6-09-2026 4:20am

Voices of Commencement: Remarks from Boyertown’s Class of 2026 Graduation

Lesley Misko Editor

BASH Principal Jared Sparks addressing the Class of 2026 at commencement exercises on June 5.

by Expression Staff

The Boyertown Area Senior High School Class of 2026 commencement ceremony on June 5 featured speeches that blended humor, reflection, gratitude and forward-looking advice. Student leaders and district leadership addressed the 497 graduates and their families, offering perspectives shaped by shared experience, personal journeys and the responsibilities that come with moving forward.

Below are the full texts of four featured speeches delivered during the ceremony: the Class President’s Farewell, the Valedictorian Address, the Salutatorian Address, and the Superintendent’s Address.

Class President’s Farewell

“Carpe Diem”

When I ask someone what their favorite class is, and they tell me English, I’m always surprised. No disrespect to any of the English teachers, but personally, I felt like I was doing the same things every day. Reading, analyzing, and writing. And most of you right now are probably thinking, so what? Or I don’t care, but that’s exactly why you need to listen.

A few weeks ago, we watched a movie in English class, and two Latin words stuck with me: "Carpe Diem." Some people think they know what it means: To seize the day. To grab life by the throat. Don’t think; just act. But Carpe Diem isn’t about chaos. It’s about paying attention. You see, the reason I felt that way about English was that I was never actually in the moment. I never paid attention to the true meaning of the class, which apparently wasn’t just to teach us how to write essays in 40 minutes. Instead, English class taught me more about life than any other class ever did.

Because in life, like English, there isn’t one correct answer. There isn’t one correct path one must follow, yet so many people spend their lives conforming themselves to fit the expectations of those around them, following someone else’s path instead of waiting to find their own. If you spend your life trying to be like everyone else, you’re going to wake up one day and realize that you’ve been living someone else’s answer to a question you never got to explore for yourself.

And maybe that’s why Carpe Diem matters so much, because life doesn’t just hand us meaning. We create our meaning through the moments we choose to notice, the risks we choose to take, and the lives we choose to build for ourselves. And if we spend all of our time looking for someone else to tell us who to become, we’ll miss the chance to figure it out on our own.

Carpe Diem also means this moment, not the one before or the next one after. Seize this one before it’s gone. When we were younger, we couldn’t wait to grow up. We couldn’t wait to drive. We couldn’t wait to be done with school. And even right now, I bet most of you can’t wait until I’m done talking. But what are we actually waiting for? Because if we’re constantly waiting for the next thing, we’re going to miss the present moments we won’t get back — the last moment as a kid, the last moment our parents drove us somewhere, the last moment sitting in a high school classroom with our best friends. We take each moment for granted because we constantly want more. And sometimes that ambition isn’t a bad thing. But life cannot only be spent waiting for future moments, because if you spend your life waiting, you’ll never start living. Carpe Diem isn’t about rushing forward. Rather, it’s about not letting the moment pass by because you were too busy waiting for the next one.

The last thing I want to leave you all with is this. Don’t let high school graduation be the highlight of your life. We’re always told not to dwell on our past or our failures, but does anyone tell us not to dwell on our accomplishments, no matter how big? So celebrate today. Be proud of yourself. Seize the moment, but understand that it’s not meant to be your last. Yes, we finished high school. We’re about to graduate and receive our diplomas. But what does that mean for tomorrow? Because a year from now, that diploma is just going to be a piece of paper stored away somewhere. Not because it will have no meaning, but because you are going to do greater things.

So use today’s accomplishment as proof that you can reach another. Whether you’re going to college, trade school, the military, taking a gap year or just making new friends, keep moving forward every day, not toward perfection, but toward growth.

Tonight marks an achievement, but it does not mark the end. Because we are not done, we will never be done, and that is a privilege. So when tomorrow comes, don’t wait for life to begin again. It already has.

Carpe Diem. Seize the day. Not tomorrow. Not someday. Now.

Congratulations, class of 2026.

Valedictorian Address

“Dare to Ask”

How many are in attendance? Like 5,000? That’s kind of a lot. Okay, I don’t know if I want to do this. No, I got this. All right, I’m ready. Let’s go.

Good evening, everyone. To the faculty, families and friends, thank you all for being here and congrats to everyone who’s about to graduate today, class of 2026. I want to start this one off by pointing out something I’ve noticed over my four years at Boyertown. And I’m not talking about how cute Jake Musselman looked at the beginning of that senior montage. Shout out, Jake Musselman, by the way. I see you there.

No, but really, in almost every class, I’ve seen moments where my classmates hesitate to raise their hand and ask a question because, quite frankly, they’re probably afraid of looking dumb, even when the rest of the class is just as lost as they are. And, you know, sometimes that student was me. A lot of times it was. And if you’ve taken AP Physics, you definitely know what I’m talking about. Shout out, Period 2 Physics, by the way. Where you guys at? Yeah? That was the best class ever. I love you guys. All right, cool.

So, basically, whenever I got scared of asking a dumb question, I tried to do the simplest thing possible, and I just asked anyways. And if I still didn’t get it, I would stay after class and ask again until I understood. And it may seem obvious, but I really think that daring to ask questions is one of the most important things you can do when you need help the most. For example, if you’re having trouble with your homework, you can ask your teacher for help. I don’t know where he is, but shout out Mr. Repko. I asked him a few questions before this speech. Yeah. And if you’re having trouble with your relationship, you could ask your parents for advice because, you know, apparently they know a lot about that stuff. And if you’re having trouble with something that no single person can answer, like, how do you write a good graduation speech? Well, you can always just take a page out of Stanley’s book and ask ChatGPT to do it for you.

So, yeah. All right, but questions aren’t just useful for getting us out of trouble. They’re also some of our greatest assets for achieving success. Because, you know, whatever goals we choose to pursue, we have to ask ourselves a few difficult questions. Questions like, what am I willing to do to achieve this? Am I willing to fail 100 times before succeeding once? And am I willing to take a risk and get rejected by my top choice even if I don’t have a backup? And that’s not just about college, by the way.

Now, the funny thing is, for a few special people here, I actually know what they were willing to do to achieve their goals. You see, about 25 years ago, my parents decided they were willing to give up everything to build a life full of opportunity for their future family. They left Bolivia and came to America leaving behind their siblings, their closest friends, even their pets. Really, all they had was each other. It was the hardest and most important decision they ever made. And because of it, I get to stand here today. So thank you, guys. They’re over there, by the way. But I still worked my butt off to do it, though, so you’re welcome for that.

But on a serious note, the sacrifices my parents made for me and my sister are my greatest motivations, and I can’t express how grateful I am to have them because I literally would not be standing up here if it weren’t for them. I love you guys.

Now, while all those stories may look different, every single person sitting here today has that in common with me. We all had people who supported us, people who sacrificed for us, and people who helped us to get to this moment. And for many of us, some of our greatest everyday supporters were each other. Our best friends. They were our classmates. Now, as we grow older, we may not remember every assignment or test or class we took here at Boyertown, but I think it’s safe to say that we will cherish those friendships long after we leave here today.

And in the end, that’s what asking questions and accepting help really comes down to, because none of us succeed alone. So as we leave high school and step into whatever comes next, I hope we carry with us the courage to ask questions, ask for help when we need it, ask for opportunities, even when they scare us, and most importantly, ask more of ourselves, because — and this is my thesis statement, Mr. Repko — the world belongs to those of you who are bold enough to ask for it

Congratulations, class of 2026.

Thank you.

Salutatorian Address

“When Pigs Fly”

Thank you, Sam Ledder. Before I begin, I just want to say that I did not use ChatGPT like Diego said, because I use Claude AI. I’m just kidding, Mr. Sparks.

Okay, now that we’re through with the boring speech, let’s get on to the exciting one. Good evening, distinguished guests, relieved parents, bored siblings, and of course, the Boyertown Area High School class of 2026. Come on.

When Mr. Sparks told me I would be giving the salutatorian speech two weeks ago, I decided to prepare with the same intensity that a senior would put into their finals. So I began late last night. I sat down at my desk, searched up best graduation speeches on YouTube, and took notes. But it wasn’t plagiarism, I swear, because I changed some of the words around.

Now, the second thing I looked up was best paper airplane tutorial, because I thought it would be a great idea to fold my speech into a paper airplane to show you that what I’m about to say, I truly believe in and it comes straight from my heart. If I flip my speech over, you will see a blank sheet of paper, a blank slate.

Every moment, every idea, every beginning, every person starts blank. You were this sheet of paper when you were born. Over time, your blank slate gets folded. Your first steps, your first day at elementary school, the first time you fell down the steps trying to skip three at once, your sheet of paper is shaped by every friendship, every fight, every test you swore you’d study for, every 7 a.m. practice you swore you’d quit, every version of yourself you became for someone else, every text you typed and didn’t send. You can try to flatten the paper out, but the creases stay.

Finally, your folds become wings, and the wings are what carry you to wherever you’re going. The Marines, Penn State, the trades, your parents’ basement, it doesn’t matter. Because when you graduate today, you will be met with the most opportunities you’ve ever experienced. And at the same time, you are the most prepared you’ve ever been to take on those opportunities, the most prepared you’ve ever been to dream, the most prepared you’ve ever been to fly.

I’ll leave you with this: paper airplanes aren’t built to last. They’re built to be thrown. So fly, because even if you fail, at least you’ll know what the sky looks like.

You spent 18 years folding, now make the flight worth it.

Thank you.

Superintendent’s Address

On behalf of the Board of School Directors, faculty, support staff, and administration of the Boyertown Area School District, I would like to welcome the parents, guardians, relatives, friends, Boyertown Area community members, and most especially, the seniors who make up the class of 2026.

This evening, we are here to honor 497 graduates of the class of 2026. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a very special group of young adults.

It has been my honor and privilege to serve as Superintendent of Schools during this class's senior year. As a class, you have represented yourselves, your families, and the school district extremely well. Your presence of mind to recognize that life is fragile, and therefore valuable, sets you apart from others. Your curiosity and quest for knowledge, culture, experience, and connections make you engaging. Simply put, your empathy breeds compassion. The philanthropic endeavors and activities you've been involved in and supported and cultivated during your time in Boyertown leaves an unforgettable legacy.

Each and every graduate this evening has a unique story about their path to achieve in the honor of receiving their own diploma. While each and every one of these stories helps define each one of you and are extremely important, sharing all 497 stories this evening is not possible. However, as you continue on the next steps of your journey, I encourage you to share your story with others. Your story has helped to shape and mold who you are, and will continue to build community and allow others appreciation into your own lives.

The next steps and adventures for each one of you most times cannot be taken without others. The better you know and understand those around you, the better you can connect with moving forward in accomplishing the goals that you have set. Your story will contain chapters, some longer, some shorter, but all pages of those chapters help define you.

One thing that each passing year teaches all of us is that there is no script, no set of directions, nor any real road map for that matter to follow when charting our futures. What we do have, however, is our own internal compass. It’s that strong magnetic pull, or true north as some refer, that informs every one of us to do the right thing, make difficult choices, and set a course for ourselves, one that is both challenging, but also rewarding along the way.

As graduates, I’d like to share three intangible qualities that I’ve always found in people whose internal compass points in the direction toward a true north and therefore allows them to be authentic, empowering, and ultimately happy.

The first intangible quality is patience. We live in a world of instant gratification, where we are often measured by likes, loves, tweets, and retweets, as well as the number of followers and views that can be accumulated. While popularity and notoriety often stand out in today’s society, I have found that the patient individual who has the capacity to accept and tolerate initial discomfort and disappointment often finds strategic ways of handling many different types of situations and is often most successful. If I could convince you today that nothing life throws at you will be beyond your patience limit, then I’d be lying to you. Find your support now. Connect with those that will give you their shoulder for you to cry on and those that will push you beyond your comfort level. It’s these people with whom you will want to connect with throughout.

The second intangible quality is kindness. Mark Twain once stated, kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. I can’t emphasize enough that as you begin your journeys outside of Boyertown, it is both your attitude of kindness toward others and your perspective on situations that will move you closest toward your goals. Caring about others and doing things to help make their lives better connects all of us. In doing so, we cultivate trust, we cooperate, and above all, it’s simply the right thing to do.

The third and final intangible quality is optimism. Researchers have spent a lot of time studying people who think positively. They’ve concluded that an optimistic attitude helps us be happier, more successful, and healthier. As it turns out, it is far simpler and frankly more rewarding to focus on situations through a lens of optimism rather than pessimism. In doing so, solutions will be abundant. The admiration of problems and pessimism will be minimized, and you will ultimately be, as researchers have proven, much happier, healthier, and more successful.

The key to learning and understanding your true north is the cornerstone to building your own internal compass, which will include many intangible qualities that will assist you along the way. Russian author Leo Tolstoy once shared, everyone often thinks of changing the world, but no one really ever thinks of changing themselves. I implore you to create your environment of continuous self-improvement. In fact, who wouldn’t want to be around somebody who is kind in their giving of attention and appreciation to others, who is respectful by treating others as important, who is selfless in thinking a bit more about others than themselves, who is honest and authentic, and who is patient in showing self-control.

I encourage you to develop and seek intangible qualities — those qualities that aren’t always easily quantified or qualified, but rather they are measured by those around you and the type of feelings, inspiration, and happiness you’re able to develop in them.

Ladies and gentlemen, the class of 2026 has continued the lasting traditions that were established by all previous Boyertown Area School District graduating classes. A strong family of teachers, support personnel, administrators, and family have worked together to shape this culture of success.

To the class, I want to affirm that your lives are invaluable. They are priceless. Your lives are worthy of boldly and vibrantly living every single day. Find gratitude for what you have and stay open to the possibilities that still remain.

I hope that you have learned the skills to understand and solve the challenges that are facing your generation. There are many complex issues that will require informed, thoughtful citizens to participate in the democratic process. Use the lessons learned in your classrooms to make the world a better place.

Most of all, I hope you realize that you’ve earned the respect of the faculty and community with your work. Your graduation, your stories, and your intangible qualities place you in a growing group of Boyertown Area School District alumni who are doing great things in this world.

Congratulations, Class of 2026.

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