Every Christ School graduation ends with hugs between the departing seniors and the faculty. Those embraces were understandably a little more prolonged than usual at Sunday morning’s 125th Commencement.
In his address, Head of School Dr. Sean Jenkins reminded the Class of 2025 of all they overcame during their time here – coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, the tragic loss of RJ Fox ’25, and a generational storm in Hurricane Helene. The seniors are a distillation of these experiences now, changed irrevocably, and changed for the better.
“Despite all of this, you have remained strong and committed to helping those beside you along the way,” Dr. Jenkins said.
“You have learned from these unexpected hardships and you have used them to grow into stronger, more grateful, and more humble young men. The strength and grace of your class has carried this community through joy, adversity, and sorrow. May you look back on your years here as among the most important and life-changing of your lives, and may you remember the joy and challenges.”
Dr. Jenkins thanked the Class of 2025 for leaving Christ School better than they found it, and encouraged the seniors to “live boldly and do good wherever and everywhere you can.”
Noland House Prefect Collier Lilly ’25 was voted by his peers to give Sunday’s student address. He plans to attend Davidson College, starting in the fall.
“Every moment in life is worth living, so don’t waste a single hour,” Collier said.
“It hasn’t been any easy journey, but I wouldn’t have done it with anyone else. These gentlemen in green blazers seated over there have been through it with each other. Through the high and lows, I can’t imagine a better class to weather the storms and celebrate the victories with.”
Teacher of the Year John Manganiello P’29 spoke about the importance of expressing gratitude in his speech.
“It costs us nothing, but it can change everything,” Mr. Manganiello said.
“We’re given around two and half billion seconds in an average lifetime. But how many of those seconds do we use to express the things we feel most deeply? Too often, we wait. We think there will be a better time, a more appropriate moment. But the best time is always now, this very moment.”
Overcast skies made for cool, pleasant temperatures for the ceremony in Yard A. The Angelus bell rang 125 times to start the procession, a toll for every year of the school’s operation since 1900.
Graduates from the Class of 2025 are (in alphabetical order): Joseph Ahart, Abdullah Al Iedan, Luke Anderson, Chris Arch, Brody Ballard, John Barton, Jacob Beatty, Pete Boatwright, Colin Breiter, Tyler Brouse, Sam Browder, Jake Brown, Brandon Brown-Ihsane, David Buckingham, Henry Chapman, Madden Collins, Truett Compton, Jaylen Daniels, Grey Edens, Walker Edens, Jordan Edgecomb, Wells Edwards, Carter Fitzgerald, Joe Gilliam, Elijah Graziosi, Buzz Hartwig, Asher Hicks, Charlie Hughes, William Hughes, John Jaber, Thomas Johnson, Davis Jones, Jimmy Jones, Wiley Kessler, Serg Kitt, Thomas Klepper, Jake Landis, Collier Lilly, Luc Madesclaire, Judson Meyers, Nolan Miller, Josh Mwagomba, Caden Paradine, Cooper Perone, Jonathan Reece, Jamie Riddleberger, Xander Ring, Luka Rose, Hunter Sanford, Brendan Selmensberger, Tucker Semans, Carter Sherwood, Blue Simmons, Finley Sullivan, Dawson Thompson, Jad Traboulsi, Spencer Vande Weghe, Will Walker, Jack West, Zach Wetzel, Nate Wilberding, Henry Wilhelm, Mikey Wilkins, Noah Wood, and Yixuan Wu.