Graduates Told to Embrace Change, Hold on to Character at Lyme-Old Lyme Commencement

LYME/OLD LYME, CT – Members of Lyme-Old Lyme High School’s graduating class, described as close-knit, kind and accomplished throughout Thursday’s commencement ceremony, were urged to embrace change while staying true to themselves.

With hundreds of family members and friends seated on the high school lawn behind the graduates, remnants of a thunderstorm gave way to sun. 

High school principal Jim Wygonik called attention to their character. Advisor Tracy Lenz said the students with so much heart will always have a place in hers. Class President Chase Gilbert, a standout athlete and volunteer with ‘Run Like a Girl,’ credited her classmates for their commitment to community service. 

Wygonik took the opportunity to announce the Class of 2026 as the “highest academically achieving” class in the history of Lyme-Old Lyme High School based on standardized test scores and state rankings. 

Then there were the 22 state and conference athletic championships and the school’s first-ever Stephen Sondheim Award in musical theater.

“But these achievements do not define this class,” he said. “High schools across America today are producing young people with similar accomplishments. But you, my friends, possess something very special. You have character.” 

Salutatorian Christopher Dagher acknowledged the class’s record of accomplishment before offering his own remarks on character. 

He said Michael Jordan, one of the greatest basketball players of all time, once attributed his success to repeated failures. 

“We’ve all had moments where it felt like we were taking the game-winning shot, and we’ve all had moments where we missed,” Dagher said. “It’s inevitable. It’s just statistics.” 

But while failure is inevitable, he told his classmates how they react to it is in their control. That means being honest about what went wrong, learning from it and forgiving themselves afterward. 

“Because once a moment has passed, it is over,” he said. “There is no second chance to change what has already happened.” 

Both Dagher and honor essayist Maya Cook encouraged the graduates to try new things and learn from the challenges. 

Cook said she experienced the advice firsthand when she had to start fresh four years ago after moving to Old Lyme. 

“My biggest piece of advice is to jump head first into all opportunities that come your way,” she said. 

Valedictorian Rose Dimmock contrasted the coming change with the rituals that defined growing up in Lyme and Old Lyme. 

She pointed to Hallmark Drive-In reopening for ice cream each spring, to summer crowds at White Sand Beach and to the daily exodus from the high school parking lot at 2:10 p.m. 

“But while these traditions and events repeat, we have changed and grown, and now we’re here at graduation,” she said. 

Paths will begin to separate as soon as the graduates walk off the stage, according to Dimmock. 

“Some of us are traveling across the country for college, going south, west, or maybe even north,” she said. “Some are going to the workforce, some the military, some possibly even Broadway. And others may do something completely unexpected, but just as incredible.”

She acknowledged so much newness can be intimidating, especially for the students who’ve had 13 years to get to know each other. But she said the strength of that foundation will carry them through. 

“As we go onto our own paths, we will build new friendships, new communities and new support systems,” she said. “And I am confident that we will all be able to do just that, because we’ve already done it here.” 

Lenz, who retires this year as the director of school counseling, was honored by the graduates with the Mildred Sanford Outstanding Educator award. 

She stood just offstage with a hug for each student receiving a diploma. 

But amid all the talk of embracing change, Wygonik delivered one caveat. 

He told the graduates not to lose the sense of character that defines them.

“You consistently do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do, not because someone is watching or there’s something in it for you,” he said. 

As the grandfather to a one-year-old, he said it’s easy to worry about the future. But he remains more optimistic than friends who believe the world is broken, and that the prospects for improvement don’t look good. 

He said his friends don’t see what he does. 

“Why? Because they don’t drive across the Connecticut River in the morning, take exit 70 and spend every day with you,” he said. 

He told members of the Class of 2026 that they’ll make the world a better place if they keep doing the right thing when no one is looking. 

“So, you listen to Grandpa Wygo,” he said. “Do not change. Don’t ever, ever, ever change.”