Some Enchanted Evening: SHS Graduates the Class of 2025
- Monday, 23 June 2025 10:01
- Last Updated: Tuesday, 24 June 2025 12:56
- Published: Monday, 23 June 2025 10:01
- Joanne Wallenstein
- Hits: 1792
It’s the moment parents and seniors anticipate and dread in equal measure—graduation. A time to look back on years of growth and hard work and to face the bittersweet reality that the children they once knew are now grown and flown. Life at home will never be quite the same.
With hearts full of memories and eyes set on the future, grandparents, aunts and uncles, parents, teachers, and administrators gathered on Butler Field on the evening of Friday, June 20, to see the transformation of 360 high school seniors into graduates of Scarsdale High School.
Thankfully, the Class of 2025 reached this milestone beneath an azure sky, shielded from the storms and uncertainty of the wider world. The surrounding days brought record-breaking heat and thunderous weather, and the following day the President would declare war. But on Friday evening, time stood still. As the sky shifted from blue to gray to pink, the class, led by Class Advisors Carol D’Angelo and Michael Kumaresan (Dr. K), processed onto the field, cheered on by their teachers who lined the track.
School Board President Suzie Hahn addressed the graduates::
“You have completed a famously rigorous course of study to earn your Scarsdale diploma and demonstrated resilience and fortitude in the face of every challenge. You’ve charted your own paths, both in and out of the classroom, honing essential life skills and developing a strong sense of self.”
She continued, “Be confident that your experiences in Scarsdale have prepared you well for these rapidly changing times. You’ve learned to communicate clearly, listen carefully, and think critically and creatively. You’ve collaborated with classmates, supported each other, and formed lifelong friendships. As you reflect on your time here, I hope you’re as proud of yourselves as we are of you. Watching you grow has been a joy.”
Quoting the school motto Non Sibi—not for oneself—Hahn reminded the class of their responsibility:
“You have so much to offer. Engage with others with kindness and an open heart. And be kind to yourselves, too—for you are precious, and enough. I have every confidence that you will lead with integrity, serve with empathy, and live with purpose.” She closed with warmth: “Don’t forget to call home regularly after you’ve flown the nest—and please, come back and visit us here in Scarsdale.”
Class Officers Amelia Feder and Mason Levy took the stage to thank Advisors D’Angelo and Kumaresan for their unwavering support over the past four years.
“Their constant encouragement shaped our class,” they said. “From prom to community service to barbecues, they helped us pull off incredible events. Whether the issue was big or small, they were always there.” “Señora D’Angelo brings warmth and a love of teaching,” they shared. “Dr. K can explain a calculus problem five different ways until it clicks. But their support went far beyond academics—they made sure we were seen and heard. They helped us be our best selves."
Suzie Hahn and Drew Patrick
Señora D’Angelo said, "Today we are charged with leaving you with a last impactful message and so we would like to talk to you about two aspects of life: relationships and responsibilities.
Aristotle said: “Good moral character is not something that we can achieve on our own. We need a culture that supports the conditions under which self-love and friendship flourish.”
Take a minute to look around and see all of the people who made this moment possible and all of the relationships that you made along the way."
Dr. K added, "For most of you, you will never ever have to refer to any of this anymore: chemical equations, the plots of novels, historical dates and names, the quadratic formula, the carbon cycle, Shakespeare, the subjunctive conjugation, the causes of World War I – in real life, people just look that stuff up on Wikipedia – or better yet, ask chat GPT!
So then, what was the deal with all those tests and quizzes and homework?
There are many people in the world who never got the chance to go to school and all those people know why your tests and quizzes and homework were important. They know that they’re missing something. They know the simple truth – that it’s better to know, than to not know. They know that it’s better to read the newspaper than to be uninformed. They know that being able to learn about great literature, the cells in the human body, the chemical composition of the stars, and the fundamental theorem of calculus is a privilege not a chore."
"... So what should you do with this privilege? That we don’t know! But of course, that’s the hard part, because it’s entirely up to you. What we do know is that the world isn’t perfect. We’ve got a lot of problems and challenges.
But you’re a capable group of young people. As your class advisors, here is one last charge: to not only develop deep and meaningful relationships, but also to use the privilege of your education responsibly. Strive to make your own personal future as good as you can, and hopefully to leave your corner of the world a little better than it was when you first got there."
Class Officers Zane Kohn and Arielle Pitchon also expressed gratitude to the school’s faculty and staff:
“We’re here to celebrate our hard work, but we also thank the incredible teachers, deans, aides, and custodians whose help shaped our journey. Our teachers gave us knowledge, critical thinking—and the support we needed to manage the stress of high school.”
Class Vice President Jay Paradkar spoke of the lessons he learned about leadership and resilience, but emphasized, “It’s the sense of community I’ll cherish most… Everywhere we go, we leave a piece of ourselves behind.” He also praised Class President Daniyal Naeem: “He carried the role with pride, enthusiasm, and a great sense of humor.”
Naeem recalled starting high school during the pandemic:
“We entered SHS sitting six feet apart from our friends. But this school taught us to think critically—and to speak up for what we believe in. Soon we’ll be in lecture halls where no one has heard of Scarsdale. But we’ll bring this community with us. We know how to make a difference. We’ve learned to really listen—not just respond. And hey—we’re graduating before the cell phone ban kicks in! I hope you lived the dream these past four years—because I sure did.”
SHS Principal Ken Bonamo gave an insightful address about the impact of Artificial Intelligence on learning and education. He said, “AI presents incredible opportunities and innumerable questions to us as individuals and as a society.” He warned of the risks of AI, similar to nuclear. energy or plastics, “where both the costs and benefits are significant and significantly at odds.” Posing questions about the educational process in the age of AI he said, “If AI can produce a decent or better quality literary response essay or even now a fully cited research paper, are those tasks still valid today as worthy of our time for you to write them and for us to grade them? If they are, how do we protect them from being invalidated by AI—and is that even possible? And if they aren’t worth our effort, then what is?”
Bonamo encouraged students to find meaning amid the uncertainty: “To make sense of all this—the world around you at the moment of your high-school graduation—I urge you to find a through line of humanity, and perhaps to begin by thinking of non sibi, of selfless service."
Read his remarks here:
After wishing the class a bright future, Bonamo turned the podium over to Superintendent Drew Patrick, who formally certified the graduation of the Class of 2025.
Then, one by one, the names of all 360 graduates—some with long and complex pronunciations—were read aloud by the school deans with grace and precision.
The entire event, seamless and heartfelt, was expertly orchestrated by Assistant Principal Andrea O’Gorman, who never misses a beat.
Click here to see the hats fly!
As the ceremony ended, the field filled with joy: students lighting cigars—both girls and boys—posing for photos, embracing friends, and beaming with pride. Darkness settled over Butler Field and the Class of 2025 stepped into the night—well prepared to face the future and the challenges that lie ahead.
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