To the Editor:
On Saturday my son graduated along with 322 other Wilton High School seniors at the Home of the Warriors, Wilton’s Veterans’ Memorial Stadium. It was a glorious event. The weather was perfect. Bright sun, cloudless sky and strong winds to propel the American and Wilton flags streaming throughout the Norwalk River Valley around the high school.
Both sides of the stadium were filled as the students marched into the stadium for us to celebrate all that they had achieved, and they had done quite a lot. A record high seven valedictorians (graduates who posted a perfect 4.0 GPA. Think of that, not even one A-minus!) As a class, their SAT and NSGG scores ranked number one in the state in English, number one in science, and number two in math. About 12% will be playing on athletic scholarship for their respective schools. Their mortar boards were decorated with the logos of the universities they are attending. I won’t name names, I’ll just say many, many were impressive places. True achievements at just 18 years old.
Most impressive was the student speaker. If you are not familiar with Quin Silva’s story, you should be humbled to call him one of Wilton’s own, your neighbor. Without getting too personal, he was born with a life threatening health condition. Surgeries complicated things further, and yet he became a perfect example of “that which does not destroy you only serves to make you stronger.” Quin played youth football. By his freshman year, he knew he was too small to play in high school, and yet loving the game, he asked to coach his teammates. He became so successful at his craft after four years that he earned a scholarship to coach in college. Consider he will be a position coach for one of the very first university football programs, as a college freshman! As his speech showed, that is but just one achievement among many and he’s headed higher still. Remember the name.
Lori Bufano entered the ceremony, celebrated as having her 50th anniversary graduating Wilton High School, and still directly focused on making the Wilton education the best in the state, serving on our Board of Education. We all recognized the depth of her contributions to her community, but the graduates, 50 years her younger, felt no less connected and celebrated all that she had done for them.
A longstanding Wilton tradition, graduates entering military service were uniquely celebrated, and we have two headed to West Point — something that requires a Congressional nomination. Tears welled as they were introduced as the next cadets from our small town.
The end of the ceremony featured the graduate walk, and each senior was called out, with their respective family in the stands cheering each on.
All amazing events, but not the very best.
I have lived in Wilton nine years now and always strive to be a part of the community, but not having been raised here, it took this event for me to truly understand what our town is made of. I’ve been in those stands through the proverbial rain, sleet and snow. Right in the center of the Norwalk River Valley, it channels north winds and can be a rough place to watch a game in the typical schoolyear months.
Faithful parents cheer their kids on to greatness. But, this was different. A poetic and highly audible call and response occurred. Many times, both in individual speeches and in expressions from the graduates, the kids expressed their gratitude to everyone involved in elevating them from their start in the pandemic doldrums, something we all now know was a very dangerous place for our youth. This class overcame and outperformed despite extreme frustrations with the events of their freshmen and even sophomore years. And then they called out in appreciation for our support throughout. And we, the parents of this great class, responded in kind. We stomped our feet on the bleachers in unison. Thousands of people did, and it made a tremendous rumble throughout the valley. And the kids knew we were telling them we care about each and every one of you and we are beaming with pride you’ve made it and will represent us as the next generation of Americans.
My brother joined us for the day. He lives in Florida, and that call and response, which happened several times throughout the ceremony, made him emotional. He originally thought it was some sort of a jet flyby in celebration. The noise was oddly equivalent. But then he understood. It’s something we’ve done in all those games in the stadium, but expressed much more profoundly at this final event. We were sending them off to live their lives with our greatest love and support, each and every one of them.
He told me that day, you know America doesn’t always get it right, but when it does, it can be something special. We do at least strive to create a better life and a better world. This was one of those amazing moments. The feeling of community and support for our neighbors and families in this tight little town that’s not too big, not too wealthy, and neither urban or rural, and just really the geographical center of Fairfield county, happens to be I think the tightest community of wonderful and talented Americans there is. We are good people, and we just sent 323 more into the world as our greatest contribution to this country and the world.
God bless you Wilton Class of 2024!
John Kelly