'Stay Curious': Wantagh High School Hosts Graduation

WANTAGH, NY — June 12 was graduation day in Wantagh, as seniors from Wantagh High School received diplomas and looked ahead to the next chapters in their lives.

The festivities kicked off with the traditional graduation anthem, “Pomp and Circumstance” conducted by senior drum majors Madison Rodriguez and Olivia Scherer, and the presentation of colors led by Joseph Riso, Corline Feyrer and Luka Sumberac. Finally, Emily McHale sang the national anthem.

When it was time for speeches, senior class president Daniel Donahue told his classmates to seize whatever opportunities came their way as they stepped beyond Wantagh.

“I hope you can say, ‘I was there, I lived it, and I appreciated every moment while I hadit,’” Donahue said.

Following Donahue, salutatorian Ethan Chen and valedictorian Victoria Ferraro got the chance to address their peers, highlighting the importance of being open to growth and being a leader, respectively.

“Leadership is so much more than the achievements that we tend to celebrate,” Ferraro said. “In fact, not all leaders are always holding the microphone. Some people lead like lightning; some people lead like gravity – unseen yet seamlessly holding everything around together.”

After the speeches, students were presented with diplomas by superintendent John McNamara and a medal commemorating the class of 2026. As the students moved the tassels across their graduation caps, commemorating their change from students to graduates at Wantagh, they greeted a period of change. Thankfully for them, the salutatorian had already offered some advice for greeting that change.

“The reality is that most of us are about to enter a period of our lives with new people, new opportunities and experiences we can’t predict – it’s just part of growing up,” Chen said. “That’s why I’ve started to think that maybe the goal isn’t to have everything figured out. Maybe the goal is to stay curious long enough to find out.”