Locust Valley High School’s Class of 2024 took to the stage to receive their diplomas on June 26 at Fred Smith Field. 164 graduates dressed in green and white gowns with their colorful cords symbolizing each of their accomplishments throughout their four years crossed the stage to the cheers of their friends and families.
The graduates and the large crowd of their supporters were then treated to performances of The Star-Spangled Banner and The Beatles’ “In My Life.”
Student speakers Ella Crocco and Madison Melillo, valedictorian Riley Haas and salutatorian Kelsey Neves praised their classmates for their hard work and asked them to continue their ambitions in the next chapter of their lives.
“This day, this ceremony, these caps and gowns and sashes and cords are all symbols of us moving up in this world,” Locust Valley High School graduating senior Madison Melillo said. “Yes, today may be an ending, and a tragic one at that, but it also may be one epic beginning. The beginning of the rest of our lives.”
“Approach everything and everyone with an open mind,” Class of 2024 valedictorian Riley Haas told her classmates. “Do not go into anything with the assumption that you know exactly who a person is or exactly what something entails. Give everything and everyone a chance.”
After the speeches concluded, each member of the graduating class was called up to the stage and received their diploma from principal Patrick DiClemente.
To conclude the ceremony, students turned their tassels and tossed their caps in the air before embracing each other and becoming the newest alumni members of the Falcon Family.