Mineola High School held its 134th graduation ceremony for the Class of 2025, with graduates throwing their caps in the air to cap off the year.
Students walked in their red and white caps and gowns towards the auditorium’s main stage while hundreds of friends of family members in the audience eagerly waited for their student’s name to be called after a slew of speakers addressed the graduates with speeches full of life lessons and memories on Saturday’s ceremony.
“High school wasn’t just about trading the buses for cars. It was the step that showed the independence and the trust that we had been working for. It wasn’t just trading half days for full days, it was the determination and grit that came out of sitting in a full course load of AP and college work,” said Class President Emma Powers during her address to her graduating class.
A total of 239 students, including Powers, valedictorian Alicia Lin and salutatorian Makayla Apter-Quinn, received diplomas Saturday morning. Over 100 students received either an Advanced Regents Diploma or an Advanced Regents Diploma with Honors.
The audience was serenaded twice over the course of the ceremony. The first was by vocalist Noelia Lazaro, who sang a solo performance of the song “Slipping Through My Fingers,” by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Anderson. The second was the school orchestra’s iteration of Harold Arlen’s infamous “Over the Rainbow.”
Apter-Quinn thanked her parents and sister for their love and support throughout her childhood.
“My parents are my greatest inspirations and my biggest role models,” Apter-Quinn said. “Thank you both for everything you have done to get me to this stage today.”
“After 12 long years of hard work, we have reached the year we never thought would arrive and have grown into the adults our younger selves envisioned,” she said to her fellow graduates.
Lin also used her speech to reflect on her time in high school, speaking about lessons she’s learned while studying in the district.
“I’ve learned that strength doesn’t always look like independence,” Lin said. “Sometimes strength looks like raising your hand, walking into office hours, or texting a friend, ‘Can we talk?'”
Principal Rory Parnell said the respect and kindness the graduating class showed towards each other throughout their time in the district is something she had never seen.
“Thank you for letting me be a witness for this,” she told the class during her address.
Senior class advisors Emily Gendels and Nicole Lebowitz announced the names of each graduate, starting with Lin and Apter-Quinn. Each senior received a red diploma and took a picture with Parnell.
After all had walked across the stage, each student turned their tassels from right to left to the cheer and applause of the audience.
“Let us cherish the past, let us hold on to this moment, and let us embrace the future,” Powers said.
Read more graduation coverage: The Wheatley School holds 68th commencement ceremony.
