‘You earned your voice’: 11 Stoneleigh-Burnham grads remember their strength

GREENFIELD — Eleven graduates left Stoneleigh-Burnham School with the importance of friendship and remembering their strength fresh in their minds from Friday’s graduation ceremony.

“Graduation is a way of celebrating the achievements of the past, but commencement is a way to recognize the start of a new verse, a new chapter,” Head of School Laurie Lambert said in her last graduation ceremony with the school.

Associate Head of School for Academics Bett Alter will take over for Lambert in June as the interim head of school.

After applause and screaming cheers from students in the audience, Karleen Kaur gave the senior class address, highlighting the friendships made on Stoneleigh-Burnham’s campus.

“When I applied to [Stoneleigh-Burnham], I imagined it to be the ‘Barbie: Princess Charm School’ movie — I was expecting those fancy lockers and teatime classes with preppy uniforms and all that, but there was not, sadly,” Kaur said. “But one thing that [Stoneleigh-Burnham] has that the Barbie movie surprisingly does not have is a magical community. No, I don’t mean that we have talking horses and animals on campus, I’m referring to how friendly, open and accepting our community is.”

As the audience chuckled, Kaur reminded her classmates and friends of memories laden with laughter, like their senior prank. On a trip to Dunkin’ Donuts and Wendy’s, the Class of 2026 sported identical bald caps, likely throwing the cashiers for a loop.

“If there’s one good thing that you can take away from my speech today, it would be to laugh more and share those laughs with people you love,” Kaur closed.

Before Lambert and Alter handed out diplomas, Jordyn Pigott, the commencement speaker, took the stage.

An alumna of the school, Pigott has worked in the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Census Bureau and the New York City Mayor’s Office.

Instead of telling the graduates to overcome fear, Pigott challenged them to persevere through fear.

“We’re often told not to be afraid, but I’m not going to tell you that today. To be honest, you’ll be afraid sometimes, and that’s OK. What matters is what you do next,” Pigott told the seniors. “Do it afraid, do it nervously, do it unsure, do it with shaking hands and a racing heart — do it anyway.”

If the question “Are you sure you’re supposed to be here?” creeps in, Pigott told the graduates to not listen and remember, “Yes, you are supposed to be there. You earned your seat, you earned your voice, and no amount of self-doubt can take that away from you.”

As the graduates embark on their next steps, she encouraged them to make “glorious, messy, unexpected, real mistakes” and learn their way forward.

“You have so much greatness ahead of you, and I don’t say that lightly or as some empty platitude,” Pigott said. “I say it because I’ve seen what happens when young women that are smart, driven, compassionate, bold and courageous like you step into the world and decide to make it theirs — the world changes. It gets better, it gets kinder and it gets brighter.”

Graduates from Franklin and Hampshire counties

Charlotte Caputo of Greenfield, Lucy Castoldi of Hadley, Olivia Hastings of Gill, Cheyenne Killeen of South Deerfield, Sophia Lord of Florence, Maeve Noble of Greenfield, Sara Pontani of South Deerfield and Madeleine Robertson of Amherst.

Awards

Junior IB Learner Award — Eleanor McBeth; Senior IB Learner Award — Sara Pontani; Grade 9 Language and Literature Award — Madeline Wilson; Grade 10 Language and Literature Award — Liliana Green; Grade 11 Language and Literature Award — Sonoma Hansen; Grade 12 Language and Literature Award — Lucy Castoldi; Grade 9 Individuals and Societies Award — Fiona Thompson; Grade 10 Individuals and Societies Award — Anna Meirowitz; Grade 11 Individuals and Societies Award — Valentina Hernandez; Grade 12 Individuals and Societies Award — Charlotte Caputo; Grade 9 Math Award — Amelie Gauthier; Grade 10 Math Award — Caroline Abbe; Grade 11 Math Award — Lennon Phillips; Grade 12 Math Award — Claribel Wong; Grade 9 Science Award — Fiona Thompson; Grade 10 Science Award — Caroline Abbe; Grade 11 Science Award — Aden Ackah; Grade 12 Science Award — Sophia Vigliotti; Grade 9 World Language Award — Madeline Wilson; Grade 10 World Language Award — Caroline Abbe; Grade 11 World Language Award — Ruby Rowan-Decker; Grade 12 World Language Award — Charlotte Caputo; EL Award — Grace Zhang; Visual Arts and Performing Arts Award — Olivia (Mica) Hastings; Performing Arts Enthusiast — Yuki Vilayvanh; Visual Arts Enthusiast — Phina Wulfkuhle; Most Improved Athlete Award — Karleen Kaur; Unsung Hero Award — Sophia Lord; Bonnie Benn Jesser Award — Charlotte Caputo; Amy Spencer Most Valuable Athlete Award — Lucy Castoldi; Most Improved Riding Award — Madeleine (Maddie) Robertson; Coaches Award — Aden Ackah; Horsemastership Award — Caroline Abbe; 9th Grade Class Award — Yuki Vilayvanh; 10th Grade Class Award — Caroline Abbe; 11th Grade Class Award (Junior Leadership) — Valentina Hernandez; The Academic Cup — Sophia Vigliotti; The Mabel Hood Emerson Award — Maeve Noble; The Prospect Hill Prize — Sara Pontani; The Margaret and Edward Emerson Award — Charlotte Caputo; The Virginia Giles Whittemore Prize — Lucy Castoldi; The Miriam Emerson Peters Award — Thy Nguyen; The Head of School Award — Olivia (Mica) Hastings; and The Stoneleigh-Burnham Prize — Cheyenne Killeen; The Senior Class Prize — Karleen Kaur.