SWAMPSCOTT — Nearly 200 pinkies flew into the air during Swampscott High School’s commencement ceremony Sunday afternoon, as Class President Brendan Norton called on his fellow graduates to make a “pinky promise” to one another that they would all, among other things, keep the memories of those they met at the school in their hearts forever.
Norton’s inspiration for the classwide pinky promise came from his time participating in the high school’s “x mic,” a daily open mic where “anyone can perform whatever they want.”
“Before every (x mic) we start with a pinky promise from all of the audience members. I will now end with a pinky promise. Everyone please raise your pinkies for one last time and repeat after me,” Norton told his classmates. “I will be kind and respectful. I will thank my teachers for everything they’ve done for me. I will be so awesome and do so many cool things and try my hardest every day. I will not cry during graduation and I will keep the memories of the people I met in our school in my heart forever.”
Almost all of the 191 members of the class of 2022 boomed out each promise along with Norton, filling Blocksidge field with their voices on a warm, sunny afternoon. Norton was one of five students who spoke at the ceremony — along with Alhassan Bangura, Verena Runstadler, the class valedictorian, Miranda Moscoso, the class vice president, who delivered the closing address, and Annabelle Overbaugh, who introduced guest speaker Bill Andrake.
Bangura kicked off the ceremony, which ran for roughly 90 minutes, by telling his classmates that it was “time to get it.”
“Not our parents, not our teachers, not our siblings,” he said. “Us.”
Graduates were also told to “be curious” and to “never stop learning,” by Andrake, a former Swampscott High teacher who retired in 2020.
“Try new things, explore new places, embrace opportunities, and those challenges that lie ahead,” Andrake told the crowd of graduates, decked out in royal blue caps and gowns. “And remember that those journeys in life, those that are hard and challenge us and are long, they’re the journeys that make us better people and ultimately enrich our lives.”
Andrake, who taught science at the school, also reflected on his own journey to becoming a teacher, which included 14 other jobs and a 16-foot fall onto the driveway of his home.
“I never ever in my wildest dreams believed I would become a teacher. Never. It wasn’t even on my radar,” he said. After his fall, Andrake said, he was “doing some different jobs just to make ends meet but I went back to my education and what I truly loved was science. And I said ‘what can I do?’ And so I tried teaching and here I am today and it all worked out.
“You just don’t know what life’s going to hand you. You pick yourself up, you take the risk, and you work hard and you’ll achieve your goals,” he continued.
Runstadler took the stage after a brief musical interlude featuring the high school’s chorus’ rendition of The Beatles’ “In My Life” and delivered a rousing address where she called for the class to remember the value of working together to benefit the community.
“We learned in school about the right to freedom and equality in this nation. But we have seen how far we have to go in order to ensure they are extended to all and there will always be challenges yet to be faced. But the important thing is that we keep moving forward, that we keep fighting. Today we are fighting for the right to our body,” she said to thunderous applause from the crowd. “We will fight not only for our rights but for the future of our planet for ourselves and all the generations to follow. We spent the past four years learning … how to engage in difficult conversations and offering our community. This is the time to engage. This is not the time to sit on the sidelines. It is our responsibility to take what we have learned and put it to good use.”
“Let’s not waste these lessons,” she continued.
Runstadler’s speech was followed by Principal Dennis Kohut’s remarks, where he reflected on the ways in which the class of 2022’s experience might have mirrored that of the generation of students who were alive when the town was founded, 170 years ago.
“While 1852 was different for young people venturing into the adult world they shared the same passage from childhood to adulthood,” Kohut said. “This ceremony signifies a change in your lives, a turning of the page from childhood to adulthood. I’m sure you’re feeling a mixture of elation, relief, and perhaps some apprehension about the future.”
Despite that, Kohut said, the “adult world” needs the fresh perspective the class of 2022 could bring.
“We the adults who have been in this adult world for a while, boy, do we need your help. The adult world needs your compassion, your kindness and your problem solving. We need your growth mindset, your knowledge and your patience,” he said. “We know that the future is in good hands. Congratulations.”
After his speech, Kohut presented scholarships to the graduating class, before ceding the microphone for the presentation of diplomas.
The ceremony concluded with Mosoco’s remarks, in which she challenged her fellow graduates to take risks and embrace the unknown.
“Opportunity awaits you when you step off of Blocksidge field,” she said.
Mosoco, at the close of her speech, instructed her fellow graduates to turn the tassels affixed to their caps from right to left — signifying their newfound status, before concluding by declaring “caps off 2022!” to thunderous applause and many tossed caps.
