THETFORD — They gave speeches. They sang. They played instruments. They recited poetry. They expressed gratitude to teachers and congratulated each other for having “survived” the past four years.

But most of all the purpose of being together this one final time was — as class president Grace Elmer expressed in her address too her 66 Thetford Academy graduating classmates and their families — to celebrate “closing a chapter, even when it feels like we’ve just begun the book.”

Thetford Academy’s annual commencement ceremony is woven in homespun tradition — junior class marshals lead the procession of seniors down the school’s greensward to the stage while holding blue candy-stripe batons in front of them — and New England self-reliance. Except for a few perfunctory words from school administrators, the 90-minute ceremony is entirely a senior-run affair.

On an unseasonably chilly Friday evening, Thetford seniors followed in the steps of prior generations by stepping down from the stage to fan out into the audience and present carnations to parents, teachers and loved ones; and led everyone in singing two alma maters. They heard a soaring solo of the National Anthem sung by University of Vermont-bound Ava Hayden and were serenaded by an octet a cappella performance of “Blue Skies” and stage band renditions of Irving Berlin and Gershwin brothers tunes.

“Somehow, in between the tests and the limited social media access, we grew,” Elmer said. “We figured out how to handle disappointment, how to celebrate small wins, how to show up when we didn’t feel like it and” — she candidly copped — “to pretend we read the book when we only skimmed SparkNotes.”

The most important lessons they are taking away as graduating seniors are not solely the academic ones, said two of the class’ top students, Ulysses Junker-Boyce, who is headed to Williams College in Massachusetts and Isaac Yukica, who will be going across the country to study at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

Junker-Boyce and Yukica, who have known each other since Thetford Elementary School, alternated in relating their experiences at TA.

“High school is not just about learning, test taking, and sitting up straight. It’s about finding connections, exercising commitment and building a community,” Junker-Royce said.

His classmates, Junker-Royce revealed, “believe it or not, haven’t always gotten along over the years, but have seen each other through to this very moment,” explaining his cohort is “kind when you need a hug” and “care if you break down,” showing themselves to be “stable, reliable, and loyal.”

Such empathetic qualities make for “people who can adapt, learn, unlearn, and relearn,” Junker-Royce said. “We let commitment and connection motivate us towards success.”

Yukica shared, for his part, how his friendship with Junker-Royce taught him the values that embody the best lessons he has learned from his time at Thetford Academy — and how he, too, learned to adapt away from a prior mindset which made him “collect friends like trophies.” 

But as Yukica was setting off for a semester abroad, he said Junker-Royce passed on invaluable wisdom that “redefined the way that I view interpersonal relationships.

“The most important lesson that I’ve learned is that a relationship is a give and take of commitment that builds on the qualities that are already inside each of us. We graduates are here today because of all that (teachers, family, friends) have given us, and all that we have given each other … You helped us shape the abstract of our innermost qualities into the solid forms that we have become,” Yukica said.

“Some thank-you’s are in order,” he added.

Elmer’s theme of the reward that comes from perseverance was echoed in the lines of a poem titled “Last Dawn on Thetford Hill” written by Simon Swingforth, who will be attending Community College of Vermont.  

“The years that I’ve spent in these halls/With my friends who helped me stand tall/Even though the times so tough/I made it/I was enough,” he recited. “As each and everyday passed/I prayed for them to go so fast/Now I stand on Thetford’s lawn/Looking out at the last dawn.”

Again, the wisdom that a rough beginning can bloom into a strong finish, that a student’s experience in high school is not defined by their freshman and sophomore years alone, was emphasized by Bianca Pulaski, who will attend the University of New Hampshire, in her keynote speech to classmates.

Only minutes away from being handed her diploma, “right now I can say that my time at TA has been a total blast,” Pulaski exulted in brio.

Yet that was not the case initially, Pulaski confided, saying that if she had been asked two years ago “how things were going” her reply would have been short and to the point: “total disaster.”

Still, school lessons, if not always a happy experience, can yield a valuable life lesson, Pulaski shared.

“From the hundreds of tedious and mind-numbing assignments, to the dozens of nerve-wracking social encounters, I learned that things aren't always going to be perfect,” she said.

And the greatest lesson learned in high school is not the GPA.

“I also realized that high school wasn’t just about good grades and trying not to be late. It was about meeting new people, the experiences that came with it, and discovering me, and who I want to be,” Pulaski said, adding she felt “really lucky” because TA let her meet “incredibly talented students and teachers.”

Being a high school student in the 2020s, with AI at a student’s fingertips and technology embedded into every corner of academic and social life, is an unrecognizable experience today to anyone who graduated even a few short years ago. But some things remain the same.

In the end, like in the beginning, the questions are as important as the answers, Elmer reminded her classmates. She urged them to realize they have many chapters ahead to write in the book of their life.

“Yeah, we’re still figuring stuff out,” she said. “That’s kind of the point … You don’t have to have it all figured out to move forward.”

Contact John Lippman at jlippman@vnews.com.Thetford Academy Class of 2025: Seth Charles Berry, gap year; Hugo McGhee Billiau, Emerson College; Spencer Douglas Burch, workforce; Gavin Adam Chambers, workforce, New England Air Systems; Hunter Wellington Clay, Vermont Technical College; Danielle Annika Cooney, workforce; Starrina Adele Coulter, Smith College; Caleb James Crossett, Community College of Aurora; Hanae Beatrice Debo, University of Vermont; Anna Kate Dixon, Endicott College; Maya Rain Dixon, St. Lawrence University; Nicholas Andrew Doyle, White Mountains Community College; Spencer Wilson Durkee, University of West Virginia; Grace McKenna Elmer, Vermont State University — Castleton; John Dennis Farrell, workforce, Farrell's Heating; Liam Robert Ferriot, workforce, Fresco Catering; Madisyn Isabell Freeman Community College of Vermont; Connor Anthony Gaine, Babson College; Casey Daniel Gross, workforce; Ella Rose Harvey, Plymouth State University; Ava Elizabeth Hayden, University of Vermont; Cooper Michael Balch Hebb, Vermont Technical College; Heidi Margaret Hewes, Vermont State University — Castleton; Maddox James Hodgson, workforce; Ulysses Simon Junker-Boyce, Williams College; Nora Siobhan Keane, University of New Hampshire; Erik Matthew King, workforce; Joshua Norman King, workforce; Adrian Kutter-Walker, Community College of Vermont; Miguel Angel Kutter-Walker, Coe College; Piper Anne Leibon, Cornell University; Natalie Thomasson Lewis, Brandeis University; Dempsey James McGovern, University of Maine; Luke McIntyre Miller, University of Vermont; Liam Patrick Murphy, University of Vermont; Zachary James Nalette, workforce, Cole Electric; Eleanor Jean Anna O'Brien, University of Vermont; Ashlyn Jade Osgood, Keene State College; Rebecca Lyn Osgood, Saint Joseph's College of Maine; Evan Daniel Patterson, University of Vermont; Hardy James Payson, gap year/Colorado College; Alicja Helen Perdrizet, University of New Hampshire; Preston Kyle Perkins, University of Maine; Bianca Lorelei Pulaski, University of New Hampshire; Oliver Eric Ransom, gap year/Montana State University; Evan Johnathan Rich, Southern Connecticut State University; Bryce Everett Rikert, Saint Michael's College; Ethan Michael Roy, workforce; Lexi Ann Roya, Community College of Vermont; Willow Mae Slayton, Emerson College; Brady Lake Sloop, University of Vermont; Garrett Edward Spelman, University of Vermont; David Nikolai Stangner, returning to Germany; McKayla Anne Stanley, US Army; Simon David Swingforth, Community College of Vermont; Paige Madison Tremblay, Saint Joseph's College of Maine; Dillon Michael Vance, Vermont Technical College; Matthew Winslow, workforce; Emma Skye Wakefield, workforce; Elizabeth Mae Waterman, SUNY Cobleskill; Caroline Bradford Watts, Boston University; Ethan Andrew West, workforce; Iris Anna White, workforce; Andre Eli Whiteberg, Brandeis University; Ruth Marjorie Wilmott, Florida International University; and Isaac Nyle Yukica, University of Southern California.