Bristol High School Graduation Brings Tears Of Joy From Students & Families

On a sunny Tuesday evening, approximately 58 Bristol Borough High School seniors sat in front of hundreds of family members and friends on the school’s football field. Many were smiling, some were brushing off the tassels hanging in front of their teary eyes.

It was the graduation ceremony for the Class of 2021, and after a year of social distancing and partial at-home learning, the mood from the speakers was that of relief and celebration.

Class Valedictorian Maria Bernandette Evardone stood in front of her peers and reminded them of their accomplishment.

“Guess where we all are? Right now, this moment… this is it. We all made it,” she said to a loud applause from the audience. “We should enjoy this moment and temporarily put our other problems aside […] to hold onto this feeling so that if we fall later, we will know that we are never alone.”

Class President Aubrie Greene-Coady reflected on her time at Bristol High School, reminiscing about the day her dad dropped her off and took her photo as she entered school. She said she and her classmates have come so far.

“We as students have done one of the hardest things people can do: we adapted to varying degrees of change. We should thank those who did this with us,” Greene-Coady said.

Bristol Borough School District Superintendent Dr. Rose Minniti offered “life advice” written by local kindergartners for the seniors.

“Joseph” told the students to never forget to go to school.

“Piper” reminded the graduates to work hard, to try their best and to be nice.

“Zayden”, the capitalist representative in kindergarten, said to graduate, get a job and make money.

“Alexa” reminded them to read every day.

“Dominic” said to get good sleep so the grads wouldn’t be cranky.

And “Juan”, the creative mind in his kindergarten class, believed the graduates should spend their summer months drawing pictures, playing with toys and going to the beach to fish.

And the class deserves the vacation after a year of hard work. Between all of the students at the ceremony, over $732,000 was awarded in scholarships and financial aid. Donors included the Bristol Alumni and Athletic Association, the Bristol Borough Education Association, the Bristol Cultural and Historical Foundation, and plenty of other associations, institutes and individual universities.

An emotional moment came when each student walked out into the crowd to hand out roses to the mothers, fathers, grandparents and guardians who were with them every step of the way.

After diplomas were given out, the smiling grads exited stage right to celebrate with their peers and their family members.

For a group of students who had to endure a global pandemic in the last school year, the ceremony was proof of both their academic success and their resilience.