DERRY — Pinkerton Academy handed out 656 diplomas to the Class of 2026 during its graduation ceremony Friday.
Senior Yanni Kalampalikis welcomed the graduates their family and friends, and school administration who gathered for commencement on Memorial Field.
Valedictorian Arav Mahajan addressed his peers and highlighted the little moments that brought his class, and the rest of the student body, together over the years.
They weren’t the “profound” moments, as he called them, but rather the in-between moments that defined their high school days that brought the students together.
“We all know our slogan, ‘We bleed red and white, every day and every night,’ but the thing nobody tells us about that line until you live it is that the ‘we’ is the part that matters,” Mahajan said.
“The colors are just the colors. The ‘we’ is the whole point.”
Salutatorian Boris Hadjiev also addressed the students before Head of School Tmothy Powers gave his address.
Class president Zachary DeLong gave his closing remarks about the memories made at Pinkerton Academy over the last four years and seeing the class build camaraderie with each other before instructing the class to move their tassels and remove their caps as graduates.
He stressed how high school wasn’t just about the diploma.
“On this campus you met and connected with that favorite teacher,” DeLong said. “You made friends and memories that you will keep for your whole life. We all learned valuable lessons here at Pinkerton Academy that will stay with us forever as we go out to the world and make our mark.”