Moravian Academy hosted the commencement for its Class of 2026 this brisk Saturday morning, May 30, celebrating the achievements of the 76 students who graduated this year.

Family and friends of the graduates gathered on the lawn in front of the campus’s Snyder House to cheer on the graduates. Poking through the crowd as the students walked to their seats were fathead signs displaying pictures of the graduates, celebrating their accomplishments.

“Today is a day of beginnings,” said Associate Head of School Lara Wulff in the opening invocation for the ceremony.

Head of School Adrianne Finley Odell followed the invocation with a welcome address that highlighted what the Class of 2026 achieved in their short time at the academy.

“They are almost without exception builders,” said Finley Odell as she listed the range of the class’s impressive accomplishments. She referred to all of their creations as “things that weren’t there before they showed up.”

Finley Odell also recapped the difficult times the students navigated through, highlighting the class’s resilience and ability to overcome adversity.

“They navigated a pandemic in their formative years. Some in the middle of moves. Some in the middle of loss,” Finley Odell said. “And rather than letting those things harden them, they let those things open them to gratitude, to each other, and to the small moments that turn out to big ones.”

Openness to each other was imperative to the Class of 2026’s development these last four years, as was the focus of the remarks given by graduating senior Elena Koprowski in her commencement speech.

“We are a rich tapestry of different personalities, backgrounds, and aptitudes. Yet we are united in the singular fact that we are here today because of the collaboration between our families, teachers, and peers,” Koprowski said.

Koprowski’s message of collaboration was exemplified by anecdotes of teamwork she observed in the rigorous classes, athletic achievements, and Moravian Academy’s Red and Gold Day, an annual school wide competition that Koprowski described as, “essentially field day, but multiply that energy by 100.”

Koprowski is attending McGill University in Montreal this fall, studying political science and economics in the University’s Joint Honors program.

Moravian Academy Class of 2015 Alum Stefan Joseph delivered his commencement address with advice to graduates on how to handle their newfound independence postgraduation, citing his own struggles during his years at Cornell University.

“I took on such a demanding college course load that I unwittingly let an ulcer grow in my stomach for a whole semester,” Joseph said.

To help the graduates avoid a similar fate, Joseph instructed them to create a list of their personal values, saying the list “can serve as your rules to live by, wherever you find yourself in life.”

“Your values should define your goals, not the other way around,” Joseph said in his concluding remarks. “Take the time now to establish the principles you care about most, so you can live a life that feels right to you,” he said.

Following Joseph’s speech, diplomas were conferred to the graduates, with each student’s contributions to the school being recognized by Finley Odell. She gave personal remarks about every student’s character and achievement throughout their time at Moravian Academy.

Moravian Academy’s Upper School Orchestra, which provided the soundtrack for the ceremony, then performed the academy’s alma mater. Cheers echoed through the lawn as the graduates celebrated with their family and friends, saying goodbye to their peers and embarking on the new chapter of their lives.