The 2026 Londonderry Adult Education Winter Graduation Ceremony, was held on Wednesday evening, Jan. 7 marking the achievements of 22 students.
The ceremony commenced with Director Crystal Rich acknowledging the efforts put forth by the Adult Ed staff, followed by thanks the the family and friends of the graduates who attended that evening.
Rich added how proud she was of the commitment and perseverance put forth by the students standing before her.
School Board chair Bob Slater added some congratulatory remarks before two student speakers were welcomed to the stage. Issabella Serrano and Angelynn Taylor both gave emotional speeches highlighting the challenges they went through to get to the point of receiving their diplomas.
Londonderry High School student Rebecca Solomons was welcomed to the stage to sing a powerful rendition of the Class Song “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus.
Following that, Adult Education teacher Shannon Burne was welcomed as the Staff Speaker.
Referring to the group of graduates as her “Covid Babies” Burne stated that she was proud of the way they pushed through the final stage of their education, saying, “You didn’t just hope to graduate, you worked for it.”
The evening ended with Rich and Mary Shank presenting scholarships and award, followed by Rich and Jaclyn Hoffman handing out diplomas.
As been the tradition for a number of years now, staff released confetti over the graduates before the Recession of the ceremony.