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Lynn Classical graduates toss their caps in the air at the completion of commencement at Manning Field on Thursday. (Spenser Hasak) Purchase this photo

Lynn Classical graduates 441

Deyscha Smith

by

LYNN — Lynn Classical celebrated 441 seniors Thursday morning with a graduation ceremony that was held at Manning Field. As their family and friends packed the stands with flower bouquets and balloons in hand, as well as umbrellas for some well-needed shade in the heat, excitement was in the air.

Mayor Jared Nicholson and members of the Lynn City Council were in attendance as invited guests, as well as Superintendent of Schools Molly Cohen and Deputy Superintendents Lori Gallivan, Ellen Fritz, and Julie Louf.

The ceremony included a captivating musical performance of the “Star Spangled Banner” by graduate Bridget Toomey, followed by a beautiful rendition of “Lift Every Voice” by graduate Abigail Wooten.

During the opening remarks, LCHS Principal Amy Dunn highlighted the students’ achievements in the arts, athletics, and their academic success, and announced that 49 students at Lynn Classical have graduated with a 4.0 GPA or higher. There are also 22 students who have earned the prestigious Seal of Biliteracy and 33 students are members of the National Honor Society. Impressively, a total of 88 seniors have graduated with at least 12 credits through the school’s Early College Program in partnership with North Shore Community College and Salem State University.

“As we close this chapter, I encourage each of you to carry the spirit of Classical with you in everything you do,” Dunn told the graduates.

Superintendent of Schools Molly Cohen then highlighted the students’ commitment to learning and to each other. “When we talk about our graduates, we are talking about young people who are not only academically prepared but deeply connected to their peers, their families, and their community,” she said. “As you leave here, remember your success will continue to be built together, and you will always have this community behind you.”

Mayor Jared Nicholson echoed Cohen’s speech and also highlighted the diversity among the graduating class. “One of the things I think is so special about the way in which you have all learned is that, while machines can learn more than I think we ever imagined, you know that learning is more than just the words, the knowledge, and the numbers, it’s how it makes you feel, how it inspires you and it interacts with your hopes, fears, and dreams,” he said, later adding: “You have already interacted with a full range of hopes and dreams and fears, and that has prepared you to go out into the world and continue to do that.”

Following a performance of “You’ll Be in My Heart” by the LCHS band, Salutatorian Jadyn Carroll thanked her teachers and close friends, and told her fellow graduating class to remember to celebrate their accomplishments. “Take this time over the next week, month, whenever, to congratulate yourself on how far you’ve come,” she said. Then, Valedictorian Amelia Stank gave her address and told her peers with a smile, “Go forth and do your best to represent where you came from with grace, confidence, and optimism for what is yet to come.”

The commencement speaker was Leonardo Casillas, who graduated from LCHS and is now a real estate investor and the co-founder of Eclipse Buys Homes. He shared his journey of growing up in Lynn and living in a shelter while enrolled in the school, but emphasized how attending Lynn Classical remained the one constant in his life during difficult times. “We moved constantly and I always had to make new friends, but the one stability in my life is that I went to the same high school. My mom made sure of that,” he said.

Casillas urged the Class of 2026 graduates to make an impact in not just their own lives, but in the Lynn community as well: “Go make your families proud, go make Classical proud, go make Lynn proud, and then come back and make it better!”

 

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