Freeport bids farewell to Class of 2025 at 77th annual ceremony
BUFFALO TWP — Cheers and tears set the scene for 131 Freeport Area High School seniors who marched across the stage to receive their high school diplomas on Friday evening, May 30, under the bright lights of the middle school gymnasium.
The 77th annual commencement ceremony celebrated both academic achievements and the resilience and camaraderie that was forged through years of challenges and changes.
“I have felt so bittersweet this whole day because we’re such a small class and we’re so tight knit,” said senior class president Sylvia Crytzer, who plans to attend the University of Florida in the fall and study journalism with a concentration in sports media.
“I feel like we’re all so ready. I just had so much fun at Freeport, and I’m so glad that I was able to build my roots in this community. I’m just really appreciative of all the memories that I’ve been able to make with the same people all the way from kindergarten up until today.”
Senior class vice president Cameron Zigo echoed a similar sentiment during his speech in front of a packed gymnasium of supporters, telling classmates that they’re fully prepared for whatever comes next.
“As we stand here on the verge of the next chapter of life, we must remember that the past has equipped us for what is yet to come,” he said. “As we look upon the tools that we have found to use in the future, the struggles that we faced, the friendships we made and all that we’ve gained will all contribute to our growth today, tomorrow and every day after that.”
He also reminisced about the place where he met most of his classmates — the Freeport Kindergarten Center — which was torn down more than a decade ago after school officials sold the building.
“The Kindergarten Factory in downtown Freeport is where many of us would meet and ultimately become classmates for the next 12 years,” he said during his speech titled, “The Roots of the Hive.” “Without it, many of us would have started in separate buildings at Buffalo or South Buffalo Elementary. It was the very beginning of friendships, some of which still exist to this day.”
Unlike a majority of high schools, Freeport does not honor an individual valedictorian or salutatorian. Instead, the school considers any student with a 4.0 GPA to be at the top of the class.
In another unique switch up from traditional ceremonies, the school foregoes a guest speaker in favor of a more student-centered ceremony.
High and middle school principal Tim Walters provided commencement remarks to open the ceremony.
Following praise for the school’s faculty, staff and administration, Walters offered graduates an uplifting message during his speech — one rooted in hope, encouragement and confidence for whatever their future holds.
“As you leave here today, I want you to carry three things with you: resilience, reflection and resolve,” he said. “Resilience to rise, reflection to learn and resolve to keep moving forward. Class of 2025, the world needs you. Not a perfect version of you, but the real version of you — the version that keeps trying, keeps caring and keeps showing up — even when it’s hard. You are ready. You are capable. And the best part of all is that the best version of you is yet to come.”
