Gardner High School Class of 2022 urged to assist each other on life's journey

GARDNER — Class of 2022 graduates from Gardner High School were urged to pursue their passions, forge their own paths, and be wary of negative online influences during commencement ceremonies on Saturday.

Diplomas were handed out to 108 graduates during the ceremony at Watkins Field, marking the 147th commencement in the school’s history.

“What a great bunch of kids, seriously,” said GHS Principal Paula Bolger in her remarks. “They’re a smaller group than we usually have, but they make up for it in spirit.”

Bolger related a story about accompanying about half of the senior class on a hike to the summit of Wachusett Mountain.

The group, which included experienced hikers as well as beginners, might have taken different paths and moved at different speeds, but that they all eventually wound up at the top of the mountain. The trip back down, however, was an entirely different experience, she said.

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While all routes up eventually led to the summit, Bolger explained, not all trails down led down to where the buses were parked to take the students home.

“We started counting kids at the bottom of the mountain, and we were missing maybe 12 or so,” she said. “They were spread out all over the base of the mountain. Some of them were, like, three miles away from where the bus was.”

The students began calling and texting each other to determine everyone’s location. Eventually, all students were found, were picked up by a bus, and made it safely home. Bolger said the incident illustrated to her just how close the members of the graduating class were to each other.

“I saw a group of kids working together, communicating with each other, and relying on each other,” she said. “They took different paths for different reasons — maybe intentionally, maybe not, (and) some were definitely lost — but in the end they all found each other. They counted on each other, they helped each other out, and they figured it out.

“It sounds a bit like life to me,” Bolger added.

She reminded the students that they would each take different paths in their lives, face struggles, and at times feel very lost. She urged them to seek help when they felt they needed it, and to be a person that others could rely on.

“I have no doubt you can all find success in whatever path you choose," Bolger said. "And eventually, in time, you will all figure it out.”

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Superintendent Mark Pellegrino encouraged the graduates to not allow themselves to let their opinions be swayed by influencers who might not have their best interests in mind. He admitted he had been persuaded to believe an inaccurate account about a lawsuit that had received national media attention nearly three decades ago, when radio and television were his main sources of information.

The problem had only been made worse since the advent of social media, Pellegrino said.

“It’s still the same tactic, but it’s a million times more frequent in today’s digital world, and these forces have made social media a divisive tool,” he warned. “Social media was supposed to bring us together, but instead it’s tearing us apart. It’s tearing the country apart.”

Pellegrino told the students it is important to be aware of when attempts were being made to sway their opinion, and to be vigilant about their sources of information.

“So, when you hear the soundbite, think of who paid for it, what was their motive for creating it, (and) question and dig for the facts before you embrace a belief,” he explained. “And please question and dig before you broadcast a belief on any  platform.”

Mayor Michael Nicholson congratulated the class on behalf of the city’s 21,000 residents. He said he had gotten to know many of them through community events, their civic engagement, and during his brief time as a substitute teacher at Elm Street School.

They had shown strength and resilience during unprecedented circumstances, especially when the world was struck by a global pandemic during their sophomore and junior years Nicholson said.

“Your classes transitioned to Zoom, activities were either canceled or moved to a virtual or remote format, and life in general was just different,” he said. “But through it all, you persevered.”

Nicholson said he was particularly impressed by how the students conducted themselves as they began their senior year during what had become the ‘new normal.’

“You set the example for the other students in the grades below you of how things went at Gardner High School in a normal year, even though you really only had your eighth grade and freshman years to set that example from,” he said. “But instead of focusing on what could have been viewed as the losses you had, you focused on giving the underclassmen the best experiences that they could have by turning something that could have been viewed as a loss into something that you viewed as an opportunity.”

Nicholson urged the graduates to continue serving as an example to others.

“Remember how resilient you’ve been, how you’ve faced adversity," he said, "(and) how you set the example for others already, because there are already too many people in this world looking for help and guidance who need people like you to show them how to get things done."

This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Class of 2022 graduated from Gardner High School