The 54th Annual Montville Township High School [MTHS] Commencement was held on Thursday, June 19, 2025. Due to uncertain weather conditions, the annual celebration was moved indoors to the MTHS Main Gymnasium. In addition to the in-person venue, the community, and those beyond the community, were also invited to watch the 2025 MTHS Commencement Ceremony on the Montville Township High School YouTube Channel.
As the MTHS Orchestra and Symphonic Band performed “Pomp and Circumstance,” by Elgar, 280 members of the MTHS Class of 2025 processed into the colorfully decorated arena. Music teachers Andrew Havington and Ellis Jasenovic conducted the Orchestra and Symphonic Band. The musicians and dais were surrounded by a thick hedge of flowering plants, which traditionally, each year for many decades, are provided by Condurso’s Garden Center.
Once the graduates were in place, the audience and graduates remained standing, while the 2025 Student Activities Council President, Benjamin Bruchhauser, led the Flag Salute, and seniors, Milena Sky Dorta and Logan Rendeiro, performed the “Star Spangled Banner.”
Both the Flag Salute and the “Star Spangled Banner” were also signed by the seniors who took American Sign Language at MTHS. The 2024-2025 academic year was the first year that American Sign Language was offered at the school. Teacher Christine Gordon began the year in September, 2024, by signing the “Star Spangled Banner” at the Fall Pep Rally. For graduation her senior students were sharing their interpreting skills with both those in attendance and those watching from around the globe. Throughout the evening, nearly 1,900 people watched the Montville Township Public Schools YouTube LIVE FEED during the 2025 MTHS Commencement Ceremony.
Following his welcoming remarks, MTHS Principal Douglas Sanford asked the seniors to consider how time moves. Always constant, it can feel fast or slow, depending on many different factors.
“How you experience that time is largely up to you,” Sanford said. “Don’t let the future pull you away from the beauty of today. Don’t let the past weigh you down from the possibilities of now. Embrace the present moment with open arms and a curious mind. Be fully alive in your experiences, big or small. Savor the victories, learn from the setbacks, and cherish the connections you make.”
Jiya Patel, the President of the Class of 2025 also spoke of time.
“I think I speak for all of us when I say these four years have flown by,” Patel began, “and now, as we sit here tonight, it feels like time has finally caught up with us. As we came down to the final weeks, days, hours, and now moments, of our high school experience, I realize that all the little moments of memories made with classmates, laughs shared with friends, and conversations with teachers matter. Looking back, we won’t just remember the destination, but rather we will cherish our JOURNEY through high school.”
Patel’s speech also encouraged her peers to look past the evening of graduation and remember that “As good as it is to focus on achieving your next major goal, never forget to make time to enjoy and reflect on the small things, no matter how insignificant you may feel they are. Enjoy the journey with the people you meet and the experiences you have.”
Advisors for the MTHS Class of 2025, Arianna Majorczak and Eleni Sakacs, collaborated on their words of advice for the MTHS Class of 2025. Sakacs delivered the speech.
“It is about remembering that the person standing next to you -- is human, just like you. Bleeds, just like you. Hopes, loves, and suffers, just like you.”
Sakacs’ remarks were inspired by an essay she assigns each year. “We Are Each Other’s Business,” by the community organizer Eboo Patel, examines a Norman Rockwell painting. The painting, of people from different backgrounds, helps form and support Patel’s message that, in order to honor diversity, one must have the courage to actively stand up for the culture of others.
“I want to remind you that you have the gift of having been educated, not just academically. You have the gift of having grown up in a beautifully diverse town…. Don’t forget this blessing and what it has taught you…. And remember to always be kind.”
Sanford thanked Sakacs and Majorczak for their hard work and dedication to the MTHS Class of 2025.
“I want to start this speech off bluntly,” is how the 2025 Student Activities Counsel President Benjamin Bruchhauser began his remarks. “Life does not go according to plan.”
Bruchhauser described how, during summer 2024, he had his senior year all figured out. His applications to college were in, his wrist was healing from surgery, and he was ready for his final year at MTHS.
“I went into MY senior year telling myself that it was going to be my year. Grades, colleges, sports, I was ready to take it all on because I had it all mapped out. This is when I learned… that life does not go according to plan,” Bruchhauser explained.
Bruchhauser noted that, while his senior year did not go as planned, there was an important lesson found through the detours.
“You see,” Bruchhauser added, “the truth is, the curveballs life throws at us are part of the journey—and they’re okay. Sometimes, it’s the setbacks, the awkward moments, and the unexpected detours that teach us more than any achievement ever could. It’s easy to believe success comes from always getting things right, but the real growth happens when things go wrong. We grow by pushing through the tough times, not when everything is smooth sailing. Success isn’t about having a perfect plan—it’s about showing up, staying true to yourself, and not giving up when life gets hard.”
Bruchhauser also gave a heartfelt shout-out, to his mom, thanking her for helping him to learn that it is in the set-backs that the real growth happens.
“The strength and support you give to me and to everyone around you is something I will carry with me throughout life’s journey,” Bruchhauser said, as he blinked back tears of gratitude for his mom. “You mean everything to me, and I wouldn’t be standing here today without you. I love you.”
The senior members of the MTHS Chamber Choir, under the direction of Theodore Cherney, performed the MTHS “Alma Mater,” by Morrell, and “Found/Tonight,” by Lin Manuel Miranda, Justin Paul, and Benj Pasek. This outstanding ensemble featured senior soloists Ryan Cortes and Grace Hricay.
Then Salutatorian Malishka Arni shared with her classmates an important lesson she learned at MTHS.
“One thing I have always prided myself on is my self-sufficiency,” Arni explained. “I enjoyed being someone who could solve all of her problems on her own and never had to bother anyone else. And this worked pretty well for me - until high school hit… If there’s one thing I could impart to my fellow graduating students heading off to college, it’s this: Although we may feel the need to be independent adults, it’s okay to take up space, and it is okay to ask for help.”
To thunderous applause and laughter, Scipio Han, the Valedictorian of the MTHS Class of 2025, shared the Dab dance move with his fellow graduates to illustrate that “there’s many lessons one can take from the simple arm movement, one being that sometimes, we don’t need words, but just a simple expression to mark a happy moment, whether that is the dab, a fist bump, or just an unmistakable smile.”
Han’s speech was another moment where the concept of time played an integral role in imparting the wisdom of the evening:
“Through thick and thin, rain and shine, solid, liquid, or gas, we’ve made it: the day that seemed like it would never come, but it’s really here. On the surface, each next day just seemed like another, nothing out of the ordinary despite the oddities here and there,” Han reflected. “In all fairness, 24 hours is much less than 1000+ days. But something strikes: reflecting on the complete combination of experiences over the past four years, you might think to yourself: ‘How did I do all of that?!’ ‘How did we all get through all of these things?!’ … It seems like a lot now, but it all came together bit by bit.”
Superintendent Dr. Thomas A. Gorman asked the students to take the advice of President Teddy Roosevelt and “dare greatly, think boldly, live passionately, and care deeply.”
“Tonight I want to expound upon his four bits of advice that can be key to both success and happiness,” Gorman said of Roosevelt’s advice as he explained that “tomorrow is the first day of a new beginning in life’s arena. Just like the time you have spent here at MTHS, there will be joys and challenges. But if you remember to: dare greatly, think boldly, live passionately, and care deeply, you will have everything you need to successfully navigate challenges and celebrate successes. I wish for you a memorable and successful journey.”
Montville Township Board of Education President Dr. David Modrak’s daughter, Sofia, was among the 280 seniors who, following Modrak’s remarks, would walk across the stage to collect the diploma that signifies the successful achievement of graduation from high school.
“Jiya’s right,” Modrak said, referring to Patel’s speech, as he approached the microphone. “Four years has gone by really quickly – eighteen years has gone by really quickly…. I’ve got to take an extra moment here because my daughter is graduating here tonight, and what kind of parent would I be if I didn’t say: Sofia…I love you and I am so looking forward to all of the wonderful things you are going to do with the rest of your life.”
Modrak then turned to address the entire class, “You know what? Your parents are all going to say the same things to you, Class of 2025…. I know you…. You are an amazing group of people. You have done so much, and you are going to do so much more…. I wish you all a happy, successful and fulfilled life.”
With that each of the 280 members of the MTHS Class of 2025 crossed the stage at the calling of their names, shook the hands of administrators and Board of Education members, and joined their peers, watching as each of them collected their diplomas.
Both Sofia Modrak and Aviva Rappaport, who is the daughter of Montville Township Board of Education Member, Michael Rappaport, received their diplomas from their father’s as they crossed the stage.
“Ladies and gentleman,” said Sanford as the last graduate returned to their seat. “I present to you the Class of 2025.”
Thunderous applause and cheers filled the arena as the graduates tossed their mortar boards into the air.
The MTHS Orchestra and Symphonic band burst into “Abracadabra,” by Lady Gaga, as the graduates and their families enthusiastically congratulated one another and the 54th Annual Montville Township High School Commencement Ceremony came to a close.