More than 300 students graduated from Unionville High School on June 5 and their years at UHS were different than most. As high school Principal Amy Jenkins noted, students in the class of 2024 had to deal with the unusual and the sad.

Students began their freshman year learning remotely because of COVID and began their senior year dealing with the fear of an escaped murderer, Danelo Cavalcante, loose in the area. In between, they lost two classmates — Emma Hill and Seth Wagner — to premature deaths. Both received posthumous diplomas during the graduation ceremony held at the Bob Carpenter Complex at the University of Delaware.

In her address to the graduates, Jenkins told the class to remember their journey doesn’t stop now that they’ve graduated, but that they should hold on to their dreams and keep their caring and empathy.

“Never forget your passion. Never forget your support system, and remember those who helped you on this journey,” she said and added, “You have the power to make the world better.”

Superintendent of Schools John Sanville welcomed the Hill and Wagner families to the ceremony, and congratulated the graduates saying, “It was a well-earned accomplishment…Today is filled with pomp and circumstance, and time-honored traditions. It’s important to take a moment and let it all sink in. You, the Class of 2024, are the stars and we recognize the hard work, talent, perseverance, dedication, and grit that got you here.”

He said the graduates have all the skills and information they need for the next chapter of their lives.

“Go forward with pride and determination to be successful. Work hard, and more good will come your way. Remember where you came from but keep your eyes on the future. Congratulations, Class of 2024.

Sofia Cvijanovic, Lilly Zhang, and Morgan Chapman were this year’s student speakers.

Cvijanovic told her classmates to “embrace your own stories of struggle and success, to see the beauty in your own personal journeys, and to celebrate our collective accomplishments along with the promise to continuing to look ahead with hope and determination.”

She drew a parallel between the journey toward graduation and beyond with the dawning of a new day from sunrise to sunset. She spoke of the struggles of adolescents but in the end, “coming out stronger like beams of sunshine we overcame the unexpected.”

Zhang congratulated her classmates and said they would soon be leaving the Carpenter Complex as young adults beginning the next stages of their lives. She reminded them of an old saying by Confucius: “With three people walking, there’s always a teacher among them.”

“Take any three people, regardless of their backgrounds, their socio-economic status, their political or religious beliefs, or whether or not they like pineapple on their pizza, regardless of all that there’s always something new that we can learn from another person,” she said.

Zhang added that there’s still so much out there to see and so many people that you’ll meet. She told them to remember that saying by Confucius and know that they can learn from anyone anywhere. , and so much more of life to experience and to learn from. Remember the essence of that saying, that open attitude toward learning. “There’s always something you can learn.”

Chapman told her classmates that while some of them may never be seen again, “We will never return to this moment, and we will keep changing, but we are connected. We are all uniquely a part of each other’s lives, so I urge you to find something to admire in every person here. There’s beauty in everyone who can inspire you if you take a moment to allow it. From this moment on, walk forward with dreams of what you wish to create, and receive people with kindness and honesty and kindness. Hold yourself with confidence and humility. Treat each person as if they are art because that’s what we are.”

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