HARTFORD — Like many of the group rituals that punctuate a person’s life, high school graduations offer a moment’s pause at the crossroads of past and future.

Several speakers at the Hartford High School graduation of the Class of 2025 on Friday night were quick to acknowledge this juncture. 

Hartford School District Superintendent Caty Sutton urged graduates “to appreciate and be present in the beauty of these moments.” 

Overhead, at around 7 p.m., pockets of blue sky broke through fluffy clouds, and a cool breeze pushed across the football field where students, their families, and  teachers had gath ered to commemorate the occasion.  

“Tonight you graduated   on a perfect night,” Nelson Fogg, the high school’s principal, said to the graduates, of whom there were 128 in total, although some were not in attendance at Friday’s ceremony. 

Sutton told a story about her 7-year-old daughter surprising her with a “plump” bouquet of dandelions as she rushed to a meeting. 

“Now for those of us who’ve lived a little bit of life, we tend to recognize these ubiquitous flowers as weeds,” she said. “But here was my youngest child extending the magic of youth, the gift of wonder and presence to someone who had tragically neglected to see the beauty of resilience and simplicity — a dandelion — for far too long.” 

The reminder was perhaps pertinent for family members and friends in the crowd, who, at moments throughout the ceremony, scrolled on their smartphones, sent a text or chatted to one another. In one of the rows farthest from the stage, two kindergarten-aged girls played a game on a muted iPad. 

“When it comes to planning for the future, it can be easy to get stuck in the search to find something that exemplifies why we do what we do,” said class president Harper Fallon. 

“But when we get stuck in this search for support, we lose sight of the present,” she added. 

Fallon acknowledged that the age-old question “What do you want to be when you grow up?” which may have garnered a bright-eyed response in childhood, has grown weightier as students pick a college, or a career. 

She reminded the graduates that their “choices are not concrete.” 

Said Fallon, “Every single one of us is different and will respond to challenges differently. It is how you choose to move forward and grow” that counts. 

Earlier in the ceremony, valedictorian Olivia Daigle noted that the Class of 2025 has “had our disagreements, our debates and our differences, but we made it work.” 

“Despite all our differences, we are still a community,” said Daigle, recalling a moment from this year’s prom when an “eclectic group of seniors” formed a dance circle around a “misplaced object.” 

Out on the dance floor, the particulars of the students’ social demarcations faded. “We were all bonding over that strange, unplanned moment,” Daigle said.  

Those differences were mirrored in the various capstone projects of 10 seniors who participated in the high school’s honors program. Project topics ranged from “The Future of Track at Hartford” to “A Deep Dive into Film Analysis.” 

Sebastian Fraser’s project, “New Tech; Old Car: Electrical Engineering in a 1974 Corvette,” helped earn him the school’s Phillip DuTremble Outstanding Honors Program Student Award.

Fraser, who will attend the University of Vermont, rewired his vintage ride and installed a Bluetooth speaker. The challenging process drove him to seek help from experts online and in person. 

“In doing so, he not only learned how to wire a classic car, but also how to connect with others and build community around a shared passion,” Sutton said. 

As the ceremony drew to a close, Fogg shared some parting words of encouragement. 

“I believe...you and your generation can construct a better, kinder, gentler, more caring world than the one that you have,” he said, though he admitted his words were “selfish.” 

“Why should your generation take on the responsibility of lifting us up? My answer is simple,” he said. “Because it’s possible.”

Minutes later, students flung their blue caps into the air as cheers erupted from the crowd. The newly graduated class processed through the school gates, into the parking lot, toward futures unknown. 

Hartford High School Class of 2025

Felicity L. Adams; Jasmin Mae Ashline; Devin Barden; Madison Nash Barwood; Conner Beland; Cavan Q. Benjamin-Potwin; Brayden James Bennett; Tylor Bethel; Macy D. Bettwieser; Lucy Kara Bloom; Kieran G. Boyington; Jared Boynton; Brookelyn Elyse Bradshaw; Alexandra Nicole Braley; Rowan Brittain; Harvey F. Brown; Logan Thomas  Brown; Jadeah Bruce; Jenna Lynn Buffum; Logan Caffrey; Nathan R. Campbell; Logan A. Carrier; Arsin Congdon; Gisele Amie Covert; Martha Crapser; Brady James Crowley; Morgan Curtis; Frank Joseph Cushing, III; Olivia J. Daigle; Nicolas Cristofor Daniels; Melodie Rose Dansereau; Aryn S. Davis Raymond; Rylee DeCoff; Kaleigh A. Dinsmore; Brandon John Driver; Hope Dufty; Nika Justina DuMoulin; Geneva Marie Durgin; Summer Elizabeth Eastman; Adeline M. Everson; Nicholas S. Facto; Harper Lee Fallon; Chloe Ferguson-Judd; Sapphire Fleming; Solomon Avelino Flores; Sebastian E. Fraser; Joseph Gallant; Beatrix Cayce Garza; Jack M. Grigsby; Thomas Gross; Aiden Jasper Harrington; Derek Harrington; Elliot Havrda; Hayden D. Hewitt; Kylie R. Hinkson; Tighe Flynn Hrabchak; Alexis Elizabeth Husband; Richard Joseph Husband; Alec H. Husmann; Nicola A. Husmann; Rowan James Irvine; Monica Belle Jaycox; Jasen Jesperson; E. Johnson; Samie K. Johnson; Wyatt Joseph Judd; Bryan Kendall; Will Kendall-Bergstresser; Maya Jean King; Alexander Kingsbury; Elsa M. Kustafik; Benjamin Thomas Lang; Logan Anthony Lawrence LaPole; Lynzee Diane LaPole; Adrian Layne; Julian Layne; Jonah Kimon Libens-Mavodones; Sebastian James Lorenz; Ayodele David Lowe; Colby Alexander Luca; Taylor Mae Lynds; Liam Mangieri; Caden R. Marcotte; Arabella Kerry Martiere; Anna Olivia McSherry; Dustin Thomas Moffitt; Larkyn Moodie-Hamilton; Bennett Anthony Moreno; Daniel J. Morey; Nolan P. Morlock; Samuel Q. Morris; Simon T. Nichols; Monet L. J. Nowlan; Cavan O’Brien; Sondjivan Dusk Owens; Lillie A. Padova; Wren Parker; Sky Parnell; Nolan A. Pichtel; Tyler Piper; Devyn Potter; Bailey Lynn Provost; Brady Putnam; Greyson Emery Renninger; Kara Robinson; Charles Rowe; Coda Ryan Scott; Olivia A. Seaver; Izabelle R. Sirois; Dakota Smith; Kyle Anthony Spaulding; Austin A. St. Peter; Camden Wallace Stride; Seth-Robin K. Sullivan; Alex Matthew Sunn; Colby Tierney; Chandler J. Townsend; Paige Elizabeth Trombly; Matthew Benjamin Tsouknakis; Jaikob Tuck; Paige Elizabeth Vielleux; Ayden Welch-Young; Hugh S. Wendling; Kayden Coy Wescott; Logan White; Cora Jane Winslow; Norah R. Wood; and Aaron Zimnick.

Marion Umpleby can be reached at mumpleby@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.