The familiar strains of Pomp and Circumstance mingled with shouts and whistles, while flashes from cell-phone cameras sparkled in the bleachers, as the crowd at Albany’s arena on June 27 cheered the hundreds of Guilderland seniors ready to graduate.

The men wore caps and gowns of red, the women wore white while the onlookers wore everything from shimmering saris to khaki shorts.

This was a ceremony of both celebration and farewell — not only for the graduates but for their superintendent of nearly 15 years, Marie Wiles; for a school board member of 18 years who taught for decades before that at Farnsworth Middle School, Gloria Towle-Hilt; and for half of the keynote-speaker team, longtime high-school social-studies teacher and soccer coach, Michael Kinnally.

After Kirsten Barnhart and Julia Schlegel led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance, Senior Liam Yerdon, his hands clasped in front of him, gave a stunning acapella rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” drawing sustained applause.

High School Principal Michael Piscitelli, who hosted the ceremony, told the crowd that Wiles was the district’s longest-serving superintendent in its history.

Wiles told the Class of 2025 that she thinks about her graduation speeches for months ahead.

“This is the last time I will get to speak to a graduating class,” said Wiles, adding, “One of those graduates is my one and only son.”

For her final speech, Wiles chose for her subject the pursuit of happiness, noting it is one of three unalienable rights named in the Declaration of Independence.

The topic has been considered since Aristotle, she said, and the United Nations currently has a report on how happier schools improve learning.

Wiles cited the World Happiness Report, which has gauged happiness in countries around the globe since 2012. She was particularly intrigued by a data set on “wallet questions,” Wiles said.

In Toronto, for example, 28 percent of people thought their lost wallet would be returned to them while the actual return rate was a whopping 80 percent.

“People vastly underestimated the benevolence,” said Wiles.

Unlike in North America, in Nordic countries, which consistently rank highest for happiness, people had the highest expectations for a lost wallet being returned and also the highest rate of actual returned wallets.

People who believe in the kindness of others, Wiles said, rate higher on the happiness scale than those with wealth.

“Today is its own kind of Declaration of Independence for you,” she told her son and all of his classmates.

Wiles recalled a conversion she had with her own father as she was setting off from home to study music at Temple University. She and her dad were talking on a hot, humid night on the screened-in back porch of their family’s modest home.

Wiles described her father as a man of few words, a Marine who fought at Iwo Jima during World War II, losing part of his hand, a man who had worked the same job his entire adult life.

She recalled him telling her, “Honey, I really don’t care what you end up doing. I just want you to be happy.”

Wiles said, “I believed him.”

Although she floundered as a young adult, Wiles said that belief was never shaken.

“My advice to parents: Let these young adults find their way,” said Wiles.

“My advice to the Class of 2025: First, believe in yourself as you forge your path forward … Second, don’t underestimate the kindness and good will of others.”

Wiles went on, “Given the tone and tenor of our world today … Mostly, I am inspired by all of you.”

Wiles paused for a moment then, as if composing herself. She continued, as her voice cracked with emotion, “For one last time, as I look into this sea of red and white, I cannot help but have hope.”

She concluded, after highlighting some of the many kindnesses performed by members of the class, “No matter where you go, what you study …. Truly, truly I just want you to be happy and I mean it. Thank you and farewell.”

“A running river”

“Today is more than just a ceremony. It’s a celebration,” said Tristan Valentin at the start of his student welcoming address.

“It took us roughly 1,500 days to get here,” he calculated, stating it was now over “in the blink of an eye.”

Although he and his classmates traveled unique paths, Valentin said, “we all breathed a sigh of relief” on getting to graduation.

“We are always changing, evolving, and moving forward … like a running river,” he said, which opens to an ocean of possibilities.

“The clock only goes one way,” he said. “Our childhood fades to black.”

He thanked parents and guardians in general for “lifting us up, offering a helping hand,” and loving without condition.

In particular, he thanked his mother, which drew warm applause. “Mom,” said Valentin, “wherever you are in the crowd, I love you.”

Valentin went on, “The truth is, life is hard and the world is imperfect …. We will fail and we will fall.”

But, he urged his classmates, as they chase their dreams, to know this: “There is a hand, waiting to help you. You just have to reach.”

Valentin concluded, “Go live, don’t be afraid of falling, and keep moving forward.”

Class of 2025 Video

The senior class video this year, in addition to the usual medley of photographs, had a plot.

The video, which was projected on a large screen on stage as well as on a carousel near the ceiling of the arena, opened with a classroom scene where one of the students was sleeping, head down on his desk.

Suddenly, a streak appeared in the sky outside the classroom window as a classmate awoke the sleeping student, pointing out a meteor.

Principal Piscitelli then appeared on screen. “I’m here to save the day …,” he said. “I need the best GHS memories to fuel my principal powers.”

The memories unfurled — with pictures of prom and sports and trips — as the song “Good Riddance” played: “It’s something unpredictable/ But in the end, it's right/ I hope you had the time of your life ….”

A slew of faculty members appeared on screen, one at a time, with varied advice: “Go for it all but remember where you came from”; “Stop and smell the roses”; “Dream big. Have wonderful lives”; “The best is absolutely yet to come”; “Continue to be good to each other”; “Believe in yourself”; “Go out and shine.”

The ending song — with more pictures of students on stage, students hugging, students laughing — was provided by a strumming faculty member with original lyrics: “When in doubt just go and be you 2025; we see you.”

Then, principal-powered Piscitelli was seen flying across a star-studded night sky to confront the meteor, which burst into flames.

Back on stage at the lectern, Piscitelli told the arena crowd, “This is why I became an administrator, not an actor.”

He thanked Riley Better for convincing him to be in the video. Better produced the video with Ilgar Orscek. The pair also served as co-secretaries of the class.

Use GHS

as a compass

“There is so much we have to be proud of,” Clare Grocki said at the start of the graduate address.

Taking a retrospective look, she told her classmates, “We have formed an especially close bond.”

Because of the pandemic, the Class of 2025 did not spend its eighth-grade year, as is typical, as the elders of Farnsworth Middle School. Rather, they were placed in one wing of the high school, which Grocki termed “premature and abrupt.”

“We had to adapt to the chaotic state of the world,” Grocki said. The experience, she said, made her classmates into stronger and more patient individuals.

As passions were discovered, on the athletic fields or in the auditorium, Grocki said that she and her classmates developed as humans and “trusted ourselves to do what is right.”

Grocki told her classmates, “It is OK if you faced many struggles.” Struggles were eased by moments like random lunchroom conversations or substitute teachers mispronouncing familiar names.

Grocki urged her classmates to remember to search for moments of humorous solace.

“We are about to be introduced to the rest of the world,” she said, advising her classmates to do their best in the next chapter of their lives.

Guilderland High School will not be the best part of her life or of her classmates’ lives, said Grocki. “The best of our lives is yet to come,” she said, urging that the time at Guilderland be used as a compass.

She concluded, “Be the thing that makes someone else’s life a little bit better.”

In the groove

The high school’s jazz ensemble blew the audience away with its rendition of Jeff Jarvis’s “Honk.”

As Director John Fatuzzo walked among the musicians to arrange microphones at key moments, the crowd broke into spontaneous applause for the seniors with solos on the keyboard, guitar, trumpet, and trombone.

After the initial sustained applause at the end of the funk piece, Piscitelli said, “That was outstanding.” And the crowd applauded again.

There was then a seventh round of applause as the seniors left the stage to return to their seats on the floor with their classmates.

Recognition

Guilderland does not name a salutatorian or valedictorian; rather, students are chosen by their speeches to address their classmates at commencement.

Academic achievers are recognized by the cords they wear: red and gold for honor students, with a grade-point average of 85 to 89.9 percent; silver and gold for high honor graduates, with an average of 90 to 94.9 percent; and medals for highest honor students with an average of 95 or higher.

Each of those groups was asked by Piscetelli to stand for recognition.

Then students who had contributed at least 150 hours of community service were asked to stand. They wore pins, and Piscitelli said they “make the world a better place.”

Finally, students who have signed on to serve in the nation’s armed forces were asked to stand along with those in the audience who had served.

“You overcame”

Piscitelli told the crowd he is inspired by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

He noted that, at age 28, Roosevelt served in the New York State Senate before becoming assistant secretary of the Navy.

At 39, Roosevelt contracted polio and lost the use of his legs, Piscitelli related. He became a “driving force” for the March of Dimes, which helped lead to the polio vaccine, he said.

“We remember a man who led the country through the Great Depression and World War II,” said Piscitelli.

As he described the challenges faced by Roosevelt, Piscitelli referenced a quotation frequently attributed to him: When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.

When we are living through life’s hardest moments, Piscitelli said, “We just want them to end.”

He urged the soon-to-be graduates, “Think about the situations you’ve overcome.” Piscitelli speculated this might be a difficult class or project or a trying time in a social relationship or a challenging job.

“Our proudest moments rarely come from the easiest days,” said Piscitelli.

With the difficulties the Class of 2025 faced being thrust into the high school as eighth-graders because of the pandemic, Piscitelli said, “Just like FDR, you didn’t get to choose the circumstances.” But, he went on, “You overcame and now you’ve arrived.”

Commencement, he said, is not just about academic achievement, “It’s about resilience.”

Piscitelli also said, “Growth always involves challenges.” He urged the class to face challenges with confidence.

He concluded, “I hope you feel what I believe you earned, pride …. We are proud of you. We believe in you.” 

Keynotes:

“The iconic duo”

Isabella Wu introduced English teacher Erin Whalen and social studies teacher Michael Kinnally as “pillars of the humanities.”

She also said they were “mentors, trusted adults, and second parents” to many.

“Their rooms are always bustling,” said Wu, and they have made “genuine and lasting connections with their students.”

Wu said of Whalen, “She finds ways to waken our inner thinker.”

And she said of Kinnally, a long-time soccer coach who led the varsity team to state competition in 2023, “He is hilarious.”

“The iconic duo,” as Wu called them, presented a shared speech that at times seemed almost like a comedy routine, as they fondly played off of one another, but ultimately had a serious message.

“You’re a generation raised with both Shakespear and Snapchat,” said Kinnally.

“Our broader aim was always to prepare you for the broader world,” said Whalen.

The school mascot is the Flying Dutchman, after the legendary ghost ship, and the school teams are often called the Dutch.

The word “Dutch,” Whalen said, means someone will take care of themselves. “We want you to take care of each other,” she said.

The pair then went through each of the letters — D-U-T-C-H, with a double dose of advice on H — to impress on the class the values each should carry with them.

— “D is for dedication,” said Kinnally.

“You kept showing up …,” he said. “This kind of dedication doesn’t stop here.”

As someone who teaches about the Industrial Revolution, Kinnally said, he is aware of the dedication that invention takes. He quoted Thomas Edison: I have not failed 10,000 times. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.

“In life, there are no due dates …. Keep asking the important questions,” said Kinnally;

— “U is for understanding,” said Whalen.

Beyond data, she said, “There’s a deeper kind of understanding … understanding people or how to read a room.”

Whalen went on, “We’ve seen in our culture a decline of grace and forgiveness.”

She urged, “Don’t plant seeds of harm. Sow seeds of love”;

— “T is for teamwork,” said Kinnally.

Referring to anything from family to a job, he said, “Life is a group project.”

Part of teamwork, Kinnally said, is knowing how to ask for help. “It’s not a weakness,” he said of asking. “It makes you wise”;

— “C is for caring,” said Whalen.

“Caring is what can turn a good person into a great one …. Don’t ever underestimate the simple act of being kind …,” she went on. “Make caring and kindness your superpower.”

She also said, “Choose empathy over ego …. Stand up when someone is left out.”

Whalen concluded, “Caring isn’t loud; it isn’t flashy … It is worth its weight in gold”;

— “H is for humility and humor,” said Kinnally.

“Self-promotion has often overshadowed self-awareness,” he said.

Kinnally told the students, “Some of you are really confident.” But, he went on to say that sometimes the best thing you can say is, “I don’t know but I’m willing to learn.”

Kinnally urged, “Don’t fall into the trap that you think you know everything now.”

Whalen then said that humor brings joy and builds bridges.

She advised, “Work hard, be kind, stay humble, and in the midst of it, don’t forget to laugh.”

The two teachers then concluded with a “review session.”

Relationships are not something we learn from AI, said Whalen.

“Let the world be your new click,” said Kinnally.

“There aren’t SparkNotes for any of these attributes,” said Whalen. “You have to learn them for yourselves.”

Together, Whalen and Kinnally shouted, “Go Dutch!”

“Are we ready to grant diplomas?” Piscitelli then asked the students.

“Yeah!” came the response.

Then, one by one, the graduates’ names were called as they ascended the stage to hoots and hollers and each received a diploma along with a handshake or a hug.