SOUTH ROYALTON — Members of the White River Valley High School’s inaugural senior class turned their yellow and green tassels Saturday and celebrated their unity, even though the recently merged district’s students hailed from seven Vermont towns and met each other just nine months ago.
But a single school year was enough for the 50 students in the Class of 2019 to forge a shared identity, co-valedictorian Gavin Turner said.
“Despite our different backgrounds and our limited time together, we’ve been able to create a close-knit family,” Turner told the parents and community members who filled the tent on the Royalton town green and spilled out onto the grass.
The graduation was the first since South Royalton and Whitcomb high schools merged. Students and faculty alike reflected on the significance of the moment Saturday, while at the same time acknowledging the challenges that came with the merger.
The ceremony offered a chance to “pay homage to the schools we’ve lost and honor the new one we’ve built together,” said co-valedictorian Jasmine Smith.
Bethel and South Royalton residents agreed to combine their schools last year after a series of votes and re-votes, and months of contentious meetings and public debate. Now, middle schoolers from both towns are bused to Bethel, the former Whitcomb High School; high schoolers attend South Royalton.
The newly formed White River Valley Supervisory Union also includes students from Rochester, Stockbridge, Chelsea, Tunbridge and Sharon, all of whom have high school choice.
The challenges of the transition were evident in the ceremony itself.
The difficulties in reconciling class credits and grading systems led administrators to recognize two valedictorians and salutatorians, Principal Reed McCracken said in an interview. Turner and salutatorian Alexandra Timmins formerly attended Whitcomb High School; valedictorian Jasmine Smith and salutatorian Olivia Knudsen hailed from South Royalton.
After the ceremony, only Bethel students opened a time capsule they had prepared years ago. And the class ended up voting on whether to decorate their mortarboards, a Whitcomb tradition that South Royalton students hadn’t done before, senior class adviser and math teacher Raina Robins said.
Some students who decided to pursue early college programs or alternatives to public school had hardly met each other before, according to McCracken.
“We haven’t had the luxury of knowing each other for the past four years,” Turner said.
But speakers overwhelmingly emphasized their unity and strength in the face of the change.
“Being a Royal is no longer my sole identity,” Smith said of her old Royalton mascot, which is now a Wildcat at WRV. “The changes we’ve gone through have brought us together.”
Science teacher and keynote speaker Dalton Gomez said the merger process had required courage not typically required of high schoolers. He described the students’ commitment to attending meetings, voicing their opinions and — once the merger was approved — to creating a new high school identity.
“In the events leading up to this merger, graduates, I’ve watched you become adults,” he told the class.
Change would continue to come, he said, and he urged the grads not to shy away from it.
“Paradoxically, great things often happen when we embrace change,” he said.
McCracken handed out the diplomas, and the graduates streamed out onto the sunlit green to exchange hugs, filtering off into groups.