On Friday, September 1, 141 seniors from the Class of 2024 celebrated Convocation Exercises, marking the official beginning of their senior year. Head of School Chuck Baldecchi and Head of Upper School Lawrence Wall greeted guests and students in Thies Auditorium for the special occasion.

Baldecchi welcomed seniors to their final year and encouraged them to savor, enjoy, and to be present each day. He continued, “This is your moment to lead Latin and to leave it a better place than you found it. Go enlighten the world!”

Wall celebrated the academic achievements of the Class of 2024 which include: 

• 119 members of the class have taken the SAT, earning an average score of 1319. 
• 78 members of the class have taken the ACT, earning an average score of 28.2. 
• 118 members of this class have taken 251 AP examinations to date, earning the “Qualified” score of 3 or higher on 92% of tests for a mean score of 3.97.  

Wall shared with the Upper School students in attendance, “The Class of 2023 did you a tremendous favor by turning in our best set of AP results in a number of years, and we are confident that you will pay that debt of gratitude forward.” 

Student Council President Stewart Langley ’24 introduced the day’s esteemed speaker, Mr. Chuck Edwards ’94, as “the ultimate representation of a Hawk” and someone who “has been expanding the minds of Charlotte Latin students for the last 19 years.” Mr. Edwards is currently the History Department Chair, as well as a History Instructor, alum, coach, and parent.

Edwards graciously took the podium and began by proclaiming his love for Convocation. He mentioned that he always defends the uncommon ceremony to naysayers because there is something “powerful in the practice of putting on this graduation regalia now, at the beginning, as a reminder of what we are building towards throughout the year.” Edwards emphasized that the hard work each senior must perform to earn their diploma from Charlotte Latin School and the education that it stands for has “never been more valuable, relevant, or important.” 

Specifically, Edwards referenced the timely topic of artificial intelligence (AI), which is not only tempting students to cut corners but also distorts reality. Edwards shared his belief that due to AI, “figuring out what is real and what is fake, what is true and what is false, what is authentic and what is not” will be one of the biggest challenges facing this generation. 

Noting that this is not the first time society has faced a similar issue, Edwards cited one of his personal heroes, Vaclav Havel, who grew up in communist Czechoslovakia and helped orchestrate the collapse of communism in Czechoslovakia in 1989. As such, Havel understood the importance of enduring struggle in order to find the truth. Edwards pointed out that in Havel’s most famous speech after being elected president of Czechoslovakia, he talked about the consequences of living under a government that controlled all information. Havel stated, “The worst of it is that we live in a contaminated moral environment. We have become morally ill because we are used to saying one thing and thinking another. We have learned not to believe in anything, not to care about each other, to worry only about ourselves. The concepts of love, friendship, mercy, humility and forgiveness have lost their depth and their meaning.” 

While troubling indeed, Edwards reassured the seniors that they are fortunate not to live in communist Czechoslovakia, they are fortunate to attend this school, and that the Charlotte Latin curriculum is specifically designed to help students learn how to uncover the truth. He reminded them that their academic journey is guided by “timeless values” which provide the foundation of their success, specifically the values of critical thinking, analytical writing, and hard work. 

First, Edwards explained that Latin classrooms are designed to get students to think. “Our classrooms are safe places to learn, to think—not because you will be protected from ideas you don't like—but for the exact opposite reason. You will be introduced to ideas that you disagree with and you will learn how to wrestle with them; to decide if you agree or disagree. You can form your own opinion and dig deeper to weigh it against the facts until you have come to your own conclusion about whether or not your idea is valid.” He continued, “There is a confidence and ability to look at the world and say to oneself, ‘I can figure this out.’” 

Next, Edwards reminded students that teaching them how to write is the same thing as teaching them how to think. He pointed out that “if we let computers do that for us, we become less, not more.” Edwards also stated, “If you don’t learn to write, you will never really think for yourself.”  
Last, Edwards touched on the value of hard work and why students are asked to work hard at Charlotte Latin. Edwards emphasized that teachers are not “being mean” when they ask students to perform the work themselves. Instead, Edwards stated, “We ask students to work hard because we want you to know that when you walk across that stage at the end of this year and you are handed your diploma, you know you earned it, and that you did it the right way. That means something.” 

In closing, Edwards reminded seniors that when they receive their diploma at the end of the school year, they will have obtained and honed the skills needed to “nudge the world a little closer to the truth.” After all, Edwards proclaimed, “We need more people like you with the wisdom and prudence to make a difference.”