At crossroads of joy and sorrow, CCHS grads urged to be courageous, kind, authentic
The day also honored three who lost their lives in a car accident and the courage of one who survived.
“As I am sure many of you know, I am a big sweater.”
Acton-Carlisle High School senior class president Hays Gardiner’s announcement to his fellow graduates wasn’t strictly about his powers of perspiration.
Instead, he rolled it into a larger message about embracing who you are.
Addressing more than 300 classmates at commencement exercises last Saturday, Gardiner described his dilemma as a freshman, self-conscious after gym class and met with sidelong glances: “I could either be complacent and dry, putting in minimal effort, or be sweaty and glorious,” he said.
The choice was obvious: “I have found that I am happiest as me, unfiltered — and, oftentimes, sweating,” Gardiner said.
Amid the morning’s levity and elation, he and others also paused to mourn seniors Jimmy McIntosh, Maisey O’Donnell, and Hannah Wasserman, who lost their lives in a Florida car accident just days into April break.
“We will remember and honor you forever,” Gardiner promised.
Kindness and courage
Threatening skies forced Class of ’25 commencement exercises indoors. The shift diminished neither the graduates’ enthusiasm nor the memories of those who were kept by tragedy from being there for the milestone moment.
The morning’s overarching themes: kindness and courage. Superintendent Laurie Hunter and co-principals Katie Stahl and Brian Miller spoke to the importance of both.
“What does courage mean for us in this place and time?” Hunter asked. “Implied in courage is that we are going to be OK on the other side, even when things are hard, really hard.”
Said Miller, “You are collectively champions, not just in sports or theater or academics, but in empathy and compassion. To us, as your principals, walking away from your time spent at CCHS as kind and empathetic humans is the best gift you can give to us.”
And Will Kemeza, an English teacher and avid hiker, told the graduates it’s OK to get emotionally lost sometimes — as long as they remember to care about others.
“If you find yourself going down the road that centers personal gain or pleasure while stunting your capacity for compassion and generosity, beware,” he warned. “That’s a dead end.”
Early in the ceremony, Maisey O’Donnell’s parents came forward to accept her diploma. The McIntosh and Wasserman families received their children’s diplomas privately.
In a later moment that brought the room to its feet — and some of those watching to tears — senior Lauren Costa, the lone survivor of last month’s car accident, crossed the stage with the support of a crutch to claim her diploma.
In the moment
After the speeches, the distribution of diplomas, and the classic mortarboard toss, newly minted grads Caroline Haskell and Audria Erasmus posed together for photos.
Along with her tassels for Girl Scouts and a sash denoting her engineering certificate, Erasmus’ mortarboard bore bugle beads forming the outline of a goat — the mascot of her future college, Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
“I want to be a mechanical engineer,” she said, waving the mortarboard proudly.
Haskell is headed to Georgetown University to major in public policy. She deemed all the day’s speakers great, but one reminder stood out to her, she said: “Be kind to others.”
As families mingled, took photos, and rushed off for more celebrations, graduate Will Spring gleefully posed with a celebratory (but unlit) cigar between his lips. “You have obviously never smoked a cigar before,” his mother said as she took his photo in cap and gown.
Beaming and energized, Spring wasn’t ready for the grand event to end. Senate moderator Veronica Moy, he said, caught the true spirit of the day in her remarks when she told the room, “There will never be another moment like this.”
“It’s surreal,” Spring said. “When the day comes, you kind of just think of it as another day, but when your name gets called and you walk up on that stage, it’s exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time.”
Spring is headed to Providence College to play golf and major in business management. He’s not set on a career path just yet — but said those plans can come later. Today is for today.
“I think a lot of people get caught up in thinking about the past or the future,” Spring said. “This moment, it’s gonna be a memory after this, so you might as well not take it for granted and live in the present, right?”
