GRADUATION 2022

Pioneer’s Class of 2022 celebrated an enormous milestone on May 20, 2022 when the Eagles left the nest and flew to their next big adventure. The commencement ceremony was held at the YMCA in Wayne and friends and family gathered from all over the world to celebrate and honor the graduates.

The Class of 2022 wowed the guests with an impressive lineup of college acceptances, including Princeton, Johns Hopkins, UPenn, Rice, Emory, Rutgers, UC Berkeley, Parsons School of Design, Carnegie Mellon, UC Berkeley, UCLA, University of Toronto, Washington University St. Louis,University of Virginia, Boston University, Case Western Reserve University, and many other prestigious universities.

Special guests included mayor of Wayne Christopher Vergano, Assemblyman Kevin Rooney and keynote speaker Dr. John Pavlik, author and professor of journalism and media studies at Rutgers. Omar Elkhafif, Senior Class Vice President and NHS Vice President of Scholarship, was awarded the title of Salutatorian and received an NHS medal. Hilal Akman, Class Vice president and NHS member was awarded the highest honor of Valedictorian.

In his farewell speech to the graduates, junior Abdulaziz Almat talked about the special connections he had and lifelong friendships he made with the graduates: “I’m grateful for these unforgettable memories the junior class and I will carry throughout our lives. We will be connected to each other from every corner of the world, but we will realize that the dearest connections aren’t the ones we have in our phones, but the ones we have in our hearts.”

In his speech, Head of School Mr. Akman reflected on the major impact the Class of 2022 has had on Pioneer Academy. Speaking directly to the graduates he said, “You have left a profound impact on Pioneer and enhanced the school culture. You have left it better than you found it, and for that, we will always appreciate you.” He added, “Your legacy has left a giant footprint, and we can only hope that it will be continued by the generations to come.”