The Mepham High School graduating Class of 2022 was celebrated on the football field on June 12.

Bursts of maroon dotted the field as staff, friends and families enjoyed the commencement ceremony under a canopy of blue skies.

Principal Eric Gomez welcomed guests, noting this was his last graduating class. Gomez was appointed to assistant superintendent of personnel beginning with the 2022-23 school year.

“You, the class of 2022, recognized early on that the only way to succeed is to just keep persevering with the tasks at hand, leading to progress and achieving what you have set to build without abandoning it halfway through,” he said.

He encouraged graduates to maintain a positive attitude and outlook.

“This will keep you content and your mind at peace,” he added.

Poet Laureate Anika Strite read her original piece, “It’s Time.”

Valedictorian Helena Fu of Mepham and salutatorian Justin Dioguardi addressed the crowd.

Fu told classmates not to think of graduation as conclusion, but rather a continuation.

“Rather than being a timeline that we can easily follow, life takes many different turns,” she said. “Yet our foundations are composed of teachers, administrators, coaches and role models who have taught us how to think for ourselves. You have helped us to foster the growth of the foundation that allows us to branch out into the future.”

Dioguardi spoke about the late Kobe Bryant’s pillars of success, fearlessness, obsessiveness, relentlessness and passion.

“These traits perfectly describe the class of 2022,” he said. “We’ve all been faced with adversity during out high school years, but our relentlessness kept us going. Our determination is a major reason why the class of 2022 is one of the most impressive classes to ever walk the halls at Mepham.”

Date Added: 6/14/2022