001Heat. Heat. These are in order of the presentations when I call your name if I guess it depends. I don't care. There's something Are you gonna >> So I'll do a I'll do my best to look at it. At least that's I was I was over It's always I guess it's Excuse me. Okay. We didn't have to sell this. There was a child. It was cool. Cloudy. >> [cheering] [applause] [music] [applause] >> Hallelujah. >> [cheering] >> Heat. Heat. >> [music] [music] [cheering] >> [ __ ] Hallelujah. Happy [cheering] together. >> [cheering] >> Good evening everyone. >> To our families, friends, caregivers, staff, and of course to the extraordinary class of 2026. Welcome tonight. Welcome to tonight's celebration. For four years, you've started every single morning with the same challenge to represent yourself, your family, and your school
002with pride. For the most part, you've heard it from Landon or Cam, but today I get to say that. But what does that saying really mean? In the dictionary, pride is defined as a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements or the achievements of those with whom you are closely associated. Class of 2026, we have a lot to be proud of. You are the first official class of C students to graduate from Columbus Signature Academy Newekch High School with a diploma from CSA Newech. >> [cheering] [applause] >> You claimed both Lily endowment scholars in Bartholomew County. Two of you graduated from IvyTech before you even showed up tonight. [cheering] >> [applause] >> And as a cohort, you've earned over 600 college credits and served over 7,000 hours of community service. [applause]
003But at CSA Newech, pride isn't just a trophy or a transcript. It's a standard that we set from day one. It's a way of carrying yourself when no one is looking. Tonight, I want to talk to you one last time about the three pillars of pride that you carry out of these doors. Representing yourself, your family, and your school. When you represent yourself with pride, you are honoring your own journey. At CSA New Tech, you haven't just memorized facts. You've mastered the skills and characteristics to be an ideal graduate. You've learned to know your talents and your passions, identifying exactly where you want to go. Through deep collaboration with our community and local businesses, you've made learning matter well beyond the walls of our school. You've developed a strong sense of civic responsibility, taking ownership
004not just of your work, but your role in shaping a better world. You've embraced and celebrated differences. You've stood beside one another with empathy, openness, and respect. You have learned to think critically and practice 21st century skills. Skills that you know matter in every corner of the real world. And perhaps most importantly, you've shown us how to sustain healthy, trusting relationships that make our building feel more like a home than our school. But let's be honest, you didn't get here alone. You represent your families, the people who supported those late night project grinds and the stress of presentation days. So, thank you families for helping them with that struggle. You also represent this school which we know is far more than just a building. We have always aimed to be a revolutionary pathway for education.
005We broke the mold of traditional schooling. But the revolutionary part isn't just the technology or the projects that we did or the open classroom spaces. It's the culture that you all built. I've watched you grow up. You are more than just a graduating class. You are a family. I've seen you take care of each other in ways that go far beyond the classroom. You've celebrated each other's successes and you've cared each other through the losses. You have created a culture that cares. That is where our true pride lies. Not in the new tech name, but in the way that you treat the person sitting next to you. As you move forward, the world will ask you who you are. Tell them with your actions. Represent your family by showing the world the values that they
006poured into you. Represent CSA Newch by remaining a lifelong learner who isn't afraid to collaborate and innovate. Most importantly, represent yourself by never settling for anything but your best. Carry this pride with you. You are the revolution we've been waiting for. Congratulations, class of 2026. We are so incredibly proud of you. [applause] >> [applause] >> It is my pleasure to now introduce saludiatoran Paige Fininky to share her thoughts with the senior class. [applause] >> Thank you, Mr. Geel. We are here today to celebrate the achievements of the CSA Newekch graduating class of 2026. I would like to welcome our esteemed faculty, families, friends, and the class of 2026. I, Paige Fininky, would not be here today without all of you and without the unique culture that we have shared at Newk over these past four
007years. It is hard to forget our entry event, the pancake breakfast. All those years ago when we were still in middle school, that was the day our advisories were assigned, becoming our families throughout high school. We ate pancakes, met new people, and wandered the halls, meeting the facilitators who would guide us along the way. Thank you, Miss Alexander, and her advisory for the Just Dance days and our conversations that lasted the full 25 minutes. Following that first day, whether we realized it or not, our project had been launched and our driving question became clear. How do we as the class of 2026 take full advantage of these four years to grow, contribute, and leave something meaningful behind. Along the way, we built our nose and need to knows, not just in the classroom, but in
008life. We learned what we already had within us and what we still needed to grow into. Through every challenge, every collaboration, and every moment of uncertainty, we kept moving forward. We hit our benchmarks from the SAT to essays, from projects to presentations, from the end of h from the end of each semester to the unforgettable end of year house games. Those final days competing for our houses and hearing the winner announced in the last seconds of the school year are moments that will always carry with us. And this year, thanks to Mr. Steel, we had one final opportunity to come together for FA, for reflection, and for time together that felt like the perfect closing to our time at Newk. Each of these experiences was more than just an assignment. They were authentic. Our projects
009pushed us to think deeper, work harder, and become more than what we once thought possible. They shaped us into who we are today. And now we've reached our culminating event, graduation. Our high school project may be ending, but a new one has just begun. Each of us is stepping into a new project with different goals, different paths, and different directions ahead. Some of us are heading to college, others into the workforce, and st some are still discovering what comes next. But no matter where we go, we carry with us everything new tech has taught us. and that is the ability to ask questions, to adapt, to collaborate, and to grow. Our facilitators have given us the tools we need. Now, it's up to us to continue learning and creating lives that are meaning that are
010meaningful and our own. Class of 2026, this is just the beginning. >> [applause] [applause] >> Thank you, Paige. I would now like to introduce CSA facilitator Bjorn Gaylord, who has some parting words for our graduating seniors. [applause] Good evening, parents, grandparents, friends, family, scholars. It's an honor to be here. 30 years ago, I stood on a similar stage at my own high school commencement and delivered a speech to my graduating class. I no longer have any idea what I said and mercifully no one else does either except my mom of course. Moms always remember. Bump into her in the milk aisle at the grocery store and you're liable to hear all about it. What I do know is that I stood on that stage convinced with every fiber of my teenage heart that I knew
011what I was talking about. What I also know is that I haven't felt that confident or certain about anything since. I realize now that this level of certainty is a luxury of youth. When we're young, we know everything. We're convinced of our own infallibility. The correlary to this, of course, is that our parents know nothing. Something my children are quick to remind me of almost daily. I see parents nodding their heads. And this, let's call it youthful certainty, is exactly as it should be. Adulthood, after all, is terrifying. Careers, staff meetings, mortgages, health insurance, auto insurance, home insurance, 401ks, 403bs, gas bills, electric bills, child care, neck wrinkles, ear hair. It's a wonder anyone over the age of 30 gets out of bed in the morning. But the young are mercifully insulated from all of
012this. If they weren't, no one would launch. We'd all be living in our parents' basements forever. And launching itself is terrifying enough. Think about fledging birds. What confidence, certainty, and overweening pride must it take for a six-week old hawk to climb to the edge of its protective nest, survey the 60-foot abyss in front of it, and think, "I got this." Only the young or foolish would be so recklessly bold. But we do it. And amazingly, at some point mid- freef fall, just as we're plummeting to our certain demise, our wings fill with just enough air to keep us from crashing into the ground at terminal velocity. It doesn't always look pretty. Often just the opposite, clumsy and out of control. But we figure it out. And teenagers, like fledglings, have been figuring it out for
013hundreds of thousands of years. And you will, too. But here's the bad news. It never stops. Worse, the list of things to do, the tasks to master, the questions to answer, the problems to solve gets only worse as you get older and acquire ever greater responsibilities. One day, it's passing senior English and graduating high school. The next day, it's getting your electrician's license, paying your rent, calling the insurance company, and renewing your license plate. And the day after that, it's soothing a collicky baby, starting a second job, consolidating your student loans, changing the oil, fixing the linky leaky sink, and cooking dinner. And the real stink is you're not going to know how to do any of it. Seriously, I graduated from college and earned a master's degree, but when I bought my first house,
014I didn't know how to patch a hole in drywall. And when I had my first child, I couldn't believe the nurses were going to let my wife and I walk out of the hospital with a brand new baby. Seriously, I thought, please, won't somebody stop us? I wasn't even in certain I'd installed the car seat correctly. This feeling, confusion, doubt, uncertainty has been my most constant companion throughout adulthood. And I'm sorry to say it will be for you, too. But that's also the good news. That's how we grow, learn, and evolve. That's how we develop into fuller versions of ourselves. That's how we acquire wisdom. And the further good news is that you're ready. Even if you're not ready, your presence here this evening is a testament to that. Life is about showing up day
015in and day out, whether it's easy or hard, happy or sad, boring or not. And the final good news is this is one problem you can't outsource to AI, nor should you want to. Not this or any other problem. I want you to wade into the messiness of life and [snorts] wallow in its uncertainty. I want you to grapple with confusion and doubt. You should want these things, too. That means you're doing it right. Because while AI can write for you a perfectly passable paper on wisdom, it can't make you wise. You have to do that yourself. And you can't cheat or plagiarize or TLDDR your way out of it. For that you have to work and study and laugh and cry and succeed and fail and love and grieve all on your own just
016as people have been doing for thousands of years. This is not only life but also its meaning. And with that I leave you with a final parting gift. Sorry. You should have known it would be a poem when you invited an English teacher to speak at graduation. for a student who used AI to write a paper by Joseph Visano. Now I let it fall back in the grasses. I hear you. I know this life is hard now. I know your days are precious on this earth. But what are you trying to be free of the living the miraculous task of it? Love is for the ones who love the work. So graduates, I repeat to you, love is for the ones who love the work. Congratulations. Now get out there. Life is waiting. Wait deep
017and mire in its muck. [applause] >> [applause] >> Thank you, Mr. Gaylord. CSA valadictorian Renbay would like to share his farewell message with her classmates. [applause] Thank you everyone. You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here. These are the words that have echoed over our announcements at the end of every school day, well week since we started here, usually following a reminder to be out of the building by 3:30 and some harmonious cheering from our PBIS team. On Friday, May 15th, we heard those words for the last time. Still, I don't tend to forget them, and I don't think you guys should either. Right now, we're all on the same boat. For the last 13 odd years, we've we have spent more than 2,000 days in school from kindergarten to now. We've
018weathered a once in a century pandemic, as well as fought our own personal battles and our efforts to arrive right here. And suddenly it's all over much quicker than I would have imagined. But as much worry and anxiety I feel in these times of change, I know I can't stay here. In 5 days now, I will be a legal adult. Most of you already are. I'm late. I've got a freshman orientation at IU and you in less than a month. My future is coming very quickly, flying at full steam ahead while I try and catch it. I imagine many of you feel the same way. It's more than just the relentless march of time, though that requires my departure. I've been given so much by every single person that I've met at New Techch. Every
019facilitator, every allied staff member, every student. You all have expanded my worldview, fostered my love of learning, and planted a seed of hope for our human future deep in my heart. That hope is my most valuable That hope is my most valuable possession. Not the silly hat or the stupid metal. It would be a shame if I left that hope to rot in the B-wing. Join me in considering your time here. Join me in considering what you've gained from your experience. This may sound tright, but it's true. Every single one of you has something incredible to offer the world. I've seen this in every presentation I've watched and every conversation I've had here. No class ranking or GPA can erase what we have gained at CSA New Techch or the capacity we all have to
020change the world for the better. Whether it's knowledge of yourself, a sense of civic responsibility, or even simply just your comp tia certification, please don't let it stay here. Remember what you learned here. Remember how you changed here, but don't stay here. The world needs it now more than ever. So, class of 2026, we've made it this far. We're more capable, more creative, more resilient than we ever thought. Outside these doors, so much awaits us. New people, new places, new experiences. We're ready for them. So, one last time, please join me in saying, you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here. [applause] Thank you, Ren. At this time, it is with great pride that I introduce to our superintendent, Dr. Chad Phillips, the CSA New Techch graduating class of 2026. Dr. Phillips.
021[applause] Good evening, class of 2026. Welcome families, teachers, staff, graduates. Congratulations on your achievement. I have to admit, sorry Mr. Gaylord and Mr. Steel, I was not a big reader when I was in high school. Um, but over time, I came to love the joy of a great book. And this year I read a book called Gilead over Christmas break and there was a line in it that stayed with me that I chose to share with you tonight. That line is there are a thousand thousand reasons to live this life. Every one of them sufficient. I think this ma message matters for you today because the world you are entering will make you feel as though life only matters if it's extraordinary. if you have a lot of wealth, if you have thousands of followers,
022or if every picture you post looks like a professional photographer did it. But the truth is that each one of us can choose to find deep meaning in our lives. It can be found in your friends, your family, your teachers, your teammates, mentors, and the ordinary moments that shape who you become as an adult, including things like patching drywall and 401ks. Rarely is a life a life's meaning a result of one defining moment. Your meaning will likely be be built from thousands and thousands of choices that you make during those ordinary moments. I know many of you feel pressured to have everything feel figured out already, but if you haven't noticed, uh there's a secret. Most of us adults don't have it figured out yet either. Many of us are still waiting for that one
023defining special moment in life. simply coasting through the days, the weeks, the months, and even the years, waiting for something, anything to happen that will make our reason for living this life feel sufficient. My advice to you today is don't wait. Play offense and go get the life that you want in adult adulthood. Choose your reason to live this life that embraces the everyday interactions, difficulties, joys, the pains, every single bit of it. Doing so means that you will be living a life that you choose, building something meaningful. Each of you, if each of you lives a life that you choose, each of you will have a life with purpose. Every one of them sufficient. Congratulations, class of 2026. The world needs your courage. At this time, by the authority invested in me by the
024state of Indiana and by the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation Board of Trustees, I hereby certify you as graduates of CSA Newekch High School and Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation. >> [applause] >> Thank you, Dr. Phillips. As we prepare for the distribution of diplomas, please be aware that we have provided a photographer to take a picture of each graduate as they cross the stage. So, you will not need to worry about taking your own and can enjoy the moment. As we begin reading the names, please help us honor every student by keeping individual cheers to a short burst or as short as you can make it. This ensures that the family sitting behind you or beside you can hear their graduate's name called just as clearly as you heard yours. Once every student has crossed the stage,
025we will celebrate the entire class together with a standing ovation. Mrs. Buckler, please come forward and lead us in distribution of diplomas. >> [applause] >> Ren Baze Paige Alexandra Fininky [applause] >> Brookley Alman >> Kelsey Altapeter Ariselli Ayala Noriega, >> Nathaniel Bachmann, [cheering] >> Rana Booker, >> [cheering] >> Xander Allen Buchanan, >> Michael David Bush, Hannah Kate Buyers, Jaier Kayatano Valdez, >> [cheering] >> Bella Clemens, >> Lydia Rose Cook, [applause] >> Mickey [ __ ] [applause] Chloe Cox, Carter D. Day [applause] Amy Julazy Dea Cruz Hernandez Tre Deon [cheering] Dakota Ryan Debold >> [cheering] >> Kayen Alfredo Dominguez >> Josha Lynn Vicky Douly [applause] >> Brayley Hannah Ernest [applause] Cheyenne K. Estus Madison Estus, >> Elijah Cole Fiser, >> Gabriel Cole French, Mia Heron, [cheering] >> Reagan Quinn Goen, [cheering] >> Adeline Renee Gray, >> Cassidy Griffin,
026[cheering] >> Lily Hayward, >> [cheering] >> Kayla Hernandez, Alejandro, [applause] >> Aiden Tucker, Gallian, Hyam, [cheering] >> Brianna Jean Issacs, [cheering] [applause] Landon James Jeffers, Zoe Grace Jernigan, [applause] >> Iris Paola Himenez, Gonzalez, >> Roman Lechev, [applause] >> Nolan G. Lei, Hannah A. Little [applause] Joseph Wayne Little Evelyn Dami Lopez Robo [cheering] Cooper Eden Low >> Bella Love Lutz >> [cheering] [applause] >> Marley Mroy, [cheering] >> Ralpho Lynn Monroy, Menddees, >> Ralpho Menddees, Monroy, [applause] >> Haley J. Marie Michael, Ethan Michaels, [applause] >> Haley Darlene Napier, [screaming] Hey, >> Taven Newbie. [cheering] Michaela Elizabeth Knobblet, >> Landon Parker Noak, [cheering] >> Aiden Perkins, [cheering] Alyssa Beth Perry, Kenny Lee Ferris [applause] >> Magna Ronnie >> Emily Callie Robinson Razer Congratulations, >> Nubia Jazelle, Roelltolo, Serrano, [cheering] >> Brooklyn Russell, >> Liliawendelyn, Sergeant, [cheering] [applause] >>
027Evan Satderfield, [screaming] Adeline Marie Chenult, >> Cameron Raymond, Shoot, [cheering] [applause] >> William Lesley Simon IV, [applause] >> Liliana Fay Smith, >> [applause] >> Trinity Michelle Smith, >> Caitlyn Elise Smoke, >> Ayla Marie Steel, [cheering] >> Keegan R. Steel, >> [cheering] [applause] >> Cheyenne Stillower, [cheering] >> Zyrus Lee Storm, >> Autumn Ray Summers, >> Tobias Swinny, >> [applause] >> Cedar Faith Thompson, >> Shaye Trobridge, Molator, >> [applause] >> John Joseph Draven Tucker, [cheering] >> Andrew Michael Turner, [cheering] >> Mariah Vale, [applause] >> Jacel Viega, Lavalleta, >> Jackson Weaver, [cheering] >> Zoe Anne White, [cheering] >> Christopher Sebastian Weininger, >> [cheering] >> Robert Robert Winder Wit, [applause] >> Kevin Robert Whit, >> Timothy Brooks, [cheering] Andrea Huoka Mendes. [cheering] >> [snorts] >> Let's give the class of 2026 a round of applause. [cheering] >> [cheering] >>
028It is it is a timehonored tradition that upon receiving a high school diploma. The graduation cap tassel is turned from the right side to the left side to signify the completion of your degree. Graduates, please turn your tassels. [cheering] Right, ladies and gentlemen, friends, and family, it is my distinct honor and privilege to present to you the CSA New Techch graduating class of 2026. >> [cheering] >> [ __ ] Heat. [music] [music] Heat. Heat [music] up here. [music] Oh, [cheering] heat, heat. >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat.