Post updated at 1:25 a.m. Friday, May 23:
Seventeen seniors at Bishop Seabury Academy graduated Thursday evening alongside their peers and loved ones with a Commencement and Stepping Up ceremony.
The ceremony began with an invocation by Reverend Dr. Stephen Segebrecht, shortly followed up with opening remarks by Head of School Don Schawang.
Schawang highlighted key memories from the past year, ranging from regional and state placements and theatre productions to students skipping down the hallway and more.
“‘Lessons and Carols’ was a lavish production, Zephyr Charles O’Hara was voted the senior to skip around most in the hallway, and he did a lot,” Schawang said.
Valedictorian Eliza Brockhoff highlighted a letter her sixth-grade self wrote to her future self, and her response with it.
Her younger version shared that her favorite color was purple, her favorite song was “How Far I’ll Go” from Disney’s “Moana,” and giving her older self advice to stay away from drugs.
Brockhoff shared that while she now likes purple and green, and can’t decide what song she likes most. She also gave words of advice to her younger self, and her peers.
“I just want to remind you that while you’re working hard and never giving up, you get to choose who you want to be,” Brockhoff said. “You get to choose every day to wake up and be someone better than who you were yesterday. You have your whole future ahead of you.”
The commencement continued with the senior awards, recognizing the 2025 graduating class for their passion and hard work.
After Josephine Kim received the Headmasters Cup, she gave a speech as part of the “Charge from the Class,” giving words of wisdom to her classmates.
“Failure isn’t failure unless you call it that. Failure is growth. If you measure your success by comparing yourself to others, you’ll simply never win because that metric itself is bogus,” Kim said. “To everyone, I urge you to remember and realize the power your words contain. Your words will shape your reality.”
A charge from the faculty was led by Sonja Czarnecki, who gave her students a few words of advice — democracy is not a spectator sport, talk to strangers, and don’t expect a medal — in addition to quiz questions to encourage her seniors to vote in the upcoming elections.
She said she was honored to give the faculty charge for “one of the most spirited, intellectually busy, and globally minded groups of students I have ever taught,” Czarnecki said.
Before the end of the ceremony, students from the Chamber Choir and Eighth Grade Honor Choir gave a live performance of “Omnia Sol.” The song was led by Director Margie Lawrence, with Jennifer Hosler as the piano accompanist.
Afterward, the Stepping Up ceremony began, where each grade recognized each other to continue on into the next grade.
As graduates prepared to shake hands with the incoming senior class, students exchanged hugs and kind words with each other. Faculty members then lined up to shake each grad’s hand, and most students were sentimental and continued to hug their mentors as they made their way down the line.
Class of 2025 award recipients
Gavin Smith Community Service award: Neela Rangarajan
Athletes of the Year: Josephine Kim, Jace Smith and Chase Honarvar
Mathematic award: Eniolu Wintoki
Science Department award: Josephine Kim
English award: Eliza Brockhoff
Social Studies: Heba Aziz
World Language Award: Spanish to Sebastian Borjas; French to Ashley Perez-Gonzalez; and Latin to Eliza Brockhoff
Creative Arts Department Awards: Truman Sizemore and Elyse Hammann
Upper School Faculty Prize: Neela Rangarajan and Elyse Hammann
Ray and Marian Wilbur Award: Eliza Brockhoff
Headmasters Cup: Josephine Kim
This year’s graduates received 120 acceptances to 80 different colleges and were offered more than $10 million in four-year renewable scholarships and institutional grants, according to the school. The grads are heading to universities and colleges across the Midwest and as far out as both coasts.
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Lane Rozin (he/they) was a contributor for The Lawrence Times from January 2024 through May 2025. He is a graduate of the University of Kansas Schools of Journalism and Film. He is an alum of Pittsburg High School, where he was the multimedia editor for Pitt Media in 2019-21. He served as the managing editor at the University Daily Kansan and development director at KJHK for 2024-25. See more of his work for the Times here.
More coverage: Graduation 2025
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