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Class of 2018: Guilford Seniors Graduate from GHS

On a cool June evening, 298 members of the Guilford High School (GHS) Class of 2018 crossed the stage and received their diplomas before a crowd of cheering family, friends, and classmates.

Of the nearly 300 graduates, 89 percent will pursue some form of post-secondary education - 243 seniors will attend four-year colleges or universities and 16 seniors will pursue their studies at two-year institutions. Seven seniors will go on to technical/prep school programs, five seniors will join the armed forces, and 27 seniors will be either traveling, are undecided, taking a gap year or will be joining the work force.

As is tradition, the graduation speeches marked most of the ceremony, but this year many of the speeches spent less time reflecting on the high school experience and more time acknowledging the challenges and opportunities that are ahead.

Valedictorian Faren Roth, who will attend Yale University in the fall, spoke to her classmates about keeping a little absurdity and excitement in their lives as they become full-fledged adults, but also about the realities of the world all high school seniors face today.

In a year dominated by the tragedy of so many school shootings, Roth dedicated the end of her speech to the power of student-led activism, specifically the Donate 60 pledge.

“It consists of a minute-long scripted segment which graduation speakers can include in their commencement speeches in order to encourage America’s Class of 2018 to vote,” she said. “And so today, along with thousands of other students across the country, I’m donating the next 60 seconds of this speech to take a pledge for our future. In the next four years, 17 million of us will be eligible to vote. That makes Generation Z this country’s largest swing state. Not red, not blue, but human. And together, we have the power to shape the world we want to live in. So, today I’m pledging to vote on three basic human rights: equality across race, gender, and sexual orientation, safety from gun violence, and action on climate change. If you care about the world we’re inheriting, I urge you to take the pledge with me. Together, we can create a healthier, safer, brighter America. As crazy as it seems, we are the adults now.”

Salutatorian Molly Babbin, who will attend Middlebury College in the fall, reflected on the experiences she and her classmates shared at GHS, but also the commitment this class has to making this world better for all who follow.

“We are a class of nearly 300 young people,” she said. “We have a vision of the way the world could be, and we are not afraid of the overwhelming amount of progress that needs to be made. We have the energy and passion to take baby steps toward a better world, until our baby steps become strides and leaps toward justice and equality.”

Members of the administration also addressed the crowd, including Board of Education Chair Bill Bloss. Bloss spoke about the other class of ’18, specifically the class of 1918 and the challenges those seven graduates faced in their coming years, but also the changes they were able to lead and inspire in the subsequent decades.

“Today, it’s your turn,” he said. “We hear in 2018 that the young people will win. The truth is, it has to be that way, for this will be your town, your state, your country for far longer than it will be ours. You have to win, there’s no alternative. The only question is what you’re going to win. And that’s up to you. It’s your turn now, your turn perhaps to do well but much more importantly to do right. It’s your turn to speak for the powerless, to be a voice for fairness and justice, it’s your turn to unite, it’s your turn to serve, it’s your turn to face down the uncertainties, it’s your turn to take chances, it’s your turn to be brave, it’s your turn to be humble, it’s your turn to listen. It’s your turn to shackle the demons of bigotry and inequality that have divided us for far too long. It’s your turn to dream big. Go, Class of 2018, with our strongest hopes. It’s your turn now.”