By Maddie Miga

Student Writer

On June 1, Millis High School seniors began the month in a very memorable way. At 6 p.m., these upperclassmen began their high school graduation by walking alongside their peers and through the rows of proud families. 

The ceremony took place on the Millis High School football field, where parents, siblings, teachers, and many more gathered to watch the Class of 2023 graduate. The MHS class of 1973 also attended this year’s commencement, as they celebrated their 50th anniversary of graduating from Millis High. 

The ceremony started with the superintendent’s welcome address given by Robert Mullaney. This was followed by speeches from the Class President Katherine LaDuke, and co-Senior Speakers Francesa Pizzarella and Samuel Goncalves. The salutatorian John Burns and valedictorian Lilly Cassiday also spoke at the ceremony about their time spent at Millis and how high school has prepared the class to enter life outside of this small school. 

MHS Principal Mark Awdycki said, “The student speakers were fantastic and the messages they shared were representative of the character, class, and leadership of this graduating group.”

Before the students walked to receive their diplomas, some seniors were given the Spanish Immersion Certificate of Excellence. This award was presented by Antonio Caballero Javierre, the Consulate General of Spain, to students who excelled in the language. 

With their graduation caps tossed, the Class of 2023 graduated with optimism for the future. Awdycki said this year’s seniors were a “particularly special group. Despite the challenges they faced in the crazy COVID times of their first two years of high school, they never let that define them as a group. Instead, this resilient group defined themselves with a legacy of leadership and commitment to school and community that I hope the classes below will continue to follow. They started programs and initiatives at MHS that will last for years to come.”