Good afternoon, families, faculty, friends, and most importantly, the Wilton High School Class of 2025. Today, I have the distinct honor of standing before you in two roles — as the superintendent of schools and also as the proud dad of a graduating daughter. I’m not crying, you’re crying.
Let me begin as dad. Despite quietly envisioning the emotions of this moment for 18 years, nothing actually truly prepares you for what it feels like to anticipate watching your own child, and actually all of you whom we’ve had the pleasure to watch grow up in this community, walk across the stage. I remember your first words. We all remember all of your first words. We remember when your backpacks were bigger than you. Eighteen years is not that long. As Dr Seuss lamented, “How did it get so late? So soon it’s night before it’s afternoon.” Because here you are grown, graduating, ready for what’s next.
To all of our parents, guardians, caregivers, my fellow educators, I know you’re feeling it too, a profound mix of joy, nostalgia, pride and hope for all of us. This is a really big moment that began with really little feet.
Class of 2025 let’s take a quick stroll back to your childhood. Maybe we can draw a larger lesson or two.
Do you remember “Abby Cadabby,” the pink sparkly fairy-in-training from “Sesame Street” who made her debut just before you did in 2006? Known for her whimsical charm, Abby’s spells didn’t always go as planned. She was curious, clumsy, kind hearted and always, always trying. When Abby first arrived on Sesame Street, she felt out of out of place, a fairy among monsters, birds and grouches. She came with wings, a wand and a spell book, but she didn’t know how the subway worked, why Oscar was grumpy, or how to spell chrysanthemum. One day, she tried to help Elmo clean up after a birthday party. She meant to say pouf and presto, make this clean. But instead, she turned the leftover cupcakes into sock puppets and the balloons into bouncing chickens. Chaos ensued. Embarrassed, Abby apologized.
Elmo laughed and said, “Abby, that was the best mistake ever. The sock puppets made the whole street laugh. Even Big Bird kept one as a pet that day.”
Abby discovered something magical. It’s okay to be different. It’s okay to mess up. What matters most is that you try, that you learn, and that you bring your whole self, wings, wand and all into the world.
I can see from your blank stares that that memory may be too far gone. So maybe to put it in a more contemporary spin, we can turn to Taylor Swift, who reminds us in her song “Innocent,” “Today is never too late to be brand new.” That lyric is more than poetic. It’s powerful. It reminds us that no matter what comes before, no matter the doubts we carry or the detours we’ve taken, we always have the power to begin again, to evolve, to show up, to show up differently, to be better, bolder, kinder, wiser.
And that matters, because you, the Class of 2025, were born into a world just beginning to shift seismically beneath our feet. Did you know the very first iPhone was released the year most of you were born? Do you think it ironic I’m talking to you about iPhones today? That sleek device once dismissed as a novelty sparked a technology revolution that reshaped our lives. It changed how we communicate, navigate, learn, connect, and even define ourselves. Its impact has been both exhilarating and complex. It’s brought us convenience and connection and also distraction, division, anxiety. It’s the embodiment of disruption. And in the years since, it has evolved 16 times and counting, because its creators didn’t focus on what was safe or familiar. They focused on what was possible.
So Class of 2025, as you move forward, I encourage you do the same; focus not only on what is, but on what could be, because the world is ready, eager for new possibilities, new voices, new realities.
As Brene Brown reminds us, “You can choose courage or you can choose comfort, but you cannot choose both.” The world needs courage right now, not just brilliance, but resilience, not just ambition, but heart, the courage to step into the unknown and the grace to grow through it. So be citizens of conscience. Lead in a way that uses technology without being used by it. Speak up for justice. Ask better questions. Believe deeply that empathy is every bit as essential as intelligence.
You’ve had a strong start here. You’ve led clubs, championed causes, won championships, performed on stages, stood up for what matters. You’ve grown as students and as citizens. The tools around you will continue to evolve, but how you show up, how you lead, how you treat others, how you use your voice, those are the choices that will shape the future more than any app or more than any algorithm.
So take the lesson from Abby Cadabby. Take the lyric from Taylor Swift. Take the wisdom from Brene Brown. Live with kindness, with curiosity, with courage, reinvent yourself routinely. With each new iteration, demonstrating more integrity, more conviction, be socially responsible. Build community. Speak out when it counts. Be someone who breathes color and light and joy into the world.
So to Kayleigh and to all of you — No, just one more thing: We your parents, your teachers, your mentors, your friends, are so truly grateful for allowing us to walk this portion of your journey with you. We know you’ll leave your mark on the world because you have already left your mark on us. As the song from Wicked so beautifully captures, “Because I knew you, I have been changed for good…”
Congratulations, Class of 2025. Go change the world with courage, compassion and color.
Now, by the authority vested in me by the State of Connecticut and the Wilton Board of Education, as the superintendent of schools, on this 14th day of June in the year 2025 I certify that the members of the Wilton High School Class of 2025 have successfully met the requirements for graduation and are hereby declared graduates of Wilton High School.
Madam Chair, I present to you and to the Board of Education, the Wilton High School Class of 2025.