001Tell me who you are. I see it. Test test test. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Renaissance High School class of 2025 commencement ceremony. I would like to please If you are able to please rise as we uh have the processional of the seniors [Music] You please remain standing and turn to the American flag as we say the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Please remain standing for our national anthem. [Music] Thank you. Please be seated. Well, good evening. I'm Gary Verger, principal of Renaissance High School, and it's with pride in each student's accomplishment that I welcome you to the Renaissance High School's class of 2025 graduation
002ceremony. You have arrived at this point in your life, ready to put one large accomplishment behind you and step forward with confidence into the next phase of your life. I want to commend you on your perseverance and grit as you have worked and with determination to finish your high school career. With this uh with this grit and determination, I believe you can achieve anything you set your mind to. Many people helped you along the way and I ask that if you are a parent, sibling, grandparent, aunt, uncle, friend to the graduate, please stand so that we can recognize you. There might have been a few other people that helped you along the way, graduates. So, I would like to recognize the staff of Renaissance High School. As I state your name, staff, please stand. Matt
003Blow. Rebecca Carr, wait till the end. Megan Cook, Brooke Har, Patricia Hiller, Erica House, Scott Humphrey, Doug Kennedy, Troy Luke, Riley Patterson, Lindseay Smith, Edna S, Toast, our most famous, Tony Floros, Alexis Dillan, Stacy Youngerman, Amy Horvath, Terry Poret, Crystal Couland, Andrew Breen, Jeff Kelly, Rick Brown, and Claudia Shurmer Horn. Thank you. [Applause] We're going to move into our congratulatory remarks. So, at this point, it is my pleasure to invite Greg me, president of the board of education, to share some wise words with us. Thank you, Mr. Bigger. Good evening. On behalf of the board of education, I'm honored to welcome the class of 202 our newest member, Mike. Graduation is one of the most meaningful and fun things that we do because tonight we're not just your hard work showing our community that schools
004classes for a future excites them and believe that they can achieve their dream. One of the great things about this graduation ceremony is also a me brought each of you to this day. Some of which we heard at the awards ceremony earlier today accomplishments that made us here tonight. New beginnings are exciting, full of a little exactly what comes next. What matters most is that you believe that you're ready. One of the most powerful things about new detours are very set us up for success. We tell you the story of a woman at her beginning. A woman who facever became one of the most author of the Harry Potter series that she manuscript was rejected. different story over and over again. She was a single woman living on welfare books and a lot of selfdoubt
005in her story in herself even when the world around her in the end. Her story is a powerful reminder that new beginnings can be messy. And after you leave RHS on a new beginning, guess what? It's not the last one. There will be many New to come. Let me quickly tell you about my family. My son graduated from college a couple weeks ago. My daughter is switching career paths just open. She also told my wife that welcome in October. A new beginning for all of us. So no matter how young or old you are, more. So tonight as we celebrate your new beginning as a high school graduate, know that your families are proud of you. Your RHS staff is proud of you. Dr. Board of Education are proud of you as well. In a
006few minutes, we're going to watch you take your last walk as part of Clarkson Community School. Shake our hands last high. Enjoy the moment. And as you do, you are always the next chapter of your life. Remember, every new is a new opportunity. Congratulations. [Applause] I have the luxury of knowing a lot of administrators from outside this district. And I have the opportunity to talk to them about our superintendent here who uh has been one of the great champions of Renaissance. And when I tell them that he takes an hour out of his week and be I always get the same response of I can't believe that. And I think that speaks to the support that Renaissance has not only our board of education and how important they love that I appreciate this crowd seeing
007families, senior staff, senior graduates. What an exciting night this is southern life we get these moments to where we really get to stop and smell the roses of accomplishment but as Mr. said, "I do spend time at RHS with a group. I don't like referred as a mentor group though. That's my those are my people and we spend time. They give me more insights and feedback. It's probably the best hour that I get to spend and it's truly an honors and I don't know about you guys here sitting there, but I think we already sat too long. Mr. Gradu, please stand up. That's right. Turn around. That glow. Hey, GR. What I need a little help from you. Sometimes you get a little bit I get up to get pumped up against something like that
008going like a turn. Face the crowd on three. Tell them what you're about, guys. two [Applause] three sit down as you see your teachers RHS staff you see all the people came here tonight you see me board of education we're so proud of you guys manag to pull off it's awesome have a seat and relax now I'll give you a couple words and then we'll move on the rest of our night get your diplomas in your When you say you did it, you sure did. The truth is getting here tonight for all the individuals you see here in the front took effort. Real effort. Not every step was easy and not every day felt certain. But you kept showing up. Mostly showing up, right? You did. You kept going. And tonight you're standing here because
009of the choices you made to keep moving forward. I recently read a quote that stuck with me and I wanted to share with you tonight. I don't remember who said it. I don't know if that's important, but it really struck with me. Said, "When you're in a dark place, you think you're buried. Dark place, you think you're buried, but really you were planted." I love that. And here you are standing taller, roots, roots deep, branches reaching. That's growth. That's transformation. That's what Renaissance is all about. And I mean this, every single one of you, you bloom. I'm so proud of you. Not too long ago, I sat down with our seniors. I brought food. It helped. Pizza, bread sticks, salad. Not anything huge, but it was an awesome time to sit down. And we talked
010about the plans of the future of our senior class. And I want you to know that I walked away from that conversation feeling I think we all need more of in this world. Hope. That's the word that came to mind. You're stepping into all kinds of futures. Some of you are heading off to serve our country, especially as I saw the Navy show up at our awards earlier. We also have other armed forces represented. Some of you are training to be electricians, welders, HVAC techs, and some are going to college. Some are diving into science, nursing, nuclear propulsion. Seriously, nuclear propulsion, right? That's right. Things that take serious guts and commitment. One of you told me that you're going to study marine biology. Another is working towards becoming a probation officer, a force for good
011in someone else's life. Some of you are going to climb roofs and light up city blocks. Others will be protecting wildlife and natural resources. These are big, bold dreams. Don't let anyone ever tell you you can't do it. You can. And you will. Every single plan you shared with me was different, but they all had one thing in common. You've got a direction and you got your eyes set on the future and moving forward. And look, the path here look different for each of you, but you're ready for what's next along the way. You built connections with teachers, classmates, mentors, people who saw you for who you are and what you're capable of. That's what you got here. You didn't just earn a diploma this evening. You built a foundation, a launchpad. You built something
012solid to stand on. So when you wake up tomorrow and the world feels bigger and full of possibilities, and it will. Just remember who you are and know in your heart that you've got this. You absolutely do. Carry that strength into whatever comes next. Build your future. The same determination that brought you to the finishing high school. Tonight is not an ending. It's not even a restart. It's a new beginning. A real one. The kind you created for yourself. And no matter where you go, know this. Your Renaissance family and Clarkson Community Schools will always be cheering for you. Now go grow and never forget your planet to rise. Congratulations, class of 2025. Thank you. Next, we're going to have a uh our Renaissance staff speaker. Um kind of a little staff speaker is uh
013you know found the sweet spot between expectation and grace for students and was very creative and um never met I'd like you to welcome our media teacher as our staff speaker. [Applause] Hi everyone, I'm Matt as M. I'm a media production teacher. Um, I'm in somewhat of a unique circumstance. I teach at both High School and Renaissance High School. So, I never thought I'd be giving a graduation speech like this kind of back and forth. But a couple weeks ago, I'll say Mr. Bigger encouraged me to be the guest speaker for tonight. So, that got me reflecting about my time here at Renaissance and just kind of how both high schools their pros and cons and their strengths and weaknesses. What kind of makes Renaissance so unique? Um, and the phrase that kept coming to
014mind was that it was a good thing. I think so many of the people here staff students or faculty or whatever you're here because it was a good reason for you. here tonight proven that Renaissance is the right fit for you. One of the strengths of Renaissance is that such a small school we get to have this real strong community sense that a big school just can't manage. One slight example I like to give that is I think it was in my first month or so at Renaissance and I saw an email from Miss Sally down to the She needs to picked up. My reaction was, "Wow, no last name was needed. You just said the first name of the student." The entire faculty knew what student that was to send out the office. Meanwhile,
015at the other high school, just because it's so big, we'll get the occasional email, hey, can you identify this student on the security footage who is them for some reason? At a school that size, you just can't have every staff member know who every student is. family. There students that have never been in my class before that know my name, talk to me in the hallway, say hi to me, help my students on projects, and have even joined my students on field trips. That's the kind of stuff that just doesn't mean we always get along nuts. argue, maybe you storm off, but at the end of the day, we have that one connective goal, trying to get you guys to where you're here today, graduating, going on to the next stage in your life. I
016also reflected a lot about what graduation means. I feel like people often assume high school graduation is a a foregone conclusion that like, well, everyone does that. It's not a big deal. Well, I think everyone in this room, students, staff, knows someone that isn't walking across the stage today for whatever reason. Now hopefully they're still working on it. Maybe they'll be here next semester, next year, but sometimes the kids drop out or change programs and then we don't always know what happens to them. If you're here today, you have done something that not everyone has done. You have done things that were not a foregone conclusion. There were things you had to work on. Uh, I think in my first year at Renaissance, I had a student that was failing my class and I told
017him, "Hey, you need to do a final project. Doesn't need to be a great final project, but it needs to be you need to turn in something and I think we can get you there." Took him a while, but he turned something in. Wasn't amazing. It didn't follow all the rubrics. He didn't get a great grade on it, but as soon as I post that grade, he commented and said, "Mr. Blow, what does this mean?" I said, "Well, this means your final class is a 59.5% which rounds up to a D minus which means you passed the class. I said, "Thank you, Mr. Blow." And I think a week or two later, he even shook my hand or gave me a hug at graduation. And I thought about that for a while. I was like,
018he's so thankful for a D minus. I And I didn't really understand it at first, but I thought about it more and I realized what that D minus probably meant to him. This is a kid that was struggling in a lot of classes. He had a job that kept him really busy. He might have been struggling at home. all these factors. But what that D minus meant was that he didn't need that extra semester. Didn't need to go to summer school or take an online class or anything like that. He was finally done with high school and could move on to the next stage. And that meant a lot to him. I've talked to students sometimes about how sometimes they feel school isn't important. Well, I'm never going to use that thing I learned in
019math or English or science or whatever the class might be. And sometimes that conversation I I somewhat agree with. I haven't used everything I've ever learned in high school, in my adult life. That's true. But you're learning a lot of skills whether you realize it or not that you will be using in some way, shape, or form the rest of your life. You had to work with your classmates. Some were great to work with. Some were probably a bit of a pain to work with, but you worked with them. You had to talk to teachers. Maybe you had to negotiate how late an assignment could be so you can get the points you need to move on. You had to show up at least enough. You had to turn in stuff. All those are things
020that whatever you do in your post high school life, you'll have to keep doing. In my class specifically, we make videos. In my intro class, you're required to write a script for your video. That's something a lot of students don't love doing. They just want to grab the camera, start filming, start doing their stuff. And I said, "Well, no. I want to see a plan. I want to see what you're going to do. I want to see that it makes sense. want to talk to you about it. It's not that I'm holding up that script to your final video. I just want to see that you have a plan in action for what that is going to be. You might never write a script again. That's totally possible. Totally reasonable. But the rest of your
021life, you're going to have to make some plans. Your car is going to break down. Your kids going to get sick. There's going to be some kind of family emergency. You're going to get a new job. You're going to quit a job. You're going to to make a plan for what to do next. I'm hoping you're not holding up the plan you make at 16 or 18 or 20 several years later and go, "Oh, I didn't make I didn't do that exact plan." Your plan's probably going to change. Might had to add things to it, subtract things to it, maybe even throw it out and make a new one. But the rest of your life, you'll be making some kind of plan based on what's happening in your world. At the end of the year,
022when I sign yearbooks, I generally sign them one of two ways. I sign them with uh questions, comments, concerns, which if you've been in my class before, you've heard me say countless times. Um, the other thing I like to sign with is a quote from uh Mr. Feny from Boy Meets World. I might be dating myself here a little bit, but that's a great show for those that haven't seen it back on TGIF for people my age or older in the crowd. In the final episode of Boy Meets World, Mr. Feny gathers the students that have been around for a long time. And the message he gives these students is believe in yourself, dream, try, do good. Right after he says that, one of the students makes a point to say, "Don't you mean do
023well?" Which goes, "No, I mean do good." So, Renaissance students, whatever you're doing post high school, whether it's college or trade school or the armed services or just hopping right into the workforce, whatever it is, believe in yourselves. Dream, try and most of all do good. Thank you. [Applause] Thank you, Mr. Blow. Earlier tonight, we had the opportunity to uh um award some scholarships. I'm just going to kind of read off the scholarships and who received them. Um for those of you that were not able to be at our award ceremony, um Waypoint scholarship uh was given to Nicholas Hulcom and Addison Wayne. Parks United Methodist Church gave Hugh Rose scholarship to each student uh that was there. And uh the optimist gave uh a scholarship to Matthew Langlo. And the Rotary gave their scholarships
024to Tyler Bumgrass, Jayla Pike, Alex York, and Kyle Douglas. Uh the Masons, that's a new scholarship to us, uh was given to Kaden Harding, Jayla Pike, Matthew Langlo, and Kyle Douglas. So, congratulations to all the scholarship winners. About a month ago, I wrote a speech for tonight and um it wasn't sitting well with me and I had some people read some parts of it and they said, "Yeah, it sounds good." And I thought, "No, it doesn't." And uh I continued to wrestle with it and wrestle with it. So, um it just didn't fit this class. And I had a few minutes with the seniors today at rehearsal and it's kind of my last time with just the seniors and I told them that that it just didn't work for this class because every class is
025a little different and they have a different you know bent to them. They have a different outlook and a different fabric. It's just different and I just didn't like it. So this morning I wrote a new speech because I didn't like that one. Um, I don't know why I wait till the last minute, but I want to let you know that to the parents, guardians, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, board of education, Superintendent Ryan, teachers, and everyone else, this speech isn't for you. So, this is for you. Okay? So, I need you to do a quick thing for me. And I need you to tell to say loudly, it's no big deal. Come on, you're louder than that in the bathrooms. Okay, read a series of things to her and then I'm going to ask you
026to repeat that. Remember when you had a new beginning by starting pre kindergarten or kindergarten? Remember when you had a new beginning by starting elementary school? Remember when you had a new beginning by starting middle school? That's a rough one. Remember when you had a new beginning by starting junior high? How about a new beginning when you started high school? How about a new beginning when you started Renaissance? Taking state test. How about driver's ed? using Google Classroom, having to wear masks at school, you've already done a lot of things and a lot of new beginnings. And some of these were easy and some of them came with great struggle. And as such, you're well prepared to take the next steps into a new beginning. And you know what? It is no big deal. But
027I want to let you know that I love each and every one of you for finding the grit within yourself to succeed and finish high school. And for some of you, that was a big mountain to climb. And for some of you, it was diligence to get to school every day. And for some of you, it was coming back for a fifth year to finish. And as I've seen you seek out the support you've needed along the way to get this chapter of your life done, I could not be more proud of who you are. And I cannot wait to see what you become. Now you've heard now now as you head out into this new beginning to make your mark on the world, make sure that you do great things because it is a
028big deal. I want to leave you with some advice, but not from me. We sent a few people over to Clarkson Elementary, and I want to leave you guys with some advice from the kindergarten class of 2037 from Clarkston Elementary. [Music] What advice do you have for the graduating seniors? And try to be nice and loud so we can hear you. You got this. [Applause] You should be a hockey player. You should help people, make people happy. You got this in a bag. You should practice playing hockey. You should go on vacation. Um, this is a line and it says you should just do it and you will get used to it. Somebody's always by your side. Don't sweat it. You have courage. You got this. Listen to your good side. Don't stop doing what
029you love. You got this. You always have someone by your side. Don't be too hard on yourself. Listen to your brave side. That's too good. Don't ever lose your sense of wonder. [Music] [Applause] At this time, we're going to have a couple of our Renaissance student speakers come up and uh they're always last to speak because they're obvious the best. And so, our first student speaker today is graduating senior Emma Simco. [Applause] [Music] Hey y'all. We're here. We made it. It's kind of crazy. 13 years of schooling and a lot of hard work. For those of you that started with preK, 14 years, I see you putting in that extra work. Okay, graduation is special to everyone. And although we all have our individual pathways, it also has the same meaning to us all. It's
030a time for new beginnings, a time to not start over, but to start a new. And as you go off and do your thing, remember to look back on what you've learned and be grateful for the people and things that have happened during your time in school. I'm nervous. Okay. Every exper every experience you've had, whether it's your teacher sitting down and helping you with homework, the way your parents or siblings taught you to study for a test, or even making and losing friends, it all helps to shape who we are and how we go forth and approach the rest of our lives. Well, scary stuff. And one last thing to end my speech. It's a little off topic, but I would like to give a shout out to my little sister Abby. You inspire
031me to lead the best example I can and basically be the best me that I can be. Hopefully all of you have someone that inspires you to do the same. And if you don't, then be that person for yourself because your actions won't just benefit your life, but can help guide and influence somebody else's. Thank you. Our second student speaker for tonight is our valid Victorian, Abigail Ritzenheim. [Applause] I would like to begin by saying congratulations to my fellow classmates as well as a huge thank you to Dr. Sha Ryan, the board of education, Mr. Bigger, and all RHS staff. Thank you for giving me the opportunity and the tools to be able to speak here today. Um, I would also like to thank all of our families for being here today to support us.
032Um, you don't go unnoticed. I have spent all of my senior year thinking about this speech. What was I going to say? How was I going to say it? and how excited I am to be here in front of all of you today. But when it came to sitting down at my computer to start writing, my mind went blank. I have had so many exciting experiences. I have learned so many new things. And I have met so many amazing people who have shaped me into who I am today. How am I supposed to shorten that all into a five minute speech? Well, when you Google how to write a good graduation speech, among all of the sorry, among Washington Post articles and things locked behind a payw wall, you get a list. One, welcome and
033thank peers, families, and administration. Check. Two, congratulate your peers. Check three. Tell a story or account achievement. This was the part I was most excited for. My time at RHS has been nothing short of extraordinary. I am truly grateful to have been able to meet each and every one of you. This year's theme is new beginnings, if you couldn't tell already. And when I came when I look back at the last four years, there is one lesson that stands out as my new beginning. So, let me tell you my story. It was still hot outside, probably early September, and I was staring out the second story window of Mr. Humphrey's English classroom. I was waiting for the bell to ring so that I could go home and I could scroll on my phone. Mr. Mr.
034Humphrey had projected a grid of a hundred boxes onto his whiteboard. There were already 16 colored in in streaky red expo marker. Each box, he told us, pointing to the board, is one year of your life. And if you're lucky, you'll get about a hundred of them. He reached for another marker and carefully filled in another 28 boxes. These, he said, are what you will spend eating, sleeping, or taking a dump. He looked at us expectantly, waiting for us to laugh. And then he turned to the empty boxes. And this is what you have left to do something with. He went on to tell us about all of the important people in history, how they had spelled spent their lives, filled their boxes until he turned to us. You all have that same opportunity to
035make an impact on the world around you. Spend the rest of your time wisely. The bell rang. That moment was my new beginning. I will not lie and say the last four years have been without hardship. But every time I have struggled, wanted to drop out of school, stop volunteering, stop making a difference, stop going to work, I have come back to Mr. Humphrey. I have come back to the boxes, back to how much time I have left to do something good. Number four, provide advice or well-wishes to your classmates. I leave you with this, RHS. You have the rest of your life to make a difference. And when you leave today, you get to start over. You get to be an adult. You get to do whatever you want. and I hope you fill
036your boxes doing something to better our world. Thank [Applause] you. So, there was a survey done quite some time ago uh where they asked people what their greatest fear was. and um public speaking was above death. So people would rather die than come up and speak in public. So I just want to say thank you to our two student speakers for being brave and for coming up here and for giving us some wise words. Thank [Applause] you graduates. This is the moment you've all been waiting for. the conferring of the diplomas. And coming up to read your names is our very own counselor, uh, Mrs. [Applause] Youngerman. Mrs. Sve and Mrs. Would you please bring the graduates forward? Liliana Marie Allesie, [Applause] Tyler Bumgrass, [Applause] Bane Jared Vanilla, Brooklyn Sierra Burns [Applause] Casey James Carlson,
037Noah Garrett, Chipelli [Applause] Kyle Michael [Applause] Douglas, Kagan Jacob Bradley Ford, Jaden Tyler Frasier, [Applause] Kiara Bailey, Guest [Applause] Kayen Nicholas [Applause] Harding, Nicholas Adrien Hulcom. [Applause] [Music] Matthew Manuel Langllo, [Applause] Michael Andreas Langlo [Applause] Timothy Lewis Meldrum [Applause] III, Derek Michael Newman, [Applause] Jaden David O'Halerin, [Applause] Jason, Matthew Powers, [Applause] John A. Lee Rimes, [Applause] Abigail Rose Ritzenheim, [Applause] Emma Simco, [Applause] Elizabeth and Vic Addison May Wayne, [Applause] Naa Sky Warden [Applause] Alexander Patrick York. [Applause] Class of 2025, would you stand up? With much love, I congratulate you. As graduates, we you may now move your tassel to the left side of your mortar board. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Hallelujah. Is that all you got? It gives me great pleasure to introduce you to Renaissance High School graduate class of 2025. I would like to
038thank each and every one of you for joining us on this day of celebration and especially to celebrate the graduating seniors. I would like to ask one uh piece of uh I would like to ask one thing. Please allow the graduates to exit before you head out into the Narthx to find them so that they can get out and find their families. Amy, I think we're ready to end this. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Rise in the morning. Sweep the streets. I used [Music] to roll the dice. Feeling the fear in my enemy's eyes. Missing the crab would sing. Now the old king's dead along with the king. One minute I have the key. Next the walls were closed on me. And I discovered that my castle stand upon pillars of pillars of sand. I can't bells
039are ringing. Roman cavalry choirs are singing. Be my mirror my sword and shield a missionaries in a far field. For some reason I can't explain. Once you go, it was never never a lonest word. That was when I ruled the [Music] world. It was the wicked and wild wind blew down the doors to let me in. Shattered windows and the sound of drums. People couldn't believe what I'd be. [Music] evolutionary way for my head on a silver plate. Just a puppet on a string. [Music] Blowman cat when requires singing.