SPRINGFIELD, NJ — An overcast sky and a sea of smiling faces closed out the year for the Jonathan Dayton High School Class of 2022 in a graduation ceremony on Thursday, June 16, that was marked by sentimentality and a challenge to make the future a better place.
Having faced many obstacles throughout their time in Springfield, and having shown great determination throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the graduating Bulldogs looked back on their time not with cynicism or regret, but with a touching fondness and emotionality.
The feeling was first demonstrated by the president of the Board of Education, Scott Silverstein, who looked out across the football field at the Class of 2022 and urged them to remember the core lessons they were taught all the way back in kindergarten, including: be a good friend, share with others and always lend a helping hand.
“Everything you learned here at Dayton was essential to get you into college and to be successful in the classroom,” Silverstein said. “But the lessons that you learned all those years ago are the ones that are truly essential to life.”
Silverstein’s speech then turned paternal. He spoke on behalf of the parents watching as their children graduated, joking, as dads tend to do, and reminding the class that family will always be there when needed.
“In so many ways I feel like I’ve grown up with this class,” Silverstein said. “Well, let’s face it, you guys grew up; I just got old.”
“On behalf of each of your parents,” he continued, “hear me now when I tell you that we couldn’t be more proud of you. … We will always be your biggest fans.”
Silverstein was followed by student speaker Kaya Waltzer, who continued the nostalgic mode and looked back on the days spent in Springfield as she and her classmates take their next steps forward. She relayed the idea that change — and the Class of 2022 has had to endure many changes — is not always for the worse.
“As I think back on all my years within the Springfield school system, I think of how much we have all changed,” Waltzer said. “Friendships and interests have come and gone. Work has gotten harder, and life has become more complicated. What I have learned is that, even though I may miss what is gone, change is not a bad thing.”
She continued by telling a story about the day she graduated from second grade. Waltzer said she was crying, scared and unsure of what would come next, even at such a young age. But it’s an experience she said she learned from, and she hoped the Class of 2022 could do the same.
“If you ever come across a young girl upset about all of the things that are ending, make sure she knows that there will be something better and that the future has something to offer,” Walzter said. “The best is yet to come for all of us.”
Student speaker Natalyah Cadiche didn’t just take that statement as a promise. She posed it as a challenge to her peers, imploring that they consider just what they want out of life, lest they let it slip away. She said the students needed to consider every year, every day, even every hour and second they let tick by since birth without acting on their future.
“What have you done during those 157,680 hours to make your dream a reality?” Cadiche asked. “When you leave this ceremony, don’t just go home, sit on your couch and think, ‘Damn, I did that.’ No. Go home, sit on your couch and think, ‘What am I going to do next?’”
Jonathan Dayton Principal Norman Francis Jr. spoke after Cadiche and echoed her challenge.
“Don’t let that clock slip away,” Francis said. “Chase your dreams. Do it passionately and with intent, and you’ll get there.”
After thanking faculty and recognizing retiring teachers and staff, Francis brought the topic back around to the future while including those core lessons discussed by Silverstein.
“Remember to always make sure that you are doing your part to help,” he said. “Look for ways to contribute your skills, talent and energy to the betterment of the collective.”
In her certification of the Class of 2022 at the end of the ceremony, Springfield Superintendent of Schools Rachel Goldberg used her speech to pay homage to the past while seeing the students off to their futures.
“When we come full circle, we don’t necessarily end up in the same place,” she said. “We land in a place that is stronger, ready to face the shifts and turns, able to reflect on where we’ve come from and celebrate our ability to move forward. Even when you couldn’t imagine it getting any better — or any worse — it got better.”
Photos by David VanDeventer