001[Music] do [Music] do [Music] so [Music] you [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] hmm [Music] foreign [Music] so [Music] so [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] those are administrators look foreign oh oh we don't open them it's stronger is all the things my god [Music] so [Music] so [Music] so [Music] good afternoon and welcome to north high school as we celebrate the graduation of students of the class of 2022 at this time please stand for the processional as the band conducted by mr jessen smith plays pomp and circumstance and please remain standing for the pledge of allegiance and national anthem [Music] my [Music] so [Music] so [Music] so [Music] so [Music] dr thiele members of the board of education faculty staff parents families friends finally welcome to our graduation commencement ceremony for the
002downers grove north high school class of 2022. my name is courtney dement and i have the honor and privilege of being the principal at north today's ceremony is part of a rich history as we gather today to celebrate the graduation of the 94th class from north high school and 144th in the history of downers grove high schools to begin our ceremony senior sandy brindle will lead us in the pledge of allegiance while at north sandy has played volleyball and managed the boys volleyball team for four years she was also a member of the elite leadership team as well as change makers sandy will be attending milliken university in the fall and will study biology with a pre-physician's assistant track please welcome sandy to lead us in the pledge i pledge allegiance to the flag of
003the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation in god indivisible with liberty and justice for all please remain standing for the star-spangled banner [Music] please be seated my name is elena tomczyk at this time it is my honor to introduce the platform guests as i introduce each guest i would ask each of them to stand and for you to hold your applause until all guests have been introduced dr hank thiele our superintendent and because of our change of date and graduation this weekend our board of education members could not all be with us to celebrate we would like to recognize the board members who could not be here today president dr nancy kuka vice president mr mike davenport and board members terry pavcich christopher espinoza and cheryl fuller
004and i would like to welcome here today board of education members ms jenny hagstrom and ms joanna vazquez drexler thank you for being here i would also like to introduce our faculty members mr demetrios papa george the english and theater teacher and mr briertig our fine arts department chair thank you for your participation in our ceremony it is my pleasure to introduce our first student speaker maeve dietrich while at north maeve was on the track team the omega staff north stars orcs's dance team a member of nhs a pe leader a student activities aide and she was a leader and director in operation snowball as well as an elite leader maeve will attend the university of tennessee knoxville to study communication and digital media please welcome maeve dietrich to the stage hello classmates teachers families
005friends and anybody who is sitting here today to celebrate downers grove north's senior class of 2022. i come with you today with the words of a wise poet one that has taught us many trials and tribulations of this generation miss taylor swift no i am not talking about the tragedy of teenage heartbreak after three weeks of dating may i recite to you as incredibly cringy as it's going to sound the line from her 2012 pop pit that has subconsciously resonated with us everything will be alright if we just keep dancing like we're 22. whether you are refreshing your spotify to see when taylor re-releases her old albums or you believe kanye west made her famous i think we can all agree throughout the past four years of our lives throughout everything that has been thrown
006our way the class of 2022 has just kept dancing our freshman year we walked into the main street doors for orientation and people were already celebrating upperclassmen lined the walls of the purple gym dancing the songs of our childhood our first homecoming might have been one of the most awkward encounters of our 15 year old lives i'm not sure you could even call a lot of that dancing more so jumping up and down in a mosh pit of sweat that may or may even not be yours i guess you could say we just kept moving like we're 22. we transitioned on to our sophomore year which kind of started out too good to be true we got our driver's licenses and that freedom felt like that one scene and sound of music when maria was
007dancing through the hills of austria even though it felt like the world was in our hands realistically we were driving aimlessly up and down ogden avenue a noteworthy event of that year the time we were locked in the school on the last day of semester won finals for an arsonist on the loose we were frantically hustling to a billy joel remix called we didn't start the fire please let us out of the school cafeteria that felt like a wild experience but we just kept dancing thinking it would be the most notable event of the school year yet the strobe lights were blinding us from what was about to be thrown our way then of course the pandemic happened all of our time as a class had become solos with what felt like endless encores oh
008junior year the entirety of last year felt like a slow never-ending ballet to a song titled we are in this together when truthfully nobody was on beat because zoom glitches allowed for everyone to have their own rhythm frankly a lot of 2021 was improv there was no choreography to follow so as we made our way onto becoming seniors being in the front of the formation we were lost we started from scratch and created a new style of dance the first couple months back this fall were incredibly fraying we were tangling to a new upbeat song we were back shoulder to shoulder celebrating our football team we outdanced every other student section on friday nights any accidental elbow to the face was definitely worth being in the end zone again this past september we lost one
009of our classmates who happened to be the king of dancing like nobody's watching we could not dance so we flexed and we laughed and we have been doing so ever since on every team at every sporting event we showed up and showed others how to hustle like a trojan in the classroom we let our minds do the dancing pencil in hands well most of the time have you ever sat next to me in a math class you know there's not a lot of movement going on up there every day at 8 am we just kept dancing now we're performing at the grand finale this is probably the final moment of dgn's class of 2022 in the same place at once i am so proud to be a part of a class that throughout the most
010unconventional high school experience maybe ever we have taken what was thrown our way and we have danced with it i urge you to hold all these moments close to you and keep dancing through the rest of your lives with the strength that the past four years have given us dgn will always have a special place in our hearts and if you ever need to take five you have a hometown that will always be there respectful stay responsible stay engaged and stay dancing we were we are and we always will be dgn [Applause] thank you maeve next we'll hear two selections from the acapella choir both will be accompanied by ms vaughn at the piano the first under the direction of dr p carts is entitled thankful this piece is appropriate for today's occasion as it
011reminds us to keep gratitude in our minds and hearts as we celebrate this and the many other important milestones in our lives the second selection is the north high alma mater today it will be conducted by senior ian stagman ian is graduating as a four-year member of the dgn choirs and bands who has served as our choir board president and has also distinguished himself musically as the top scoring baritone in ilmea's district one for the la for each of the past two years this year even gaining a special invitation to sing the national anthem this past march at the ihsa boys state basketball finals at the university of illinois ian has also been involved in the french club the empowerment club as vice president of the national honor society and was named this year as
012a national merit finalist next year ian will attend loyola university in chicago with a biology major with plans on attending medical school after graduation we invite you to stand as the alma mater begins and sing with us [Music] us [Music] us so caught up inside ourselves we take what we should give for [Music] what we tonight can be [Music] and even though we all can still do [Music] there's so more even with our differences there is a place [Music] so far [Music] can see [Music] there's so [Music] so much [Music] [Applause] please stand for the alma mater [Music] is [Music] of thy watchful love [Music] is [Music] please be seated it is my pleasure to introduce our second student speaker jordan lewis while at north jordan was an active member of the black student union
013the change makers and played football and was a state champion wrestler next year jordan plans to attend the university of wisconsin-whitewater and will major in physical education with a special education endorsement please join me in welcoming jordan lewis [Applause] hello all we have our own playlists that we love these playlists represent who we are and our life experiences we are drawn to the songs that speak to us that represent us when you know you have a special song on your playlist keep listening no matter what first find the songs you love and play them think of it this way life can easily be symbolized through music for example all pianos have countless white keys representing the good times and all pianos have few black keys symbolizing the bad times and piano still find a way
014to make some of the most beautiful sounds we have ever heard sometimes we hear a song and feel we have to add it to the playlist or dance to it because everybody else is listening to it but to be completely honest with you life touch life's too short to be listening to somebody else's music because sometimes it ain't even your kind of music all of us here today have some kind of music playing representative of our own experiences far too often do i see so many of us afraid to listen to those instincts our lives music maybe your songs about you living freely maybe your songs about you traveling the world or that special someone you like that you're afraid to tell all of us feel the beat of our music at some point but
015don't listen to it some may ask since you're such a ludwig van beethoven what's your beat what does your music sound like jordan i don't know what my music will sound like in the future because there can always be a remix but right now my music sounds like this do the best you can be the person you want to be try the things you want to try and always remember at the end of the day every good song has an ending don't die with your music still in you let people hear your music as my time here comes to an end and this chapter of my life closes i want to say to all my classmates here today thank you a lot of you have shaped me in ways you may never know i can't
016be more appreciative of all the people that have helped me through my time at north both students and staff i want to give a special thanks to my mom dad and brothers for always supporting me dr kathy smith coach chris mcgrath miss kelly zerner and ms brittany mitchell for being my cheerleaders through it all the families that work behind the scenes that don't know they had an impact the mccormick family the kirby family the janakis the man family the perkins family the grusella family and so many more all of you are so dear to my heart you are the ones that make me listen to your songs on repeat and if for whatever reason i never see this see anyone from this class again i wish you the best in life i hope you find
017happiness grit and determination to achieve the goals you set never stop writing your songs and adding them to the playlist we call life happy trails to you till we meet again [Applause] thank you jordan on behalf of the student body i would like to take a moment to honor staff members who are retiring this year ms donna breyer from special services ms debra data from the dean's office ms michelle garrity from special services mr tony jablonski from cmg ms diana mclenn from special services mr timo mercado from cmg mr demetrios papa george from english ms stacy pullen from cte ms polareto from the library mr dwayne swevoda from cmg ms christine tomek from pe health and driver's ed and mr mike tompkins from english please join me in congratulating our retirees [Applause] the class of
0182022 is grateful for the guidance and support all of our faculty members have given us during the past four years for their dedication to providing us with the best possible education and for preparing us for the road ahead i ask the faculty members who are here with us tonight to stand for recognition including those who are seated with our graduates please join the students in giving our faculty members a round of applause [Applause] thank you faculty thank you elena jordan and maeve while here at north elena was highly involved in track and cross country and was a member of the math team orchesis prism empowerment club and national honor society serving as president she was also a part of the metal working program at north on behalf of our faculty i wish you all good
019things as you make your way to the university of wisconsin to study math and biology thank you again for emceeing our ceremony today please give a round of applause for elena tomczek [Applause] i am honored to have the opportunity to speak to the class of 2022 today before i share a few thoughts with you i want to recognize our 2022 graduates who are entering the u.s armed forces will the following students please stand charlie belcastro caden patrick custer joshua penaflore annika emily prochaska and raymond krishnan zeludek thank you for your commitment to our country and thank you for your service [Applause] again i am honored to be with you here today it has been quite a year with moments of happy sad crazy and a lot of fun sprinkled in and for the class of
0202022 you have seen it all as our speakers have alluded to today each year for you has been different and that is not an easy adjustment to make your routines have been upended the once predictable high school experience broke down and one month into your senior year you were given tragic news of the death of your classmate mason this is not what we wished for you and the events in our world have dictated something none of us were prepared for when life becomes so uncertain it often makes us think what could i have done differently we second-guess ourselves and think if i had made a different choice or if i did this instead of that what would have happened but second-guessing ourselves only takes us down a path that leads to nowhere i want to
021tell you today all of you have made a choice that led you here in just a few short minutes you will be a graduate of north high school and one step closer to creating a life for yourself that you get to choose from the age of 13 or 14 when you first walked into north to the age of 17 or 18 sitting in that chair today you have grown in ways that surprise even those of us who work with teenagers every day not only did you navigate a pandemic but you wrote it out and made sure that your senior year was something positive to remember you took the bad and you made it good you celebrated life and you made sure to make your senior moments count at every event this year you showed that
022your moments here matter that your friends matter that your school matters and most importantly you've grown in ways that are personal for you and not anyone else even though you may have made different choices in hindsight you still ended up here today and now you have all of the tools and skills necessary to decide what's next and that is the most powerful tool that you can have i know that many of you are sad to leave your north high home and that is completely understandable and i share this with you that a professor of mine once shared with me to keep in mind as you leave this chapter if you label this particular moment in time as the best years of your life what in the world do you have to look forward to today
023you stand in your commencement ceremonies which actually means beginning not end i encourage all of you to reflect on all of the moments you've had here at north both wonderful and maybe a few lousy ones and use those moments to propel yourself into a world that is waiting for your creativity your ideas your solutions your uniqueness and your beginning and instead of thinking about what you should have done or would have done or could have done think instead about what you can do better i am proud to have known you if even only for one year and i feel confident that you have spent your time here at north being absolutely without a doubt ready for your new beginning congratulations to you the class of 2022 my first graduating class at north high school on
024this momentous occasion i am so proud of you and i look forward to seeing all that you accomplish in your very bright future and now dr thiele and members of the board of education it is with great honor and pleasure that i present to you the north high school class of 2022 as principal i certify that the graduating class of 2022 has met all of the requirements as set forth by the state of illinois and the board of education of district 99 and are hereby granted all the rights and privileges that correspond accordingly it is now my pleasure to introduce the superintendent of community high school district 99 dr hank thiele thank you hello class of 2022 congratulations for making it here and we look forward to seeing what comes next as the superintendent traditionally
025i have three responsibilities here before i recommend to the board that you graduate the first is to ensure that you thank your family and friends that are here today and those that got you here to this point in your life so why don't we all just stand up and give a round of applause find your parents in the crowd your family in the crowd and let's give them a round of applause and a thank you [Applause] all right so my next task is to remind you that there are a lot of people that helped get you here there's a coach or another adult or a friend a teacher there's somebody out there or many somebodies that were really important to getting you to this point in your life over the next few hours next few
026days weeks it's your responsibility to reach out to each of them and to thank them for the difference that they made in your life finally my last responsibility to you as your superintendent is to remind you that you will always have a home here inside district 99 we want to hear about the great things you do please come back please visit us someday when you are looking for a place to set down roots and to grow your own family remember that the district 99 community will always be your home and we look forward to having you back and hearing about all of the wonderful things and the difference that you make in the world it is now my privilege to recommend to the members of the board of education the north high class of 2022
027to move forward as graduates of community high school district 99. congratulations graduates it's been an honor to serve you for the past four years and i wish wish you the best of times in your future i will bring forward now board member jenny hagstrom to accept the board [Applause] congratulations what an accomplishment we are recognizing today not only have you completed your high school education but you have done so during a pandemic requiring grit and drawing on resources greater than many past graduates have had to draw on speaking for the board of education i am honored to accept and recognize the downers grove north graduating class of 2022 and i wish you success wherever your life takes you [Applause] thank you dr thiele and miss hagstrom at this time we will begin conferring the diplomas
028i ask that our line leaders move into place and prepare the graduates for those in the audience i respectfully request that you remain in your seats and hold your applause and other acknowledgments until all students have been awarded diplomas in order to provide the appropriate recognition that each student deserves just as you want to hear the name of your child read so too will other parents and families please do not be responsible for preventing a student's name from being heard we thank you in advance for your appropriate and respectful behavior will the class of 2022 please come forward to receive your diplomas okay hey we're gonna wait a second jacob abutar christopher acevedo rojas elena adams jessica adamson benjamin agile catcher emily adamo jocelyn augustine nicholas adamo kashmala ahmad hamza ahmed brian albert julia albert
029alexis alcantara gonzalez leyla alkerti christopher amade keller allen andre arnott madeline antonio thomas ayers grace arnold andrew baker rafa aogan emily baldwin adam baghdadi sarah baldwin susan baker stella bank jacob baldwin lina olivia balicki estefany bautista martinez anna barnett charlie bel castro diamond baskerville heather below grace beckham william bennion ethan bell josephine beda john benge harley blanchard alina bizzeri natalie blasic alexandra voykovsky mason bowden nathan boykovsky chrissy bowie emily borman benjamin brennan samuel bowerman sandra brindle alexander brawweiler david brombarek owen brennan abigail bolteis michelle briones montgomery bernab dante brown hannah buss jason boonales bridget callahan michael burton ella campbell jessica cagney jack carbon connor campbell alexander carpenter anika kanamedi annie cash megan carbon josue castro alexis casey melanie chavez gwen caston danilo chapel lillian cawthorne greta sibirka katherine chen kendall cole mary saraki eva conti
030grace cleary libby cook abigail calucci connor crilly devin conway jessela kubakub khalil copeland natalie tsupiel ashley kreilin ronald cutler adriana kulafic alex chica carly cummings isabelle david sophia codanello elizabeth de silva amanda catrone richard daring grace d'amico rosslyn daliwal connor demockey miguel diaz john hervey david thomas dickey maya gabrielle delgado lauren dry kayla derlo david duda manpreet dillon jacob emerson mia de sarah julian estrada maeve dietrich levada azirskis devin dupulka jacob fieldman leah edelman peter philopolis natalia anabe enrique foster zoe etheridge gabriela frank emily falconer lily freeberry huckleberry fields liam gade sydney fleming david gallardo george photos timothy galligan maxwell frank ava galwis madeleine fromm dylan gantz jeremy gale sarah garcia samuel gonzalez mavla gazafari adam green christina godard kenan gaston katie gonzalez cooper george matthew gowan angie godinis natalia graney juliana gomian zoe greg
031michael gorman caitlin gross emma graham gabrielle kruska lily grebel jonah hagerty anna gritzenbach micah haynes maxwell grusella nicholas hanscom ally hackett alexa hanson penelope ham eleanor harris foddy hannah sophia harris charlotte hanson megan heintz katherine harrison mckenna helmbrecht titus harvey wallace kendall henley quinton hyman emily hernandez eric henny brock hueberger zachary hepner david hipp nicole hernandez abigail hoffman lindsay hilt hopkins isaac shu griffin ilyavi lucas irby nathan isonimi isabella irizari william janka peyton jenicki hunter jazyanowski yakup yashinsky emily jimenez sarah jeske charlotte johnson brooks johnson lily johnson gabrielle johnson daniel jones rachel johnson anna cattle check josephine jurassas kayla camiles samuel kahovic joseph capps rebecca kanarski sally calp sanchez chloe cartsonas olivia kelly kenshon keaton julie kelnar quinn kelly lauren kirby sarah kippus gavin klein alexandria clattus joshua knutson evelyn klobeck benjamin console marin cook
032david cosella francesca corbetts thomas kowal mary kazowski matthew kramer elle kowalski patricia crocker alexander korecha emily kutzenis ronan kronert anna cuss kyle cucera caden custer lucas cucera melody lagos catherine laffy hugh lang matthew landon catherine levier helen lurkin amber leckie sarah lasoda alizenda lee paolo morgan lazars owen leslie cerise lee christine lee anna lees joshua lanetta annabelle lavonne tyler lanetta [Music] abigail lopez olivia ludwig cora lingenfelter elijah laurigio tyler liu connor lynch antonio lopez isabel made gretchen lucena justin makowsky edward luhanan jackson mann francisco megaden zachary mann franco magadan anthony marcicano mustafa kevin martinez natalie mall robert mathias dimitri marinakos eve maxey andrew maron kelsey mccann timothy martello gavin mccool amanda mcginn drew matune madeleine mcgovern zarina maricon mallordo kyle mcnally keira mccomb miranda mcnally matthew mccormick jill marrow alex mchugh caitlin metzger jonathan mckinnon
033chase molner dennis mcnulty claire meyers hang on gabrielle mojia wick mikulski yusef mameti jack miller joseph metcalf kylie miller evan metzler liam miranda andrew meyers sarah mitchell frank missily catherine monaco evan miller elizabeth mooney kyle miller elena morales maeve miller trevor miller rory mullen akshi mystery joni murphy william mitchell joseph nels laila montague jackson neverell connor moore kevin nicholas michaela moran colin knuckles [Music] colin mueller ashley novak nicholas o'shea autumn neal jacob ostermeyer grace nelson jayashree oringanti kevin nelson isabella novotny cherylin pirelli colin nuttle bunserie patel john oaks joseph payne rebecca oriala nicole payne kevin palzinski madeleine pearson jennifer paniagua kayla peeples melissa parkinson joshua peniflor nicholas pate alicia pergler georgia patrick tyler perkins edie pollock andrew peterson kara pearson haley phillips lincoln peckinpot emily pierce dominic pelaccioni isabelle petra jose perez-martinez peter podgorni andrew
034perrino christina powell ethan peters sydney proctor jordan peterson leah purcell lauren perette edith quant charles platt erichus redzevichus lynn pollock angelo ramos joshua powers [Music] carter ratcliffe anika prohaska marissa reyes james provencal luke reintkin james postelnik jack riley leilani quesada madeleine risky lake ragnini claire roach alexanders ramirez jarameo lauren rogers heather ramsey jake rhodey jaina rattery kimberly rosales [Music] james rupp callahan reynolds zachary ratkowski jake real nicholas ribowiak tristan rios ian samsa talia rivera isabella samson angel robles spencer sandoval nicholas rogers eric schindler daniel rosales daniel schneider william ruddy ian schuler catherine ratkowski ella siebeck timothy ryan marley sherelle derrick ryden christopher shockey christopher sadowskis mia siragusa mohamed saul [Music] maximilian schooley danielle st john caroline scott ian stagemann [Music] evan selinger simona stanina karan shetty demetrius stavrou christopher schultes caitlin stockey adam sidopkin ethan
035strouk quinn slattery benedict stremfer ryan soma harris suret zachary sasnow katie swanson elizabeth stack elisa tapia zachary stalionis amanda taggie audrey stanton jade taylor jaden steck ryan taylor ryan stopka william thoelander abigail streth willa thompson kelly stromberg rihanna tinsley molly svoboda jade toledano emma swenson alyssa tomasek ricardo tapia lucas chosick [Music] mina tawadros zachary chosick randon taylor jacob tishkovsky emery teague maya valadez megan thompson jersey vaughan mia tiango julian vega mahek tijuana alejandro velasquez elena tomczek natalie vroman brian torres nicholas wander carson tropp abigail washburn trouby ryan weber emma yudavitch ally whitaker charles white nicholas vazquez richard white kelly velasco hunter whis jack vogel rachel wilson ethan waltz gwendolyn walco margaret ward audrey ray isabelle wahop lindsay yeakley welter natalie yack dylan wendt jacob zambrino ryan wendt sabrina zapashnikis john wilgas ashley zahusky [Music] kyla
036wilkerson jayla williams [Music] samantha with him connor wood royce weiler reisik adam yo raymond lazudik brian zamora saul zamatus [Applause] will the class of 2022 please stand at this time please move your tassels to the left side of your caps to signify your graduation from high school at this time i would like to dismiss the faculty members to form the staff receiving line during the recessional the combined bands will perform under the direction of senior senior kira macomb kira has been an active member of the dgn wind ensemble jazz ensemble symphony orchestra pitt orchestra pep band and dgn marching band where she served as drumline captain she is a two-time all-state musician and the recipient of the national john philip souza award next year she will study percussion performance at indiana university's jacobs school of
037music graduates during the recessional please wait for the section leaders to dismiss you by row to the field house to receive your diplomas thank you to all of our guests for joining us today and for being such a gracious and patient audience we ask that you remain in your seats until the conclusion of the recessional congratulations class of 2022. [Applause] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] do [Music] so [Music] foreign [Music] you