel reminded his classmates that there was more to life than the diploma they were to receive. He cautioned them not to rush to forget their high school experience, even the regrets.
“We haven’t finished discovering ourselves,” he said. “Give your high school experience the opportunity to sink it. You have the opportunity to define and redefine.”
The student request was given by Semaj Haqq, who asked the audience to refrain from drowning out, with personal celebratory exclamations, the names of other students called to receive their diplomas. The diplomas were then awarded.
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