PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The graduates from Taconic High School know there will be challenges and failures in the future.

But, they're also confident that they are brave enough to overcome anything.

"In the coming years, each one of us will face challenges and failures. So whenever you need to, go back to the basics and get in touch with your high school roots," Valedictorian Raeayn Warren told her classmates. 

 

"With that being said, let's not forget to share our successes. We have accomplished so much this past four years and I can only imagine the amazing feast that the next four will bring. We've grown an incredible support system here, that I am so grateful to be a part of. Even in our toughest times, we have been able to come together."

 

A total of 210 students graduated on Sunday during a ceremony in the gymnasium. Warren asked that the class of 2017 "stay all in this together," a reference from "High School Musical." She said she and her classmates have already tackled difficult challenges while balancing work and career readiness on top of sports, friendships, and classes. Warren said the class has shown the passion for overcoming anything. 

 

"Our class always had an inextinguishable drive to be more than we were yesterday, to be who we wanted to be and we wouldn't let anybody stop us," Warren said. 

 

What is facing those leaving high school is what gives Superintendent Jason McCandless fear for the students. 

 

"You are entering an America that has its greatest divide between the rich and the poor in our history, and where we are about as divided ideologically as we were during the Civil War era. You enter an adult world where we can't even agree on the fundamentals of what it means to be American. We live in a nation where 153 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, the strategic and purposeful alienation and discrimination of people of color continues on a daily basis. Nearly 100 years after women were given the right to vote, the United States House of Representatives is still 81 percent men and we've never had a female president, although she may be sitting in front of us today," McCandless said.

 

"You enter an adult world where nearly 300 million people suffer from depression and one where more than 20 million Americans over the age of 12 suffer from a substance use disorder. You cross the stage into adulthood in the nation where a quarter of all children live below the federal poverty limit. You graduate into an economy where it is fair enough if you are thinking 'am I going to do as well as my parents did or my grandparents?'"

 

But McCandless said humans can feel more than one feeling at a time. So while he is fearful of the world the students are entering, he also knows how the students have grown in the last four years. He said this generation is the most prepared to take on those challenges.

 

"You are well educated, academically and emotionally. Ultimately my confidence and the competence of you as individuals and as a community of graduates leads me to feel nothing but hope, to feel assurance to feel gratitude," McCandless said.

 

Salutatorian Jac Lun Lin evoked confidence in the class during his address. He said while high school has ended, the class can't start slacking. 

 

"Remember that these journeys can never be predicted because our futures have yet to be mapped. The best we can do is excel and dedicate our efforts to shaping our futures because hard work really does pay off in the end," Lin said.

 

He said not "life is a complicated map" and that everyone will have their own route. He reminded them that the destination isn't what's important but the lessons one acquires along the route. 

 

"We are the next generation. Don't forget to get out there and show them what it means to be a brave," Lin said.

 

Mayor Linda Tyer told the students to incorporate kindness and gratitude into their lives. 

 

"As you move through the day today and into the warm days of summer, you may feel uncertainty about your future. Big life decisions about college, career, who you'll love, and where you'll live, can cause even the most confidence person to lose a few nights sleep," Tyer said. "While these are all significant decisions that will determine the arc of your life, I encourage you, like others who spoke today, to remember two life calming practices — kindness and gratitude."

 

She encouraged the students to enjoy the small things in life, whether that be fresh snow or the crack of the bat at Fenway Park. She told the students to be in awe of simplicity." The key to a peaceful life isn't determined by geography, she said, but by embracing the everyday joys. 

 

The ceremony also included the Honors Chorus singing 'The Climb' by Miley Cyrus, the presentation of valedictorian, high honors, and honors awards. The students then proceeded out of the hot gymnasium and spilled into the hallways and courtyards to meet with family and friends. 

 

"Now is the time to turn the page. It is your story and you get to write it," Principal John Vosburg said.