Rockville High School Class of 2026 Commencement: What Was Said

VERNON, CT — With graduations ceremonies come speeches and Thursday's Class of 2026 commencement ceremony at Rockville High School was no different.

Here are some excerpts of what was said:

"Class of 2026, your last 13 years haven't always been easy, but looking out at you tonight, I can confidently say it has been entirely worth it. Welcome to your final evening at a place I proudly call Our House. Tonight, we celebrate a vibrant, resilient, and deeply talented group of students who have grown into outstanding young adults. I have had the absolute privilege of being your principal and witnessing your growth over the past four years. No matter the obstacles, you faced them with courage. You embraced your failures, learned from them, and turned them into the very success that brought you to this stage. There were late nights, tough lessons, and moments of doubt—but you put in the work. You played hard this year. Whether you were under the lights on the athletic fields, performing on stage, creating in the music rooms, or leading in our classrooms and clubs, you showed up and gave your best. As I always say: Life is a game—be ready to play at the highest level."

RHS Principal Jason Magao

"You all have the personal qualities of a Rockville Ram. By being Dynamic & Resilient. By being Dynamic, you are energetic, charismatic, and capable of handling challenges effectively. By being Resilient, you have a positive outlook, the ability to self-regulate, strong social support, and a willingness to learn and adapt."

Superintendent of Schools Joseph Macary

"We are rooted in Rockville High School. If there is one thing I can promise to you today, it is that no matter where you go after graduation, there will be at least one blue and gold oversized T-shirt somewhere in your luggage or closet. That shirt may eventually end up folded in a drawer, packed away in a box, or only worn when no one else is around, but what it represents will stay with you. Every Friday night football game, spirit weeks, school plays, meets, and bus rides. It represents the people sitting around you right now. Rockville has given us friendships that started in elementary school, friendships that started this year, and probably a few group chats that will never die. For the past four years, we have all operated within a few miles of each other. Now, somehow, we’ve managed to scatter ourselves across the globe. Despite the distance, we will be comparing every new place to Rockville. Some of us will move to places where winter doesn’t exist, and people think fifty degrees is cold. We will run into people who have never heard of our town and somehow still find a way to bring it up in conversation — 'Oh, I grew up in Connecticut. No, not THAT part of Connecticut. Like near UConn....Yeah, like Paige Bueckers' .... Right now we may be excited to explore new places, but Rockville will always be our common language."

RHS Senior Class President Iris Hida

"To my fellow graduates, I want to say that in your lives, there will always be time for you to pursue some impossible goal, trying to learn everything there is to know like I aim to, painting the greatest masterpiece to ever exist, cultivating a physique so resplendent you push past the preconceived notions of the limits that the human body has, uniting the world under one banner of peaceful coexistence. You probably won’t succeed in the eyes of everyone else, maybe only reaching that second or third place, but success isn’t important. What’s important is that you get even a step closer to achieving something impossibly magnificent, bettering yourself and the world in the process even if it’s a small improvement."

RHS Class of 2026 Salutatorian Kyle Shalaev

"You have been surrounded by so many people who acted, looked, and spoke differently from you, all of whom you could learn from and explore with. Never stop appreciating the diversity of your communities, as it makes us stronger and better. The people who have gotten us to this place have been the keys to our success. Whether they have been our friends, family, teachers, competitors, or anyone else, they have become a larger part of our lives than I’m sure a lot of us have realized. I encourage you all to never stop getting involved in your community, seeing what you can do for them and what they can do for you."

RHS Class of 2026 Valedictorian Aidan Lang