Graduates in Lawrence Virtual School’s Class of 2026 were told Saturday that they don’t need to become perfect — they just need to have the courage to keep learning, keep trying and keep building community.
Keynote speaker Will Averill told the graduates he’d had the honor of being present for the first LVS graduation in 2014 while working for the school, and there were about 23 graduates that year. Saturday’s ceremony honored about 120 students.
Averill said the graduates faced unique challenges and maintained so much responsibility for their own schedules and education.
“What you have done is trailblazing. I applaud you for that,” he said.
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Averill quoted playwright Samuel Beckett — “Try again. Fail again. Fail better” — and told them not to be afraid of failure, because with it comes growth, resilience and discovery of our own strengths. He said they may not all know what their path forward will be, but that’s OK, and a nontraditional path is not a lesser path.
Averill told students they’ll create things they’re proud of, form friendships that change their lives, and laugh so hard they can’t breathe.
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And “You may dance badly. Please, dance badly. I encourage you to,” he said.
The LVS graduation features three student speakers each year. Emma Ryan, class valedictorian, gave the Future Speech; Lauren Glynn, class salutatorian, gave the Griffin speech; and Addisyn Muma gave the Heart of LVS Speech.
Ryan told classmates that wherever they are in a few months or years, it will look a lot different than yesterday. She said they all have some idea of who they are right now, but they’re going to change as they explore new places, meet new people and experience many firsts.
“Our futures will change our perceptions of who we are,” Ryan said. “We are each faced with the opportunity to discover ourselves all over again.”
Glynn told classmates to take a look around at their fellow Griffins, who have all had to come so far to get there.
“Even if some are people you have never seen before, you are bonded in this moment, taking one of the biggest steps of your lives so far together,” Glynn said. “There’s something beautiful about that.”
Mumma said that growing up, people always asked her if she felt like she was missing out because she was homeschooled. But she could always brag about the clubs LVS had. That’s how she found her love for acting.
“I will always remember the nights spent laughing to the point of tears, playing games, taking funny pictures and dancing the night away during prom and the harvest dance,” Mumma said. “… Thank you, LVS, for being something I will miss. How lucky am I to belong to a school that I dreaded having to leave?”
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at [email protected]. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
Carter Gaskins (he/him) has been a photographer for The Lawrence Times since April 2021. He has also been a photographer for 10-plus years in photojournalism and sports.
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