HANOVER — If the mortarboards donned by the 160 members of Hanover High School’s class of 2026 at Friday’s graduation are any indication, life will take them many places, including Boston College, George Washington University, the University of Vermont, the University of Virginia and, of course, Dartmouth College.
But before heading afield, the group spent the night reflecting on their high school years, guided by a student-performed soundtrack of Jay Ungar’s “Ashokan Farewell,” the Scottish traditional song “The Parting Glass” and rounded with the words of Hannah Montana’s “I’ll Always Remember You.”
Speakers at Friday’s commencement encouraged the graduates to reflect on living in the moment without ignoring the future, defining their own success and being kind wherever life takes them.
Student speaker Benson Friede left his classmates with three lessons he learned during high school: control what you can and don’t fret on what you can’t, don’t worry so much about living in the present that you lose sight of the future, and don’t take shortcuts.
Friede struggled to write his graduation speech over the course of the week, instead “staring back at myself in the reflection of my empty Google Doc,” he told his class.
While it would have taken moments for artificial intelligence to write the speech instead, the result would have been lacking “character” and the “seasoning of human experience.”
“Don’t take shortcuts unless you absolutely must,” Friede counseled. “And don’t put yourself into the position where you absolutely must take shortcuts.”
Other speeches touched on the importance of kindness, which staff including Marie D’Amato, an English teacher chosen to be the class speaker, and Principal Julie Stevenson said is a defining characteristic of the class.
When D’Amato started college, she expected to gauge her future success with materialistic measures like her income bracket, she told the students.
But, after losing a close friend in a car accident her sophomore year, she was forced to reconsider and found herself guided by a version of Bessie Anderson Stanley’s poem “Success.”
“To laugh often and much;” the poem reads. “To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the approval of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to give of one’s self; to leave the world a bit better by a garden patch, a healthy child or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you lived. This is to have succeeded.”
D’Amato encouraged the class to keep their minds open, be willing to change and consider that less traditional measures, including their ability to spread kindness, can be indicators of success.
“If you take the time to notice what stands out to you and let your curiosity follow, you will find your version of Bessie Anderson Stanley’s poem that speaks to you, and allow that inspiration to be your guide to finding your definition of success,” D’Amato advised.
And it took time for the Class of 2026 to find the uplifting spirit that has become their hallmark, Sara Garr who delivered the farewell address recalled. During their time at HHS, the class went from being intentionally silent at pep rallies to cheering the loudest for one another in their senior year.
The spirit of togetherness and kindness was especially apparent to Garr when she and her peers on the crew team finished an especially difficult workout.
“Without fail, no matter how exhausted, sweaty or worn out these teammates are, they lift themselves up off the concrete floor of the boathouse barn and support whoever is struggling,” Garr recalled during her farewell address.
Garr encouraged her peers to continue to uplift and support others, especially as they leave the halls of high school and become “underdogs” in the wider world.
“We will find ourselves needing help,” Garr advised. “And that is a wonderful thing because that gives us the opportunity to recognize the kind of help we hope to receive and become it for those who need it more.”
At the close of Garr’s speech, the Hanover High School class of 2026 came together one more time to collectively turn their tassels, toss their caps and meet their classmates with enthusiastic hugs.
Hanover High School class of 2026: Alina Ahmad; William Hazen Albrecht; Daniel Oliveira Aleixo; Phoebe Annabella Alvarez; Henry Joseph Anderson; Finn Christopher Artman; Peter Andrew Arvold; Hayden Avery Baxter Avard; Samuel Lyle Bagatell; Axel Marie Bailey; Amelia Brace Bailey-Kellogg; Oliver Finnegan Benedict; Casper Stevens Besana; Everett James Bickford; Lily Isabelle Bobcowski; Myles Alexander Boone; Beatrix Trinity Douglas Bornholdt-Collins; Mia Margaret Bornstein; Lucy Vera Braga; Levi Chase Breton; Tobias Dollhopf Brown; Mason Williams Burdick; Milan Cantone; Ryan Jamison Carroll; Ellenora Morgan Robinson Cary; Rowan Franklin Robinson Cary; Adelaide Rainier Cesanek; Charles Bernard Chambers; Addison Christine Chase; Selah Cheng; Alexander Howard Cheyney; Mackenzie Rose Chin; Christopher Chor; William Gabriel Clerkin; Andrew Francis Cramer; Gage Barnato Crowley; Reese Avery Cullen; Hudson Lily Cusimano; Wyatt Stevenson Daigle; Myroslav Davydenko; Sophia Marie Day; Matteo Nicolas De Giorgis; Nicholas M del Pino; Eliza Grace des Cognets; Joseph Paul DeSimone Jr.; Kate Cook Dominiak; Maeve Lyra Donegan; Jorgen Keen Drent; Arina Oleksandrivna Dubrova; Leigh Grace Eggleton; Ava Ruing Erickson; Carter Faill; Megan Jane Faris; Darius Havens Faudie; Sophia Lynn Feldman; Maggie Feng; Hannah Nicole Rudner Foston; Westley Tyler Knabe Frederick; Benson Greene Friede; Lizzie Furstenberg; Sara Elizabeth Garr; Susanna Kate Glass; Oona Lillian Gleeson; Alba Gomez-Saucedo; Gunnar Michael Gordon; Olivia Augusta Grabinski; Celia Jean Graham; Keller Solomon Greene; Noah Elorm Gregorio-de Souza; Lia Daniela Hammond; William Patrick Peter Hanaway; Nina Isabella Hescock; Lily Elizabeth Hochreiter; Nora Cassidy Holmes; False Holtzheimer; Benjamin William Hourdequin; Phoebe Huang; Gabriel Huyck; Oliver Jackson; Sam Jackson; Joshua Michael Janisse; Charlotte Gift Jellison; Madeline Ashley Jones; Heidi Lev Kauffman; Liam Foster Baird Kitchel; Rachel Danielle Kohl; Steven Sizhuang Lan; Amelia Margaret Larrick; Ayana Rebecca Lee; Cyrus Jacob Lesser-Brunori; Henry Paul Levin; Evan Keith Lewandoski; Olivia Yuan Liu; Jackson Anthony Lobb; Lucia Ashima Lotterhand; Roy Graf Lucas; Spiros Markwood; Jacobi Christopher Marotti; Mary Clarice Matter; Eve Gilbane McLaughlin; Safir Anand Xavier Mehra; Kinneret Re’ut Melamut; Michael Menday; Aniu Meng; Raymond Sprague Menkov; Varenya Modugula; Elin Audrey Molina; Wade Paradis Montibello; Peter Edward Morig; Kyle Aaron Morlock; Martin James Cottingham Mosdal; Allie Muirhead; Lila Harriet Muirhead; Matilda Claire Munroe; Jack Bear Myers; Penelope Jean Anna O’Brien; Ryan Joseph O’Hern; Brennan Michael Hogan O’Toole; Michael Hobson Paccione; Roan Oscar Palm; Lea Stephanie Perreard; Nathaniel Navarro Picconi-Eakin; Denis Alexander Pletnev; Gael Constantin Popescu; Ronan Michal Przydzielski; Ava Jeanne Rayes; Connor Patrick Reed; Anna Caroline Richeimer; Alexander Orion Forbes Riley; Harper Stella Rogers-Regenthal; Tyler Joseph Rothstein; Phineas Henry Roy-Ollie; Christopher Todd Ryckman Jr.; Ava Lillian Saemann; Xander Salvatoriello; Samuel Solomon Sanders; Kate Violet Shattuck; Alex John Sikora; Matilda Cristina Siri; Daniil Titus Sjostrom; Ella Pico Sorensen; Benjamin Henry Spencer; Bennett Kristof Squires; Claire Jayne Starosta; Scotland Gregory Stone; Lily Merrill Stover; John Grehawick Taylor; Owen Max Thayer; Aubrey May Timmons; Cosima Torresani; Quinn Trombley; Maxwell Lucien Trottier; Miles Calvin Vogt; Liam Dessart Wager; Kate Madison Wehmeyer; Ethan Christopher Welder; Mary Cerise Westrich; Rachel Eileen Wilson; and Sofia Wang Ye.
