HILLTOWNS — On the morning of June 28, a sunny Saturday, more than 40 Berne-Knox-Westerlo students sat on a stage in front of several dozen audience members at Tawasentha Park, in Guilderland, to receive their high school diplomas and commemorate their graduation, following an unusual last few semesters. 

Under the coronavirus pandemic restrictions, the class of 2021, like the one before it, missed out on a number of ceremonies that typically accompany the tail-end of high school — senior balls, class trips, big gatherings. But, unlike the class of 2020, the class of 2021 was able to hold its graduation ceremony with few social distancing measures in place. 

Although BKW’s graduation ceremonies are normally held at The Egg, in Albany, the outdoor venue was no less spectacular, if less formal. Friends and family gathered on a gentle hill before the stage and listened from camp chairs as speakers young and old recounted the difficulties of the past year-and-a-half, and expressed pride in the strength of the small school’s community. 

The students walked on stage two at a time from opposite ends, meeting in the middle and variously shaking hands, giving dap, and hugging, displaying both friendship and a renewed security in close contact allowed by the COVID-19 vaccines.

Salutatorian Corey Bub sang the national anthem before various people were introduced to give speeches, which were at times hard to hear in some sections of the audience, as the microphone wasn’t picking up every speaker’s voice.

Striving for wisdom

The first speaker was the high school’s principal, Mark Pitterson, who remarked on the students’ intellect and challenged them to turn their intelligence into wisdom, reading from a passage he found on social media (the “most trusted of sources,” he said) that distinguishes those qualities from one another.

“‘An intelligent man freely gives unsolicited advice; a wise man keeps his counsel until all options are considered,’” Pitterson said. “‘An intelligent man understands what is being said; a wise man understands what is left unsaid. An intelligent man speaks when he has to say something; a wise man speaks when he has something to say.’”

“Intelligence is good,” Pitterson added, “but wisdom achieves better results. These are the words I want to leave for you as you go on to college, to your jobs, to a new career outside of BKW. Congratulations, and welcome to your graduation.” 

“Continue to show kindness”

School board president Nathan Elble gave a short speech acknowledging the loss of ritual that the students endured through the coronavirus pandemic, and the ways in which the class transformed their loss into something positive.

Most notably, he said, the students donated the money they would have spent on a class trip — more than $1,000, BKW class treasurer and valedictorian Quinn Toomey told The Enterprise — to the family of Lisa Sperry, a Berne resident who was killed in a car crash earlier this year that also seriously injured her two sons, Cade and Calvin Sperry. 

“Always remember: You will always be defined not just by what you achieved, but how you survived,” Elble said. “… I challenge you to continue to show the level of kindness and generosity you displayed here at BKW. Good luck in whatever future endeavor you undertake, and always know that your friends and community here at Berne-Knox-Westerlo will always be there for you.”

“We are all interconnected”

Superintendent Timothy Mundell, who was exceptionally animated, touched on similar themes. 

“It would be easy to spend the next few minutes talking about the past year-and-a-half, and the grind that it’s been for every single one of us,” Mundell said. “The grit and resilience it took to get through the last 16 months, and continue forward, is embodied in two concepts. 

“The idea of compassion, that we’re all connected, that none of us is an individual, independent, being separated from the rest of the world. We are all interconnected. The second thing is the sense of belief in self and the belief in community … and feeling like you belong to that community. 

“This community supports the children, supports one another in times of need, and makes tremendous sacrifices. That’s the definition of resilience. This group of young adults has demonstrated that resilience, and they deserve a round of applause for what they’ve endured and overcome over the last 16 months.”

Mundell also shared advice that his father — “a wise man” — used to give him on Saturday morning drives. “He would always say to me, ‘Work hard and be honest, and everything will be OK,’” Mundell said. “Fifty years later, that’s true.”

“The greatest teacher, failure is”

The commencement address was delivered by BKW chemistry teacher Brian McCoy, who shared some memories of the graduating students, including one who attended his class remotely from a dock on a lake, and another who roasted him for mismatched clothes.

“Thanks, Becky, that felt good,” McCoy said to the offending student. “I went home and lit them on fire. I never wore them again.”

He went on to advise the students on the importance of failure and perseverance, quoting the character Yoda (in the voice and everything). “‘The greatest teacher, failure is,’” he said.

“On his terms”

Before class president Ryan Bungay presented the Teacher of the Year award to Amanda Gorman, the audience also heard from the class valedictorian, Toomey, and the salutatorian, Bub, in a pair of moving speeches.

“When preparing a speech like this, I was overwhelmed with so many different emotions,” Bub said. “I never thought I’d be able to come up and use a podium like this not once, but twice. I don’t know what they were thinking. 

“Did you know that in 2019, at the U.N. General Assembly, 2021 was actually declared the International Year of Peace and Trust? It’s pretty crazy, looking back on it now. I doubt this is the year they had in mind when they made that vote. But despite the circumstances, I don’t think their proposal was in vain. 

“The resolution itself was designed to constitute a means of mobilizing efforts to promote international peace and trust on the basis of understanding and cooperation, in order to build peace, solidarity, and harmony. The COVID-19 pandemic has left its mark on all of us, but it brought us closer together than ever before. It truly has become a time of peace and trust.”

Bub then went on to explain his struggles with identity as an autistic student, and how he overheard conversations when he was young that made him feel ashamed of his diagnosis before he learned to embrace his difference “on his terms.”

“At a very young age, I was diagnosed with autism,” Bub said. “Everyone was worried about how I would develop as I got older. I remember people talking about how different I’d be from the other kids. They said I wouldn’t even be able to hit a ball with a bat. 

“Still, I didn’t see myself as different. I just saw myself as myself. So, in my mind, it sounded like they were saying that being myself was wrong. It made me want to d0 everything I could to just be ‘normal,’” Bub said, using finger quotes. “I tried to look, eat, play, and talk just like my classmates did. I became a practically separate person from who I was at home.”

Bub explained that he would get angry at himself for being unlike other students, and that, for middle school, he attended the “wonderful” Helderberg Christian School, before coming back to BKW with “what he had learned and experienced.” 

“I still felt just as different as I had back then, but I now carried love in my heart instead of self-pity … My enjoyment of school was revitalized and I had grown happier each year. I opened up more and became more comfortable in my own skin. And then the pandemic hit, and we had to socially distance. 

“While most took this as a time of separation and distinction, I took this time and I made it serve to make me even more eager to let others in. I used this time to further better myself, nail down my work ethic, and really take a deep look at the kind of person I want to become. I know that this year’s circumstances are not ideal. But these students have accomplished so much these past few years and they all deserve to be commended.”

Bub also highlighted the students who were not recognized in the school’s awards ceremony earlier in the month, reminding them and everyone else, “We all stand before you as equals. Awards come and go, records get broken, class grades fade into distant memory. What matters is the person you become and the relationships you build along the way.”

“We are resilient”

Toomey spoke after Bub, musing at the top of his speech about the achievement of walking as a milestone for children, and how another, later milestone is commemorated by the same action.

“It's funny how walking across a stage can be such a major thing in our lives,” Toomey said. “We learn to walk at such a young age, yet here we are, sitting up here before you all, hoping that we don’t trip while going to get our diplomas.

“Similar to walking, life is all about the steps you take on the way to your destination, whether your destination is becoming an astrophysicist, manual laborer, or the destination is still unknown. 

“High school is the first stepping stone for all of our journeys. We all know that to get to our destinations, we just have to keep on walking. Some of our next steps will be college, others the workforce, but everyone here today is trying to make that next step towards excellence.”

Toomey said that he had attended BKW since kindergarten, and through his years in the district has grown confident in the capability and character of his classmates.

“Not long ago a local family went through a tragic car accident,” Toomey said, “an event that cannot be reversed, no matter how much any of us would like to reverse it. Our class knew that we could not fix what happened, but we couldn’t sit idly by, so we tried to help.

“We collectively decided to forgo our senior trip, and give all the money we had to that family. And we didn’t stop there. Many of our classmates helped with a car wash that donated all proceeds to that family. 

“We have lost so much of our senior year, and to lose that last part of it to help a family in need truly shows the character that our class has. These characteristics are going to help us in the future steps we take. As we walk through life, we will stumble and trip, but we are resilient and won’t stay down after we fall. We have friends that will help pick us up so we can keep walking.”

Toomey also commended the district’s teachers, whom he described as “secondary parents.”

“They have taught us so much, even if we didn’t, or still don’t, understand why we had to prove that a triangle was in fact a triangle,” Toomey said, “or why the mitochondria being the powerhouse of a cell was so important. Without them, I would not have any clue what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, and I bet many of my fellow classmates feel the same way. 

“Now, our parents and family,” Toomey said, switching focus. “Words cannot express how much we appreciate everything you have done for us, but I’ll still try and tell you. Since we were born you have always been there, kissing our boo-boos and telling us that everything would be all right. In elementary school, you helped us study our times tables and prepare for spelling tests. 

“And finally, in high school, you provided us with moral support, mostly because you don’t remember trigonometry well enough to actually help us with it. Every step of the way, you have been there for us, and we are eternally grateful for that.”