ConVal High School was blessed with a perfect summer day for its 55th commencement ceremony on Saturday, June 15. The school awarded 148 diplomas to graduates.
After thanking families, friends, guardians, and the high school faculty and staff for their support in helping graduates achieve their goals, Principal Heather McKillop spoke to the graduating seniors about the unprecedented role of AI in students’ lives.
“Today, we are celebrating a remarkable achievement. You are closing one chapter and stepping into another: one filled with possibility, uncertainty and opportunity; and you are doing so at a moment when ‘answers’ have never been easier to find,” McKillop said. “With a few keystrokes, you can generate ideas, information, and even advice. Artificial intelligence is powerful, and it can be a very good tool. But this is what I want you to remember: in a world full of answers, your thinking still matters.”
McKillop urged graduates to value their personal perspective on the world around them.
“No technology, no matter how advanced, can know what you noticed. It cannot know what challenged you, what moved you, what made you pause, and what changed your mind,” she said. “It cannot know what it felt like to struggle, what it felt like to belong, to fail, to try again, or to finally understand. You are your own database, built over years of lived experience. No system can replicate it, and you are not replaceable.”
All the student speakers, including Valedictorian Hadley Bates, Salutatorian Zadie Marshall and Brayden Boice, spoke about their strong bonds with their classmates and the inspiration they took from their fellow graduates.
Bates told the crowd: “If I can become valedictorian, you can all achieve your dreams.”
Bates lauded the achievements of her classmates, including “combating climate change, saving sea turtles, flying planes, and creating beautiful art.”
“Your hard work, devotion and perseverance have gotten you to where you are today. I am continually astonished by your creativity, your intelligence, and your passion,” she said. “Being surrounded by people with that kind of brilliance is transformative.”
Marshall said she spent the weeks before graduation asking friends, family, and people in the community: “If you could go back and tell your graduating self one thing, what would it be?”
“I realized I was gravely under-qualified, and should not be giving a field full of my peers life advice,” Marshall said. “My speech today is a compilation of some of my favorite responses.”
The advice Marshall received advised graduates to slow down, live in the moment, be kind, work hard, and trust in the process.
“Love who you are now, and be excited for who you will become,” Marshall said. “Don’t give up when life gets hard, because challenges and obstacles are part of success. Remember that you are a product of your habits. Don’t forget to have grit, because rarely will success just fall into your lap.”
Marshall praised the many experiences ConVal had provided her classmates, including the annual Day of Service.
“We put our individual selves aside to build something great, as a team,” she said.
“Success looks different for everyone. Every single one of us is on a different path, moving at a different pace, and for a different purpose.”
Special Education Department chair, coach and English teacher Tyler Mudrick presented the ConVal Faculty and Staff Award.
“I could stand here and speak all day long about a number of graduates sitting in front of me, but this award is for one of you, specifically,” Mudrick said. “Our faculty describes this student as instrumental in making things happen, both in our school and our wider community. The word ‘inspiring’ was a common theme among faculty members when describing this student. This is a student for whom nothing came easy, and this student worked hard for everything they have accomplished. Another faculty member described this student as ‘completely committed to personal growth,’ as this student has overcome significant challenges and setbacks in their personal life, meeting them head on, and never letting them deter them from the goals they have set for themselves.”
Mudrick described the student’s transformation over four years at ConVal, and their evolution from a “self-described difficult student” to a mentor and leader in the school.
“This student is fearless, dedicated, relentless, and dedicated for such greatness. This student will be attending a college, a goal that at one point they never thought was possible,” Mudrick said. “Now that dream is a reality this student has built for themselves, and the faculty has been overjoyed to see this student turn into a well-respected leader for our ConVal community. Words cannot express how incredibly proud of her I am.”
Mudrick presented the faculty award to Alida Brissette of Bennington.
The class of 2026 selected their classmate Jordan Sweet of Greenfield to play “The Star-Spangled Banner” on electric guitar. Sweet is the lead guitarist for the metal band “Under the Horizon,” which includes Class of 2025 graduate Matt Palmer.
