“We are becoming the people we always dreamed of being,” Natalie Massardo said. In her capacity as Vice President of the Student Council, she was welcoming her peers in the Class of 2024 to their Commencement Exercises.

At Commencement, on the morning of Friday, May 24, the 139 members of the Class of 2024 graduated from Charlotte Latin School. They were cheered on by hundreds of family members, friends, faculty, and staff in the Beck Student Activities Center.

The Commencement Address was delivered by Betsy Klein ’08, Senior White House Producer at CNN, who returned to Charlotte Latin and shared stories of her tenure as a Hawk. “The real secret of adulthood is that we’re all just making it up as we go,” she confided. Her speech laid out the parallels between launching a presidential campaign and preparing oneself for graduation. She told the audience, “I’m trying every day to live a life in alignment with the values I learned here.”

In his speech, Head of School Charles D. Baldecchi continued his annual tradition of discussing a favorite song: in this case, Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” a favorite of the Class of 2024. He led the crowd in a chant of “So good! So good!” and cited the tune’s cross-generational appeal: “You are leaving childhood and adolescence and becoming an adult. While it is OK to segment your life in college and embrace that change and experience, don’t forget to channel Neil Diamond and literally and figuratively sing ‘Sweet Caroline’ with your parents, grandparents, siblings and friends.”

The ceremony included the announcement of some significant honors and awards. Head of Upper School Lawrence E. Wall, Jr., gave the Senior English Award to Evan Li ’24, saying “He is measured and precise, while remaining eloquent and emphatic.”

Wall described the recipient of the Senior History Award, Jasmine Zheng ’24, “as one of the finest and most complete history students with whom we have worked.” She also received the Senior Classical and World Languages Award; he noted that “her ability to translate and interpret Latin literature is truly outstanding.”

The Senior Math Award went to Ryan Samii ’24, whom Wall dubbed “king of the complexities of conditional convergence.”

“A keen scientific observer, she notices every nuance of a complicated problem or a multifaceted experiment,” he said of Olivia Morgan ’24, who received the Senior Science Award.

Baldecchi then announced Sunny’s Honor, named after Sara “Sunny” Harris Hutchinson ’93, awarded to a senior who makes a positive difference in the lives of others. Flanked by Deborah Harris (Sunny’s mother), he cited Tommy Beason ’24 as “a community weaver, for the past four years bringing people together through acts of service, leadership, and compassion.”

The Student Achievement Award, he explained, goes to “a student who has found success through sheer grit and determination and who has shown impressive growth as a student in Upper School.” It went to Emy Pachecko Ramirez ’24; he said, “Whether she’s analyzing Chicana folktales through a feminist lens or writing about the absence of motherhood in Frankenstein, her papers show an incredible depth of analysis and critical thinking which she has worked hard to foster.”

Caroline Howley ’24 was bestowed with the Outstanding Leadership and Service Award for “her unwavering commitment to Charlotte Latin School and the community beyond.”

The Faculty Appreciation Award also went to Tommy Beason ’24. “Whether writing raps about the texts in English class or giving his all on the baseball diamond, this student brings life, and joy, to the classroom daily,” Baldecchi said.

The Wickham Award, which finances post-collegiate travel for a future community leader, went to a student who “embodies the qualities of joy, creativity, intelligence, and friendliness”: Leah Tewolde ’24.

The Head of School Award went to a student who “balanced advanced coursework with athletic pursuits, all while navigating the Division I recruitment process as a highly sought-after lacrosse player,” Ardyn Henry ’24.

And the class Valedictorian was Jasmine Zheng ’24. Baldecchi noted her “rare caliber of intellect” and shared her observation that she saw Latin grammar as being like “math, but for words.”

In addition, Collin T. Degenhardt ’24, president of the Class of 2024, announced that the Class Gift would supplement the gift from the Class of 2022, financing a mural in the IO Building by artist Scott Nurkin ’95.

Music at the Commencement Exercises was provided by the Upper School Concert Choir and the Charlotte Latin Philharmonic, but no sound was sweeter than the cheers that came after all 139 members of the Class of 2024 had received their diplomas and moved their tassels from one side of their mortarboards to the other, signifying their graduation from Charlotte Latin School.