Brookstone’s 2016 Graduation ceremony was as lovely as ever.

Not only did the weather turn out to be beautiful, but there was such sweetness to the festivities. Joy, accomplishment, reflection and camaraderie, all of those sentiments and more were palpable in this year’s ceremony.

A nod to both the past and the future of Brookstone…former headmasters, Bob Newton, his wife, Pat, Charlie Cumiskey and his wife, Eileen, and incoming head of school, Marty Lester and his wife, Kris.

The Brookstone banner leads the procession.

The Student Procession

The Faculty Procession

Dr. Frank Brown, interim Headmaster, welcomes the crowd.

Student speakers, Cara Hunter and James Sherrer, delivered speeches that reflected upon their Brookstone experiences.

Describing his classmates, James said, “We are a group of 81 amazing minds, from so many different backgrounds, and we will be attending 35 different universities this fall, from down the road at Columbus State University to across the country at Hawaii Pacific University. There are 40 lifers and one graduate that joined us just for his senior year. The Class of 2016 has received over $6.5 million dollars in scholarship and we have six members going on to continue their athletic careers at the next level. Moving forward, we will be Tigers, Dawgs, Vikings, Paladins, and Blazers. But we will always be Cougars.”

Cara described her class as a boisterous bunch, but she said, “Even the quiet ones’ talents ring loudly, in their ideas, their projects, their writing, their musics, their art or their sweat in sport.”

She continued, “Greatness pours from this class’ veins. Koyal made a fake pancreas, Catherine could beat Charles Dickens in an essay contest, Dre could squat Prather, while Prather lifts Sam, while Sam lifts both Pease twins with one arm. All of this happening in the palm of Nae’s hand before she launches them from the three point line, all the way across campus to the tennis courts where Rahcel Hemmings awaits to ace the conglomerate so hard that it stops Brandon Cho in his tracks from running down the hallway to his class. If you missed all of that, don’t worry. Ariel and Kathleen probably already drew the whole thing, then painted it on the ceramics that Shannon, Helen and Isabel sculpted.”

That of course made everyone laugh, but a more serious note, she spoke of the love this class has for one another. “We have the loudest cheers, the loudest laughs, the loudest voice cracks, and the loudest love. You can hear love when we cheer each other on. Love that can be seen in a group of vastly different people, all unapologetically confident and bursting with pride.”

About our faculty, she said, “We all have genuine friendships with the teachers beyond the classroom. I can say from personal experience that the relationships I’ve made with some of the faculty has changed my life in so many different ways. To you, we express infinite gratitude. Thank you for seeing something in us that maybe we didn’t believe…and trying to help us believe in it…believe in ourselves.”

After Cara’s speech, James joined her again and the two of them delivered some final words about the Class of 2016.

We are successful.

We will stay strong.

We are unique.

We will be loud.

We are loved.

We will stay connected.

We are dynamic.

We will be game changers.

We are shaped individuals.

We will make you proud.

We are dependable.

We will be tough.

We are grateful.

We will always be grateful.

We are family.

We will always be family.

Congratulations to the Class of 2016. You are a special group of talented individuals and you will be greatly missed.

For more pictures from graduation weekend, please visit our Facebook page.