001[Music] perfect. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. [Music] Please stand for the singing of our national anthem. [Music] was so And last night stars through [Applause] the sky we was so Let [Music] me [Music] [Applause] see through the night still there. Oh [Music] [Applause] sle for [Music] the home of the [Music] Please be seated. Good morning everyone. My name is Dr. Sydney Robinson, the very proud principal of the Richmond Virtual Academy. And I read you good morning to the class of 2025, parents, family members, faculty, and staff, friends, members of the Richmond Public School Board, and school officials. It is my distinct honor to welcome you to the 2025 commencement exercises for Richmond Virtual Academy. At this time, I'd like to introduce our stage participants. Please stand as I call your name and remain standing. I ask that
002our audience hold their applause until all names have been called. On our right, Jason came, superintendent of public schools. The Honorable Savannah Dixon, school board chair and night district representative. The Honorable Dr. Sha Harris Muhammed, school board representative, District 6. Dr. Willie Bell, principal director of high schools and athletics, Richmond public schools. Solomon Jefferson, Chief Academic Officer, Secondary Education, Richmond Public Schools. And on my left from the Richmond Virtual Academy, Dr. Candace Ben, school counselor, Dejon McKver, valid Victorian, and Magnus Wilkerson, saludiatoran. Please join me in recognizing these distinguished participants at this time. You may now be seated. At this time, I ask all members of the Richmond public schools and our luscious RBA nurturing educational support team or our guests to please stand. Please give these amazing educators a round of applause. Now, at
003this time, I'd also like to recognize our awesome parents and caregivers with a round of applause. You must be very proud in this moment. And finally, let's take a moment now to recognize Richmond Virtual Academyy's graduating class of [Applause] 2025. All right, ladies and gentle parents and most importantly the incredible graduating class of 2025. As the principal of the Rich Virtual Academy, I stand before you with immense pride and gratitude reflecting on our journey together. Let me first start before anything else gets you. And not just through tests and projects and group chats and email chains that mysteriously lost your files, but through high school in a virtual world. That's no small feat. Now, I promise the team that I keep this short and meaningful and maybe try and throw in a joke or two
004bright in the morning. So, I'm going to give my shot. Is that okay? Here we go. Um, what subject do owls always excel in? Owl. All right. So, shout out to our very own RV Owl teacher, Mrs. Conway, who helped me many basketball to this very day. Love it. But in all seriousness, you did make it. You made it to today. And today marks the end of one incredible journey and the beginning of another. You've been the quiet heroes of muted mics and breakout rooms. You've mastered the art of learning from anywhere. Your bedroom, your kitchen, possibly your front porch. It may be once or twice from beneath the blanket with your camera off. You didn't have a typical high school experience, but you had a powerful one. You learned to manage your time, advocate
005for yourselves, adapt to challenges, and find passion in the digital world. And believe me, those skills are worth their way to go in what we like to call the real world. Now, as a principal, it's my job to send you off with something inspiring. So, I'm going to do my best and leave you with just four final thoughts I want you to keep in mind. One, life won't always be as clearly structured as your class schedule. But don't let that scare you. Create your own path. You don't need a syllabus to move forward. Two, success isn't always about being the loudest voice in the room. It's about being the one who listens, who grows, who shows up even when no one's watching. Three, keep learning. Whether it's from people, looks, mistakes, or life's unexpected turns.
006Never stop feeding your curiosity. Most importantly, don't let fear of failure stop you. Remember, even owls, as majestic and as driven as they appear in the night sky, their path isn't always straight. And they don't fly straight every time, but they always take off again. So, class of 2025, let me say it loud and clear. You are smart. You are bright. You will spread your wings and take flight because that's what I will do. And today's your day to support. RV owls you have in your wings and a world that's waiting to see what you'll do with them. So fly high, stay wise, and always, always represent RBA with pride. May your futures be as bright as the stars. May you continue to soar among them. And may you always remember that once an RBA
007owl, always an RA owl. The program will now proceed as written. [Applause] Good morning. My name is Shamanda Fernandez. I am the proud ninth district school board representative and also chair of Richmond public schools. On behalf of Richmond City School Board, it is my honor and joy to bring greetings and congratulations to the graduating class of the Richmond Virtual Academy on behalf of the board. While today we celebrate a class of just six graduates, let's be clear, impact is not measured by numbers. Each of you carries the power to make a difference in your communities, your future careers, and the world around you. You have completed your journey in a unique learning environment that requires selfdisipline, resilience, and adaptability, qualities that will serve you well for years to come. In many ways, you've already proven
008that you can rise to a challenge and thrive in a non-traditional path. That's something to be proud of. To our families and educators and even friends, thank you for your support and commitment. Your love and encouragement have helped shape the leaders we see before us today. To our graduates, this is just the beginning. Go forward boldly knowing that you have what it takes to lead, to innovate, and to leave your mark. Congratulations, class of 2025. We are so proud of you. Thank you. [Applause] Yeah, that's Thank you for those beautiful words. At this time we will now have remarks from our school followed by our valictorian. Good morning fellow graduates, esteemed faculty and friends for being here with us to celebrate our 2025 graduation ceremony. Today we are gathered to celebrate not just the end
009of the journey but the beginning of another standing before you. I remind you that success is not measured by perfection but perseverance the relous carried us through our toughest moments. Each one of us has had challenges that tested our patience and strength. Whether that was having sleepless mice porn for science, moments of self-doubt, questioning whether they're good enough and days when the weight of responsibility felt unbearable. At times we may have enough wonder if the struggle was worth it. But here we are because the path was easy but because we refuse to surrender to obstacles in our way. Throughout this journey we learn that resilience is built with failure and roadblocks. But true strength has found rising fall. Our late nights, sacrifices, and outward determination have led us to this moment, proving that we can
010endure, grow, and succeed. But we did not persevere. We owe so much to the people who stood by us. The parents who encourage us, the teachers and faculty who push us beyond our limits. People go above and beyond for their students. Families that help us, helping us never remind us to laugh. Even when the world was rough, there has been a beautiful built in foundation upon which we build achievements on. And let's not forget the hard work that we put that we all put in. As we step forward into this next chapter of our lives, let us let us remember the challenges here. It was it was simply made for taking on this lesson academy. Let's embrace uncertainty with courage knowing that we have conquered hardships before we do so. Class of 2025, we're not
011just graduates. We're persevering champagne, journals of ambition, and of our future. Let us move forward with passion, gratitude, and unbreakable spirits. Congratulations. Now, our tendencies continue to shape the world for better. Thank [Applause] [Music] you. I'm John for birthday. Welcome and thank you for attending the graduation ceremony in 2025 is a great honor. I would like to thank my mom, my dad, and my sister for supporting me over the years. They always give me great advice when I need. I would like to say thank you to all of my educants from preschool to 12th grade. Special thanks to the principal, counselors, and professors from virtual Virginia. They were nice enough to reply to my after school emails, text messages, early morning calls being answered before instructional time. Let's not forget about weekends. I would also
012like to say thank you for all the friends and classmates I've had from past to present. I think it is important to put in lots of hard work and dedication. I'm proud of my classmates and every student here. These last few years have been full of one obstacle after another such as survival and last minute exam requirements from the school system. I know some of you like it but here you are. So I say to you give your whatever you pursue in life follow your dreams set goals stay focused stay dedicated be a hard worker and be a leader. Doing these things will learn you great things. Celebrate yourselves for your accomplishments. We all did great. Make sure you always strive for greatness. Go beyond and do your best to be a masterpiece for all
013to see. Thank you. Thank you both for those inspirational words of wisdom. We are so proud of you and majesty and we are so very proud of the entire class of 2025. Today, all of our RA graduating seniors will receive a special gift bag that contains a commemorative RA, a ticket for a complimentary copy of our school yearbook, and tickets to Top Hall graciously donated to the Kindle Project as the proud principal of the Christian I hereby certify that the class of 2025 today have completed all of the requirements for high school diploma as required by the commonwealth of Virginia and the school board of the state of Richmond and are eligible to receive their diplomas. Thank you. Before we make this official, I just wanted to note Majesty, you have made this comment in
014your speech about sometimes questioning whether you are worthy. And I wanted to tell our graduates today, those of you on stage and those of you seated before us to never question if you are worthy. You are brilliant and creative and kind and passionate and inspirational. And don't ever forget that at RPS we love you here. You always will and you will always have a home here at Richmond. All right. Now, are you ready? Yes. Okay. based upon the power invested in me by the Commonwealth of Virginia and the evidence presented to me by the principal of Richmond Academy. I hereby certify that the class of 2025 has met all the requirements set forth by the Commonwealth of Virginia, the state board of education, and the Richmond City School Board and are eligible to to receive
015their performance. Congratulations [Applause] [Music] We will now begin with this first of all. Our First name is called John Keeper to pursue a degree in theater arts, performing arts with concentration in Our next candidate will be Das Lopez Velasquez. [Applause] Nine plans to pursue a career in healthcare and will be seeking a single approved nursing program state nursing [Applause] program. Our next graduate is Serenity. Serenity will be attending the University of North Carolina at the fall. Our next graduate, Majesty Wilkerson. [Applause] Majesty plans to pursue a career in healthcare and will be seeking a safe approved training [Applause] program. And last but certainly not least, we have Janiah Bright. Janiah plans to pursue forgive [Applause] us. Congratulations to the Richmond Virtual Academy class of 2025. As official graduates of the Richmond Universal Academy, you have
016done what many believe to be a challenging feat. You have completed high school without traditional orders. It is with great pride and honor that I say to you, you may now turn your tassels from your right to your left. Congratulations. Heat. Heat. [Music] Hallelujah. Waiting for you. [Music]