• Contact Us
  • Events calendar
Entering Swellesley
Pinnacle, Wellesley

The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

  • Advertise
  • Wellesley Square
  • Deland, Gibson Insurance Athlete of the Week
  • Camp
  • Private schools, sponsored by Riverbend
  • Business index
  • Contribute
  • Eat
  • Schools
  • Top 10 things to do
  • Embracing diversity
  • Kids
  • About us
  • Events
  • Natick Report
  • Seniors
  • Letters to the editor
  • Guidelines for letters to the editor
  • Live government meetings
  • Raiders sports schedules & results
  • Fire & police scanner
  • 2023 Town Election
 
Needham Bank, Wellesley
Write Ahead, Wellesley

Wellesley High School Class of 2020 graduation ceremony in full

July 31, 2020 by Bob Brown 1 Comment

WHS graduation 2020
Wellesley High Principal Jamie Chisum greets grads

 

About 200 Wellesley High School graduates took part in a scaled down but still rewarding ceremony on Friday morning to celebrate the Class of 2020’s launch to the future. The entire ceremony, clocking in at a bit over an hour and a half, can be viewed in the video embedded below.

Having been through two WHS graduations for our own kids at the field, sandwiched in the bleachers with other proud families, this event was clearly a whole different ballgame. It was eerily quiet at the start, with a couple of people jogging around the track and running up and down the bleachers shortly before festivities began, as if nothing was going on. A couple of students gussied up a Congratulations Seniors sign on one of the uprights, hustling to remove a ladder before the procession began. Then students filed in as Pomp & Circumstance played over the loudspeakers.

Andrew Pini, class vice president, kicked off the event by singing the National Anthem after the red-gowned students made their way to socially distanced seats on either side of mid-field, with their backs to the bleachers. In other years, students face the aforementioned upright, toward the school.

andrew pini sings
Andrew Pini, singing the National Anthem (Photo credit: Stephen Keep/SWKphoto)

 

Class President Ryan Silverstein recalled before his fellow “seniors or whatever we are” how no one suspected March 12 would be their last day of high school. He cited the book Lord of the Flies in making observations about the lack of adults at the event and the negative or positive impact adults can have on younger people. He urged his classmates to be catalysts.

“When you feel abandoned by leaders and adults, lead yourself and those around you. When somebody says something you don’t agree with, don’t attack them. Ask them. Have a conversation. Learn about each other. Be more inclined to bring each other up rather than tear each other down. Because a world with us together, for our generation, the next generation and for the adults who handed it to us, is a world better off.”

Class President Ryan Silverstein
Class President Ryan Silverstein (Photo credit: Stephen Keep/SWKphoto)

 

Fittingly, musically inclined student speaker Lili Culhane followed with a talk that ended with her brief rendition of Everybody Wants to Rule the World. She wished classmates luck finding “the next song on your playlist.”

WHS Class of 2020
Lili Culhane song-speech (Photo credit: Stephen Keep/SWKphoto)

 

Up next was Principal Jamie Chisum, who praised the grads for their agility given circumstances of recent months.

“You’ve proven that you have the ability to adapt and be nimble in the face of great uncertainty,” he said.

“Our charge is to make of use the crash course in uncertainty we’ve all been on these last six months and use it do better for everyone,” Chisum said, referring to efforts to make the world an equitable place.

Principal Jamie Chisum
Principal Jamie Chisum (Photo credit Stephen Keep/SWKphoto)

 

Class Treasurer Jason Norris shared his reflections, lauding classmates who lost out on many senior traditions for making good use of their time to raise funds and supply resources to those in need, to support their families and local businesses.

English teacher Caroline Prinn delivered a speech peppered, appropriately enough, with literary references. She also referenced words of the day, like “essential.”

“As you prepare to transition into your next chapter, whatever that exciting adventure might be and whatever it might look like under these circumstances, I invite you to reflect on what you consider essential,” she said. “Perhaps this pandemic and the necessary isolation has actually given you the space to recognize what in your life is essential and what is just noise. Figure that out and don’t wast another minute with the rest. Summon all of your good energy and funnel it into your essential pursuits.” (See full text of Ms. Prinn’s faculty speech embedded below.)

Students in attendance were then recognized individually, and those not there were acknowledged, too.

tassel twist
Tassel twist (Photo credit: Stephen Keep/SWKphoto)

 

Class of 2020
(Photo credit: Stephen Keep/SWKphoto)

 

Class VP Pini returned to announced the gift of the Class of 2020 scholarship for future classes.

The ceremony wound up with senior awards. Arianna Baffa and Kate Waisel were named valedictorians, and Yasmine Jaffier-Williams and Ryan Silverstein earned senior cups for their all-around accomplishments.

 

Class of 2020
Viewers were online, not in the bleachers (Photo credit: Stephen Keep/SWKphoto)

 

Thank you to WHS’s Diane Zinck for coordinating our attendance, and for Stephen Keep, for upping our photo game. Just the sort of collaboration graduation speakers were encouraging!

 


  • Subscribe to Swellesley’s daily email
  • Please consider contributing to Swellesley to sustain our independent journalism venture

Download (PDF, 283KB)

Download (DOCX, 19KB)

print

Filed Under: Wellesley High School

Comments

  1. Sue Morris says

    August 1, 2020 at 8:42 am

    Bob and Deborah – Thanks so much for your coverage of this graduation event and for all your support of this class!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Linden Square, Wellesley
Riverbend, Natick

Tip us off…

Please send tips, photos, ideas to theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

 

Advertisements

Wellesley Square, Wellesley Merchants
Wellesley, Jesamondo
Beacon Hill Athletic Club, Wellesley
Fay School, Southborough
Sexton test prep
Feldman Law
Wellesley Theatre Project
Volvo
Cheesy Street Grill
Mature Caregivers
Admit Fit, Wellesley
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Never miss a post with our free daily Swellesley Report email
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

You can subscribe for free, though we appreciate any contribution that supports our independent journalism.

Click on Entering Natick sign to read our Natick Report

Entering Natick road sign

Most Read Posts

  • Letters-to-the-editor day in Wellesley—important election-time updates
  • Wellesley business buzz: Board business liaison phased out; Help ID top business leaders of color; Hospital taps new president
  • Business buzz: Nantucket wine bar to boast Wasik's cheeses; Needham Bank has new Wellesley branch manager; Thanks to new sponsor Beacon Hill Athletic Clubs
  • Wellesley Veterans Parade will be one big wonderful Tea Party
  • Does Wellesley need a new traffic light? Slow down before you drive to any conclusions

Upcoming Events

Jan 31
9:00 am - 11:00 am Recurring

Coffee and Conversation with the Wetlands Administrator and Staff

Jan 31
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Families Eat Together online presentation

Feb 1
11:59 pm

Deadline for Wellesley Hills Junior Women’s Club grants application

Feb 3
10:00 am - 6:00 pm

Sara Campbell winter warehouse sale

Feb 4
10:00 am - 6:00 pm

Sara Campbell winter warehouse sale

View Calendar

Popular pages

  • Wellesley’s 7 official scenic roads

Recent Comments

  • David B on Does Wellesley need a new traffic light? Slow down before you drive to any conclusions
  • LADY WELLESLEY on Wellesley police officer injured in crash at intersection of Grove and Benvenue
  • Peggy Heffernan on Wellesley police officer injured in crash at intersection of Grove and Benvenue
  • Beth Dublin on Wellesley police officer injured in crash at intersection of Grove and Benvenue
  • Erika on Where to buy the Wellesleyest stuff in Wellesley

Links we like

  • Danny's Place
  • Great Runs
  • Jack Sanford: Wellesley's Major League Baseball Star
  • Tech-Tamer
  • The Wellesley Wine Press
  • Universal Hub
  • Wellesley Sports Discussion Facebook Group

Categories

  • 2021 Town Election (24)
  • 2023 Town Election (2)
  • Animals (428)
  • Antiques (49)
  • Art (592)
  • Beyond Wellesley (52)
  • Books (376)
  • Business (1,557)
  • Camp (10)
  • Careers/jobs (53)
  • Churches (82)
  • Clubs (236)
  • Construction (300)
  • Dump (130)
  • Education (3,189)
    • Babson College (252)
    • Bates Elementary School (18)
    • Dana Hall School (36)
    • Fiske Elementary School (11)
    • Hardy Elementary School (47)
    • Hunnewell Elementary School (46)
    • MassBay (57)
    • Schofield Elementary School (26)
    • Sprague Elementary School (19)
    • St. John School (2)
    • Tenacre Country Day School (11)
    • Upham Elementary School (35)
    • Wellesley College (613)
    • Wellesley High School (996)
    • Wellesley Middle School (204)
  • Embracing diversity (84)
  • Entertainment (814)
  • Environment (772)
  • Fashion (144)
  • Finance (15)
  • Fire (173)
  • Food (358)
  • Fundraising (641)
  • Gardens (164)
  • Government (604)
    • 2020 Town Election (47)
    • 2022 Town Election (15)
  • Health (866)
    • COVID-19 (203)
  • Hikes (6)
  • History (400)
  • Holidays (440)
  • Houses (162)
  • Humor (47)
  • Kids (867)
  • Law (8)
  • Legal notices (10)
  • Letters to the Editor (71)
  • Media (72)
  • METCO (4)
  • Military (13)
  • Morses Pond (109)
  • Music (580)
  • Natick Report (30)
  • Neighbors (280)
  • Obituaries & remembrances (86)
  • Outdoors (655)
  • Parenting (63)
  • Police (778)
    • Crime (395)
  • Politics (554)
  • POPS Senior Profile (10)
  • RDF (6)
  • Real estate (344)
  • Religion (138)
  • Restaurants (340)
  • Safety (155)
  • Scouts (2)
  • Seniors (127)
  • Shopping (163)
  • Sponsored (6)
  • Sports (1,012)
    • Athlete of the Week (12)
  • STEM (108)
  • Technology (165)
  • Theatre (397)
  • Town Meeting (23)
  • Transportation (240)
  • Travel (17)
  • Uncategorized (1,244)
  • Volunteering (350)
  • Weather (179)
  • Wellesley Election 2019 (21)
  • Wellesley Free Library (280)
  • Wellesley Holiday Gift Guide (2)
  • Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend (20)

© 2023 The Swellesley Report
Site by Tech-Tamer · Login