Recognition Day Celebrates the Class of 2030

A total of 77 members of the Class of 2030 received their certificates today (Thursday, June 4) as the Middle School held its Recognition Day ceremonies in the CFA’s Hale Theater. 

As the top scholar for the class, Maddie Gadot earned the honor of delivering the day’s farewell address. She thanked families, teachers, and staff for their unwavering support but singled out her eight grade peers for special recognition. 

“We made it through Middle School, and we have a lot to be proud of,” Gadot told her classmates. 

The Hingham native expressed her gratitude for the small acts of kindness, such as opening doors for one another or supporting friends after a big test, that make the Middle School such a caring community. Quoting Proverbs 16:24 (“Kind words are like honey – sweet to the soul and healthy for the body”), Gadot said that those small acts of kindness can have a big impact. She then urged the seventh, sixth, and fifth grade students in the audience to continue the tradition. 

“Sprinkle kindness like glitter,” she said. “It will never disappear, and it will always sparkle.” 

As is tradition, the eighth grade class chooses the day’s guest speaker, and this year the Class of 2030 chose Middle School Math Faculty Amy Hawkins. The teacher and coach first discussed her passion for running before comparing the middle school years to a marathon. And like any marathon, she said, it’s not the final stretch on race day that counts so much as the countless hours of practice and preparation that go into it. 

“A marathon is really about everything that happens before that moment,” Hawkins told the class, later adding: “A marathon is not completed in one giant step. It’s completed one step at a time.” 

In that spirit, Hawkins congratulated the Class of 2030 for the years of challenges, successes, disappointments, hard work, and perseverance that made Recognition Day so meaningful. And, drawing further upon the marathon analogy, she told them that if they did it once in middle school, they could do it again across the street in high school. 

“Congratulations, Class of 2030,” she said. “You have crossed the finish line, and your new race is just beginning.” 

Head of School Chris Fortunato P ’26, ’28 then offered remarks to the class but not before announcing the Eric M. Swain Award for Teaching Excellence, which this year went to Middle School Science Department Head Natalie Young. Young took to the stage to receive congratulations from Fortunato and a standing ovation from the audience. 

In his remarks, Fortunato reiterated three points he’d made across both divisions during the school year: that a person is and always will be more than their grades; that you don’t have to make someone else feel small to make yourself feel big; and that it is possible to do hard things. 

“You are not simply a collection of achievements and disappointments,” Fortunato told the eighth graders. He later added: “You don’t need to prove how worthy you are. We already recognize that.” 

The morning celebration also featured a welcome from Luke Manley ’30, a flag salute led by Henry Doan ’30, opening words from Peter Rowley ’30, and closing words from Elsa Hancock-Happ ’30. Middle School Director Galen Hamann P ’31 offered kudos to the Middle School’s TAPA volunteers and facilitated the distribution of several individual student awards. The Recognition Day Choir performed Matthew Thiessen’s “Up and Up” as well as the Thayer Academy Alma Mater. 

In concluding the roughly 90-minute ceremony, Hamann offered her personal thanks to the eighth grade class for its positive leadership throughout the school year. She encouraged them to “cross the street and come back often” but told them in no uncertain terms that they had the tools to succeed in high school. 

“Class of 2030, you are ready,” Hamann said.