Graduation 2026

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Westlake High School's Class of 2026 walked across the stage in a graduation ceremony that was everything it should be: joyful, moving, and entirely their own. The celebration took place on the turf, and while the skies tested everyone's patience earlier in the day, Dr. Giarrizzo put it best: there are no flowers without rain.

The Westlake High School Concert Band, directed by Ulysses Torres, opened the ceremony with "Pomp and Circumstance." Lindsay Fox, Student Council Executive Board President, led the Pledge of Allegiance, and the Westlake High School Blendors/Alumni, directed by Emily Denler, performed the National Anthem.

Throughout the ceremony, Lindsay Fox served as emcee, weaving personal tributes to each speaker into her introductions and setting a tone that was warm, genuine, and deeply felt. She introduced her best friend since age three, Senior Class President Brooke Pfeiffer, with the kind of affection that only comes from a lifetime of friendship. She spoke about Principal Brady as the kind of principal who truly knows his students, a point the seniors made clear to themselves when they showed up on his lawn at five in the morning for their senior prank. She thanked Board of Education President Sara Beaty for her tireless work on behalf of the community and acknowledged Dr. Giarrizzo with gratitude and admiration, noting his enormous impact and his retirement at the end of next year.

Senior Class President Brooke Pfeiffer delivered the opening remarks with confidence and heart. She framed high school as a basketball game, four quarters of growth, challenge, and teamwork. Freshman year, they were rookies learning the fundamentals. Sophomore year, they learned to pass the ball. Junior year brought the full-court press, leaning on each other and making smart decisions under pressure. In their senior year, they weren't just players anymore. They were leaders, playing until the final buzzer. She reminded her classmates that families and teachers were their best fans and coaches, and she closed with a challenge: trust yourself, live without regrets, and step onto the court and make it count.

Principal Daniel Brady acknowledged the morning's weather with gratitude, noting that the community came together to ensure the rain wouldn't stop the celebration. He recognized custodians, the PTA, Chris Cerrato, Susan Pezzuti, and retiring staff members Mandy Goldstone and Kevin O'Connor. He told the graduates he had asked them for feedback before writing his speech, and that their responses were thoughtful, funny, and brutally honest. One student requested he mention how cool Dean Dable is. He honored the request. He described the Class of 2026 as wildly different but deeply connected, energetic, unique, close-knit, and, in their words, slay-tastic. He reminded them that academics matter, but so does balance. Schools are not buildings, he told them. They are what's inside them. He closed with what mattered most: the people who got you here are the ones who made you feel seen, supported, cared for, and capable. "Your character and kindness will define you more than your grades ever will."

Board of Education President Sara Beaty brought a letter to the graduates, built from advice collected from teachers across the district. Among the highlights: stop and smell the roses, your GPA will not help you find your car keys, karma is real, put your cell phone down once in a while, shake hands and say thank you, and send your friends a birthday card. She reminded them that time moves faster as they get older and that the antidote is to stop, be present, and enjoy it. "Westlake will always be your home, even though you're leaving. Congratulations, Class of 2026. The world is waiting for you."

Salutatorian Isabelle Chacko reflected on the distance between her eighth grade graduation speech and this one, and what that gap says about how far they have all come. She spoke about legacy and the way this class has already been shaping who they are, surviving sixth grade paint fumes, COVID, and a rainstorm forty minutes before the ceremony. Her yearbook quote: "Shoot for the moon, because even if you miss, you'll land among the stars."

Math teacher Mrs. Marissa Fata delivered the commencement address with a story: twenty years ago, she sat exactly where the graduates were sitting, earning her own diploma from Westlake High School. She never planned to come back. Plans change. As a calculus teacher, she knows something about continuous change, and her message was clear: change is not something to battle. It is something that empowers you. Ask for help. Reflect and reset. Protect your peace. Take your plans and your dreams with you as you walk across that stage.

Lindsay Fox reintroduced the Blendors/Alumni, who performed before Valedictorian Christina Rodrigues took the podium. Christina brought the class back to September 1, 2022, the day they all walked through the doors together, freshmen trying to figure out how moles could be anything other than something on your arm. She spoke honestly about regret, not about the work, but about balance, and about cramming in as much time with her classmates as she could in these final weeks. She quoted Noah Kahan, honored her mother as her greatest inspiration, and thanked her father for cheering the loudest even when he didn't fully understand her deviance research project. Her grandparents traveled all the way from Portugal. She closed simply and perfectly: "We have outgrown this place. Look how far we have come. We did it."

Dr. Peter Giarrizzo delivered the graduation proclamation and superintendent's address with his annual tradition: a song chosen for the class and a message built around its meaning. This year's song was "Little Wonders" by Rob Thomas, released in 2007, a song about letting go of regrets and finding profound meaning in the small, everyday moments of life. Dr. Giarrizzo reminded the graduates that we live in a culture obsessed with destinations, but the true architecture of a life is not built from trophies. It is built from the quiet, unmapped moments we so easily overlook. He asked them to let go of what could have been, to aspire to be like the sea, and to allow this new beginning to wash their shoreline clean. He challenged them to become artists of the everyday: to find joy not in the perfect milestone but in a random morning, a blazing sunset, a moment of real human connection. "Let go of what is behind, protect the small hours, and live so deeply in the ordinary moments that life becomes extraordinary."

Senior Class Advisors Ms. Jennifer Avella and Ms. Debbi DeNoia introduced the graduates, who received their diplomas from Principal Brady and Assistant Principal Richard Sharpe. Assistant Principal Sharpe then officially presented the Westlake High School Class of 2026.

The Westlake High School Concert Band closed the ceremony with a "Beach Boys Medley," arranged by John Moss, and the Class of 2026 walked out into the rest of their lives.

Congratulations, Westlake High School Class of 2026!