SOUTH HUNTINGTON, NY — Walt Whitman High School honored its Class of 2026 on Friday evening, June 26, during the school’s 96th commencement ceremony.
A total of 483 graduates received their diplomas during the outdoor celebration, held on the athletic field at Wildcat Stadium.
The ceremony, emceed by Assistant Principal Jonathan Varlamos, brought together students, families, faculty, administrators and school board members to recognize the graduates’ achievements as they prepare for college, trade school, the workforce, the military and other paths after high school.
Walt Whitman Principal Dr. John Murphy opened the ceremony by reminding students that while much of high school focuses on grades, they are more than test scores.
“As I look out at all of you this evening, I don’t see GPAs, class ranks, transcripts, test scores, or college acceptance letters,” Murphy said. “I see people who have grown, those that have taken on the world and say ‘I can’ to whatever is before them. I see young men and women who have spent the last four years discovering who they are.”
Murphy told graduates that success is not always about being the smartest person in the room, but about continuing to move forward when life becomes difficult.
“It is the courage to fail, learn, and try again,” he said. “Those qualities will carry you much farther in life than any grade or test score ever could.”
District Superintendent Dr. Vito D’Elia praised both the graduates and the families who supported them throughout their educational journey.
“Tonight is a celebration of your accomplishments, your resilience, and the incredible journey that has brought you to this moment,” D’Elia said. “It is also a celebration for the parents and families who somehow managed to survive 18 years of early morning wake-up calls, forgotten homework, last-minute projects, athletic schedules, and college applications. Parents, tonight belongs to you as much as it belongs to our graduates.”
The Class of 2026’s top two students both spoke about the power of love and the continuing need for human connection in their commencement addresses.
“As long as you live with love, you will be great,” Valedictorian Shayaan Siddiqui said. “That type of authentic mutual love for ourselves and the ones close to us is more important now than ever before.”
Siddiqui encouraged classmates to carry love into their communities and future lives.
“Regardless of race, gender, class, and religion, we are all human,” he said. “We all deserve to love and be loved. Just as you have all contributed to making Walt Whitman a community of love, I urge you all to bring that love to your communities, your family, and most importantly, yourself.”
Senior Class President Isabella Galindo presented the Class of 2026’s gift to the school: three banners with different designs for occasions throughout the school year, including everyday use, homecoming and graduation.
Galindo then led her peers in the ceremonial switching of the tassel, sending a sea of graduation caps into the air and marking the official conclusion of their high school careers.
Salutatorian Jade Tintera also reflected on the importance of loving one another and being present for others as graduates move on to the next chapter of their lives.
“As I began thinking about what I wanted to say, I kept coming back to one question: What made these last four years so meaningful?” Tintera said. “At first, I thought about accomplishments, grades, awards, or milestones, but the more I reflected, the more I realized what mattered most wasn’t what we achieved. It was the people who walked beside us along the way.”
Tintera said she asked people close to her what love meant to them, and their answers all pointed to the same idea.
“Love is shown by how we choose to be there for one another,” she said.
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