WCDS Celebrates the Graduation of the Class of 2023
Westchester Country Day School celebrated its 52nd graduation ceremony on June 3 at Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church in High Point.
The 24 graduates in the Class of 2023 achieved 100 percent college acceptance. They were accepted to 40 different colleges and universities and collectively were offered $2 million in scholarships.
Westchester’s graduation ceremony includes several traditions unique to the school’s recognition of graduates, including a bagpipe processional. As the graduates came forward to receive their diplomas, faculty members gave tribute speeches about each graduate offering insight into their individual personalities and highlighting their growth as Westchester students.
A video of the graduation ceremony can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeyIbTKf_og.
During the ceremony, valedictorian Ali Schwartz recalled key moments from the class’s K-12 experience. She will attend the University of Virginia, where she received the Jefferson Scholarship and plans to study biology and psychology. She is the daughter of Adam and Heather Schwartz of High Point.
In her speech, Schwartz compared her class to a garage band, each “playing different instruments but uniting to create a collective, irreplicable harmony.” She also thanked the teachers and parents and congratulated her classmates on finishing their race well.
“This is our finish line. For nine of us, this race began 13 years ago on our brightly colored carpet squares in [kindergarten teacher] Mrs. Horney’s classroom,” Schwartz said. “Whether you have been at Westchester in this race for three or 13 years, today is a milestone, a finish line. Today is the day that we bid farewell to the place that laid the foundation for who we will be and what we will become, and we say goodbye to the people who shaped us.”
Salutatorian Ruhan Upadhyaya also shared remarks, He will attend North Carolina State University, where he plans to study horticulture. He is the son of Nihar and Janki Upadhyaya of High Point. In his speech, Upadhyaya highlighted the bond that has formed among the class which made a difference for him daily. In a world that will require them to do many things, he encouraged his classmates to continue being who they are.
“There were some days where I felt one sort of way leaning toward any negative emotion, yet I would come into school and not even within 10 minutes I would see the beautiful faces of all my classmates – them just being who they all are, interacting with one another – and every feeling I was trying to hold onto just vanished into the classroom air.”
Graduate Sofie Stofferis announced the senior class gift of furniture for the Finch Center lobby, a gathering space for students between classes and during athletic events.
The 24 graduates of Westchester’s Class of 2023 are Madalyn Sage Adams, Connor Christian Apple, Cleveland Gordon Armentrout, Grayson Lee Boyette, Robert Thomasson Brigman, Zane Shore Dinkins, Emma Ilene Engle, Elizabeth Rose Foster, Caroline Elise Anderson Griffith, Caleb Michael Hammond, Lucy Larkin Rose Heard, Cruz Alexander Hesling, Bryce Elliott Hooker, Jacob Sawyer Johnson, Quinto Keomalaythong, Dru Elizabeth Lassiter, Skylar Reese Manning, Madeline Blake McWhorter, Anna Elizabeth Merritt, Natalie Caroline Roberts, Aliana Grace Schwartz, Sofie Caroline Marie Stofferis, Jiayuan Tian, and Ruhan Upadhyaya.
Among this class, four of the graduates will play collegiate athletics. Eight members of the class were invited to participate in selective honors programs at colleges and universities, and 11 are AP Scholars who achieved high scores on Advanced Placement exams for the college-level courses they have taken.
Junior marshals Mallory Atkinson, Lyndon Briggs, Ava Klein, Maggie O'Keeffe and Isabella Reid led the graduates in the processional.
