Wantagh celebrates its class of 2022 seniors

On June 24 at Wantagh High School, Wantagh’s graduating class of 2022 walked for graduation, receiving their diplomas and celebrating themselves for persisting through an enormous amount of adversity.

The scoreboard was lit up with “2022,” and the students wore black gowns with gold sashes. After walking out to “Pomp and Circumstance,” Wantagh High School Principal Paul Guzzone addressed the graduates, telling them to live life with an absolute value approach – flexing his math teacher background, Guzzone noted that absolute value is the distance from zero and is “always positive."

Guzzone took the class and their parents back to March 13, 2020, the last day of in person classes before this class was sent home due to the pandemic. Guzzone said that the class of 2022 learned many positive lessons from this negative experience such as “being flexible and learning other ways to connect with people”.

Superintendent John McNamara agreed with Guzzone that the class of 2022 would take many positive lessons from this experience, saying that they are prepared for whatever life throws at them next and will help them think outside the box.

“When things get tough as an adult, remember to think inside of yourselves for that same determination you found when you were in high school,” Board of Education President Anthony Greco said. “We know it’s there, and this graduation ceremony is proof of that.”

Salutatorian Skyla Marchesi said that students in the class of 2022 are a “cohesive group that value each other’s different interests and skills,” and added that they became stronger as a result of the obstacles they overcame. “This chapter of our lives may be over,” Marchesi said. “But there are new experiences, successes, and challenges ahead.”

Valedictorian Julianna Rose reflected on a short-lived experiment in seventh grade where she and her friends tried to learn a new word every day, promoting lifelong learning.

She cited some words that reflect the high school experience for the class of 2022, describing the times they have lived through as “tumultuous” and describing the class of 2022 itself as “resilient”. Rose encouraged her fellow graduates to embrace new experiences and accept the unfamiliar.

Senior class Vice President Joseph Labo closed out the ceremony by thanking those who have supported the graduates, referring to their families as their “home base,” and giving this home base a round of applause.