Toll Gate High School said farewell to its Class of 2024 on Wednesday at the Ryan Center, where graduates and families alike celebrated the work that they had put in throughout high school.

The class had a unique journey from the beginning to end of their time at Toll Gate- starting high school virtually during the heights of the COVID-19 pandemic and enduring some more virtual learning in their senior year due to the school’s roof membrane ripping off and a heating unit leak.

Due to that, Principal Candace Caluori dubbed the Class of 2024 as one of the strongest classes that Toll Gate High School had ever seen.

“It may not have seemed it at the time, but you have persevered and stepped up to the challenge,” Caluori said. “These challenges will serve you well as you leave us.”

Valedictorian Mya Reynolds mentioned that the adjustment to in-person classes was particularly tough for her, saying that

Reynolds said that after the silence and isolation that starting high school with Zoom classes entailed, reconnecting and getting back to normal over the past four years made her high school experience ultimately enjoyable.

“I’m grateful that our final hours at Toll Gate were filled with noise,” Reynolds said. “Laughter in the halls, screaming to friends and asking them to sign yearbooks and saying our goodbyes to teachers solidified the bittersweet ending that made my time spent as a Titan worthwhile. Through all the chaos and unconventionality of the past four years, we still managed to be here today.”

Not everyone, as Salutatorian Ja’Quan Burrill pointed out, makes it to the point of graduation. Burrill told the story of a friend and neighbor of his who dropped out, and the last time he saw him.

“Last year, I was walking home from school, and on the other side of the road, he was walking the other direction with a sort of elation on his face that you don’t usually see him with,” Burrill said. “I asked him what was going on, and he says ‘I did it. I dropped out. I’m glad I don’t have to go back.’ That was the last day I saw him. For many of us, it’s maybe the very last day you’ll see the person sitting next to you. But to all of us, this will be the very first day that marks a new chapter in your life.”

Reaching this point, Burrill said, was a testament to the work that the Class of 2024 had done since they first started kindergarten.

“We all have a story,” Burrill said. “This story that each of has, even though it’s common amongst ourselves, contains unique insight into who you are, and who you will become. All of those events that took place already, whether good or bad, yesterday or years ago, made you the person who you are today.”

Class president Jordan Brazeau announced that the class’s graduation gift, which would be shared with this year’s freshman, sophomore and junior classes once they graduate, would be funds going towards the sign for the reconstructed Toll Gate High School once it’s completed.

As Toll Gate moves into the future, its new alumni are looking towards it as well. As their past achievements were being celebrated, Mayor Frank Picozzi told the class that he saw a bright future ahead for the world to be created in part by the class’s 235 members.

“My parents’ generation- who lived through the Great Depression, fought World War II, invented television and explored the moon- are aptly referred to as the Greatest Generation,” Picozzi said. “Watching all of you grow up in the ballfields, in school events- even at my Christmas display- I see the same greatness in this generation.”