Bellmore-Merrick Graduates Class of 2022

Bellmore-Merrick Graduates Class of 2022

The Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District graduating Class of 2022 was celebrated at three ceremonies on the Sanford H. Calhoun, John F. Kennedy and Wellington C. Mepham high school football fields on June 12.

It was cloudy with full school spirit as Calhoun, Kennedy and Mepham’s respective blue, green and maroon dotted the fields before staff, friends and families.

Valedictorians Tina Cheng of Calhoun, Christopher Prainito of Kennedy and Helena Fu of Mepham, as well as salutatorians Kaitlin Bondi of Calhoun, Michelle Brown of Kennedy and Justin Dioguardi of Mepham addressed the crowds.

Cheng reflected on goals of striving for perfection. “I hope that each of us can vow to ourselves that in the next few years, we will focus on our own happiness and accept that it is okay if we don’t live up to people’s expectations,” she added.

Photos courtesy of the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District.

Boni talked about “beauty of unpredictability.” “We do not possess the ability to know the future - yet - so acknowledging and appreciating life’s unpredictability is our next best option,” she said. “In this sense, do not dwell too heavily on what could have been or what will be. Relinquish the false sense of control we all think we have over our lives.”

Prianito noted to his peers that they should be ready to pivot thought life when it comes to careers and passions. “We are the ones who choose our paths,” he said. “while it is important to have dreams and goals, it is just as important to be flexible.”

Brown spoke about COVID-related challenges. “We were really taken out of our comfort zones and as a result we have come out of high school stronger and more united than ever.”

Fu told classmates not to think of graduation as conclusion, but rather a continuation. “Rather than being a timeline that we can easily follow, life takes on many different turns,: she said. “Yet our foundations are composed of teachers, administrators, coaches and role models who have taught us how to think for ourselves. You have helped us to foster the growth of the foundation that allows us to branch out into the future.”

Dioguardi spoke about the late Kobe Bryant’s pillars of success: fearlessness, obsessiveness, relentlessness and passion. These traits perfectly describe the Class of 2022, he said, “ We’ve all been faced with adversity during our high school years, but our relentlessness kept us going. Our determination is a major reason why the Class of 2022 is one of the most impressive classes to ever walk the halls at Mepham.”