SOUTH ROYALTON — Speakers talked about dancing, Vermont’s resilience and weather patterns to usher graduates of White River Valley High School into the next stage of their lives in a Saturday morning ceremony.

Families, friends and faculty gathered on the South Royalton Green to celebrate the 39 graduates of White River Valley, a regional high school serving the towns of Royalton and Bethel. 

Prior to the ceremony, a handful of graduates waited outside Red Door Church, across the street from the Green, where faculty and students would begin their procession to the ceremony. 

“I’m going to miss high school, I already know I will,” graduating senior Jaiden Wright said in an interview. “But I’m also ready to move on to the next chapter in my life.”

Wright, who said he was feeling excited and nervous about graduating, has been accepted into an apprentice program to become a certified plumber. 

Salutatorian Brayden Russ, in a short speech, credited his class’ resilience and perseverance throughout high school in part to growing up in Vermont, which he said often requires an open mind and positive attitude to fully appreciate the state’s beauty and recreational offerings. 

“Where some (outsiders) may see a boring mountain in the distance, we see a trail to hike, a path to cross-country ski, land to hunt or roam, or a bundle of maple trees to tap,” Russ said. “(And) this is a truth and a mindset that can be applied anywhere you go in life.” 

Valedictorian Hannah Collins talked about her love of dancing, weaving it into a message about braving the unknown and pursuing one’s joys and passions. 

“My mom always said to dance like nobody’s watching, and so that’s what I did,” Collins said. “I wanted to be the person who wasn’t afraid to dance, who would get out there and bust a move.” 

Yet Collins also remembered a school dance when her classmates embraced her effort to initiate the dancing and joined her. 

“When someone is by your side, dancing or singing just as crazily as you, you know you’ve  found your kind of people,” Collins said. “Thank you all, each and every one of you, for doing this crazy thing called life with me.” 

Collins, who will be attending the University of Vermont, advised her classmates to be themselves, without worrying about judgment. 

“If you're going to succeed in this life, you better be ready to dance — and it better be like nobody’s watching,” she added. 

Guest speaker Gary Sadowsky, former longtime chief meteorologist at television news station WCAX, also spoke about life through metaphor, comparing it to changing weather patterns.

Some days will be good and others not, he said. There may also be peaks where one’s life is going extremely well and lows where one may feel stuck and in despair. 

“But the key is to know that it will change,” Sadowsky said. “It's a cycle, a cycle of life. Just be aware of what's happening, and have no fear the big bridge of high pressure will be on the way again, and bring back that sunshine.”

Sadowsky also shared his experiences of multiple career changes, from studying philosophy in college, to operating a bicycle repair shop for several years and then, at age 38, returning to school to study meteorology. He worked 33 years at WCAX until retiring this year. 

“You're not always locked into any one thing,” Sadowsky said. “You can always make changes in your life that'll take you in a new direction — kind of like a lot of the storms that we have around here that sometimes decide to take a quick turn and mess up our forecasts.”

Music at the ceremony included performances by the high school concert band and the Wildcat Singers, who sang the national anthem and later a rendition of Green Day’s “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).” 

In addition to a performance of Pomp & Circumstance, the concert band played “Antares” by Richard Saucedo, “Dance Carnivale” by Randall Standridge and a selection from the musical “Wicked.” 

Patrick Adrian can be reached at pfadrian25@gmail.com.

White River Valley High School Class of 2025: Amelia Marshall, workforce; Ashlyn Rhoades, Rivier University; Austin Tatham, Missouri Welding Institute; Avery Whitney, Vermont State University — Randolph; Bailey Boardman, Vermont State University — Johnson; Brayden Russ, Western Colorado University; Brookelle Thurston; Catherine Phillips; Connor Forcier, workforce; Connor Hurdle; Donavan Craven, University of Maine Orono; Dylan Hatch, Vermont State University — Castleton; Ellis Bogardus, Lineman Institute of the Northeast; Emma Garcia, university in Spain; Hannah Collins, University of Vermont; Hayden Mabey, University of Vermont; Jack Henry Sargent; Jackson Berry, workforce; Jaiden Wright, workforce; Jayden Wilkinson-Barrows; Kadence Rogers, workforce, nannying; Kyle Radicioni, workforce, roofing; Lillianna Babcock, Colby-Sawyer College; Madalyn Sullivan, University of New England Maine; Madelyn Gibson, Colby-Sawyer College; Maille Rediker, Colby-Sawyer College; Malachi French-Dyer; Margaret Serviss; Natalie Irish, University of Pittsburgh at Bradford; Nevaeh Richards; Norah Harwood, Western Colorado University; Paul Andrade, workforce; Shyanne Ensminger, gap year; William Gutchess; William Snelling, Norwich University; Wyatt Cadwell, workforce; Yosef Gordon; and Zander Clark, workforce.