HANOVER — Throughout commencement ceremonies Friday night, the 195 graduates of the Hanover High Class of 2022 were reminded to stay true to themselves, and lauded for their kindness and ability to adapt during more than two years of pandemic uncertainty.
COVID-19 even forced an unscheduled change at graduation as senior Alex Rockmore stepped in as master of ceremonies after classmate Eric Ashton had to withdraw at the last minute.
Rockmore recalled that when he was called to the office to receive the news, at first he thought he was in trouble for another tardy arrival at French class. But he was up to the task and welcomed everybody to what he warned “will essentially be a running commentary.”
Senior Pierce Seigne, who gave the graduation address, elicited chuckles from the crowd when he told them he was “pretty excited.”
“I’ve never graduated from high school before,” Seigne said.
He took his fellow graduates down memory lane, reminding them of all they’d been through together — Chromebooks and extracurricular events and other shared experiences.
And then how they were suddenly pulled away from each other.
Seigne recounted his emotions in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I remember getting the email that said school would be closed for two weeks,” Seigne said, adding a punchline. “Score! Two-week vacation.”
Then two weeks stretched into a semester, then a year.
“We learned what the insides of our teachers’ houses looked like,” Seigne said. “And, for the first time ever, I actually wanted to go back to school.”
Ian Gollub, Hanover High band director, praised the seniors for their ability to deal with change, calling them, “One of the kindest groups I’ve ever known.”
Gollub listed the changes they had endured.
“In four years, you have had and seen four different schedules, three principals, three assistant principals, a pandemic, online learning, remote Wednesdays, masks, the end of a war, the beginning of a war, two, almost three mascots, an insurrection, and an unkind wild presidential election,” Gollub said.
But, he continued, “there have been 27 state athletic championships, over 50 all-state music acceptances, band awards, opera movies, quiz bowl championships, and scores of individual awards for various competitions and events.”
“Tonight, we have 195 graduates, 195 smiling faces with lots of patience, positivity and kindness throughout this group,” Gollub said. “Only folks with strong spirit can accomplish what you all have while going through the craziness that was the last four years.”
Gollub encouraged the graduates to persevere when life inevitably fails to go as they have planned.
He told of how his plans to play saxophone for a living didn’t pan out after he spent most of his early college years attending concerts in New York City instead of going to class.
But he kept after it and eventually discovered music education, and with a degree and teaching certificate in hand, he returned home to Hanover High School.
“I have no regrets,” Gollub said. “This is where I’m meant to be.”
Senior Caroline Adams gave the farewell speech, imploring her fellow graduates to have faith in themselves and know that they, individually and collectively, are enough.
Adams, a standout in soccer and lacrosse, told how injuries derailed what she had dreamed for her senior fall season, but she had found meaning and value in the experience nonetheless.
“Even though my role on the field had ended, from the sidelines I found connection to my teammates in a way I never could have while playing,” Adams said. “I discovered that I was enough.”
And, she said, she wanted her fellow graduates to know that they, too, are enough.
She told them to reach under their seats, where they found postcards. One side had tiny photos of the graduating seniors while the back side carried the message, “We are enough wherever we are.”
With that message, she directed the graduates to move their tassels, and the 195 Hanover High School graduates threw their caps into the air to a standing ovation.
Darren Marcy can be reached at dmarcy@vnews.com or 802-291-4992.
Hanover High School Class of 2022Dennis Walter Acker; Caroline Adair Adams; Matthew G. Adner; Ayaan Ahmad; Kiana Faith Allan; Richard John Aman; Eric Michael Ashton; Taj Lock Bagnato; Van Robert Bailey; Marko Baran; Kristov Vittorio Bardales; Leo Barnes; Aida Claire Bauer; William Henry Baughman; Daniel Bender; Hannah Ruth Berger; Rebecca Clara Berger; Amelia Berthold; Jorran Keith Bickford; Charles Owen Birkmeyer; Bo Blackburn; Elsa Bolinger; Emanuel Aaron Bowie-Reimers; Lucas Madison Brien; Benjamin Brooks; Joshua David Bucci; Mae Candon; Luka Cantone; Ryan James Carter; Ella Karin Caterini; Benton Cesanek; Connor Adam Chambers; Eric Jiarui Chen; Jasmine Yen Chu; William Ciardelli; Hugh Sutherland Clark; Elias Bernard Callum Cowie; John Royal Crandell; Wyatt Forester Cusick; Eliza Stevenson Daigle; Abigail Langdon Davis; Joseph James Davis; Kathryn Taylor Davis; Elise Laura Debo; Ethan Brunner Derksen; Una Florence DiGeorge; Roan Louis Downard; Aaron Everett Drescher; Camden Michael Dwyer; Mia Pavcnik Edmonds; Matthias Aron Einarsson; Dill August Meyer Eisendrath; Olivia Ruth Evans; Natalie Diane Feyrer; Jackson Albert Fisher; Declan Thomas Flynn; Ethan Raymond Gailey; Maxwell Graham Galbraith; Mason Allen Gantrish; Kirk Garner; Thomas Edward Glass; Ian Canon Goldberg; William Golec; Rosa Carolina Gomez; Ella Rose Goodney; Casey Emerson Graham; Cole Alexander Griffiths; Roland Xavier Griggs; Esther Sophia Hacker; James Farrell Hackett; Molly Elizabeth Hackett; Alisa Halchenko; Seth Mykel Hamel; Connor James Hamlin; Dylan Alexander Hendrick; Ruslan Evan Henry; Miriam Deborah Herron; Michael Hertog-Raz; John Nichols Hill; Lucy Cheryl Elizabeth Hinck; Luke Ambrose Holmes; Blake Emerson Hooper Goetinck; Murphy Matthew Hunt; Zachary Scout Hurst; Luke Daniel Ives; Thatcher Keen Jaacks; Daniel Alden Jaccaci; Tairan (Ryan) Ji; Bella Rose Johnson; Isabella M. Kachikis; Moskoula V. Kachikis; Ian McCue Keeffe; Juliet Kelly; Eunice Kim; James Driscoll Kirkpatrick; Owen Alexander Kitchel; Emma Grace Kleber; Jacob Asher Kubik-Pauw; Jane Elizabeth Lackley; Aidan Thomas Lackstrom; Whitney Elizabeth Ladeau; John Christopher Lang; Liana Kato Lansigan; Spencer Martin Pappas Lawe; Nicholas Robert Lee; Mary Iris Thomas Levey; Grace Suzannah Lewandoski; Jared William Licht; Jessica James Lichtenstein; Kaye Crocker Lindsay; Alexander Xavier Low; Rylie Marshall; Spencer Vance May; Ella Mayo; Katherine McCaull; Aislinn Grace Lawson McDougall; Bennett Alexander McGinnis; Paige Celeste Meliment; Jared Raphael Mercado; Oscar Hayes Miller; Gail Hannah Morse; Gwyneth Munroe; Seamus Logan Murphy; Samuel Rowland Murray; Emily Laurel Nadeau; Lia Thomas Naughton; Evan James Nichols; Bella Z Johnson Norman; Simeon Ishmael Robert Obomsawin; Eamon Francis Odell; Tyler Lawrence Odell; Palmer Lewis Whyte Okai; Ian Brodrick Parish; Saia Bharat Patel; Aidan Patrick Peterson; John Minh Pham; Charlotte Leah Pidgeon; Colin W. Pierce; Trevor J. Pierce; Kevin Daniel Pillsbury; Stella Grace Pinto; Sophie Helena Prescott; Eleanor Lind Press; John Reznek; Curtis David Rice; Shea Elizabeth Richeimer; Joseph Francis Richter; Eric Ringer; Cian Riordan; Alex Dov Rockmore; Marae Lynn Rose; Jack Douglass Ross; Mitchell Lee Rowley; Danielle Hope Rudd; Maya Rose Sandor; Sebastian Robert Pritam Sangha; Alicia Sanyal; Zane Schiffman; Koa Roy Sasaki Schuette; Yuki Nina Sasaki Schuette; Greta Eliza Schutz; Taylor Brumble Schwartz; Lily Katherine Seelig; Pierce C. Seigne; Finn Aleric Seville; Hunter Plowman Smith; Katelyn Elise Smith; Brynne Alice Spaeth; Haily Ann-Marie Stewart; Wesley Daniel Stocken; Eliza Harrison Sumner; Charlotte Luff Tagupa; Madeleine Glarum Tally; Trinity Annlouise Thibodeau; Aidan Chistopher Tomlin; Skyler Tompkins; Anya Kaitlyn Traudt; Olivia Marie Trummel; Eric Theodore Tysinger; Charles Vincent Umpleby; Eleanor Elisabeth van Aalst; Raghu Veerareddy; Lily Grace Versteeg; Taylor Ainsley Vettori; Brooke Lee Voelker; Matthew Thomas Walsh; Catherine Currie Werner; Bria Nicole Phillips Whitehair; Melissa Elizabeth Whitmore; Asa Weston Wise; Evan Green Yang; Lindsay Anne Zaslaw; and Shantel Shijia Zhou.